Verse 1.7.125

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.7.125:

प्राग् यद्यपि प्रेम-कृतात् प्रियाणां विच्छेद-दावानल-वेगतोऽन्तः ।
सन्ताप-जातेन दुरन्त-शोका-वेशेन गाढं भवतीव दुःखम् ॥ १२५ ॥

prāg yadyapi prema-kṛtāt priyāṇāṃ viccheda-dāvānala-vegato'ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-veśena gāḍhaṃ bhavatīva duḥkham || 125 ||

Though initially, an intense anguish arises in the heart from the blazing fire of separation from the beloved devotees, an endless sadness appears from that, and because of that sadness, the heart seems even more deeply distressed.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

“Though the symptoms that manifest from devotional service to Bhagavān melt the heart and need not embarrass anyone, nevertheless I have given You great distress by baffling You. How did I benefit You?” Śrī Bhagavān is narrating these two verses beginning with prāga, anticipating this question from Śrī Nārada.

Separation from beloved persons itself is like a scorching forest fire, and it causes great anguish inside and outside. In other words, great anguish arises due to the force of a fiery separation from beloved devotees. At first by the entry of a boundless anguish, intense distress manifests in the heart. Yet what is the nature of that distress? Prema-kṛta, that is, it manifests from divine love. In this way, if love manifested by the beloved person is deep, then the distress of their separation is also that deep; this fact is noteworthy.

The word iva here suggests that this distress is more laudable in the end than the happiness of meeting (sambhoga-sukha). Otherwise, there is no relation to the word duḥkha or sorrow essentially; so actually one experiences great happiness in the heart due to distress. Therefore, it is not simply distressful but rather culminates in happiness. Externally, along with this distress one perceives humility (dainya) and confusion (vyakulatā), yet this distress is not real; rather, it is called duḥkham iva (as if distress). Otherwise, this expression and custom is simply a colloquialism (laukika).