A brief analysis on Rasa-tattva (and Jiva-tattva)
- Sitanath Das
- Sep 2, 2022
- 17 min read
Updated: Sep 3, 2022
Picture:
The nine rasa's in Krishna’s lila [pastimes], Rajasthan, by a painter in Mewar, ca. 1700
This picture inspired me to write something briefly.
First i just wanted to post this picture with a very short text in Facebook, but by writing and collecting all the verses I decided to make a small blog. I'm reading at the moment Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, and because I just became a father, there is very little time to write (big) blogs. There are many sketches on my phone, and sooner or later I will publish them — all about the Sweetness of Braja, but this blog is about rasa-tattva and jiva-tattva.
In this picture we see 9 rasa's which a devotee [worshipper of Krishna] can have with Krsna.
From left to right each line:
1. Sringara (amorous) - Radha and Krishna
2. Hasya (humor) - Vastra haran/Chir haran lila, Krishna steals the clothes of the Gopis
3. Vatsalya (parental) - Yasoda and Krishna
4. Roudra (anger) - Krishna killing the demon who comes in the guise of the horse, Keshi
5. Vira (chivalrous) - Krishna killing his evil uncle, Kamsa
6. Adbhuta (miraculous/astonishment) - Krishna drinking the forest fire
7. Bibhatsa (disgust) - Krishna killing baka, the stork-demon, who swallowed His friends
8. Sakhya (friendship) - Brahma Vimohan lila, Krishna and and his friends the gopas (cowherds)
9. Shanta (neutral) - Yogis sitting in meditation, meditating in their hearts on brahman/Krsna
The other 3 rasa's which Rūpa Goswami mentions in Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, but which are not depicted in this picture are
1. ) Dasya (servitorship) 2. Bhayanka (fear) 3. Karuna (lamentation)
The most perfect and matching verse to this picture [and an utmost important verse] is the following verse from the 10th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam.
mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān
gopānāṁ sva-jano 'satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ
mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ
vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ
When Krnsa entered the arena with His elder brother, He appeared as a thunderbolt to the wrestlers, as a hero (best of males) to the men of Mathura, as Cupid (Kamadev/God of love) to the women, as a relative [friend] to the cowherds [Brajabasis], as a punisher to the wicked kings, as a child to his parents, as death to the King of Bhojas [Kamsa], as a human being like themselves to the ignorant folk, as the absolute truth [tattvam param] to the yogis, and as the Supreme Lord [param devata] to the Vrisnis.
[SB 10.43.17]
Haberman's* footnote to this verse:
This is a very important verse for Rūpa Goswami's religious typology or rasa theology, because it indicates that Krsna takes many different forms depending upon the capacity and mood of his veiwers or devotee. Here, however, it illustrates that Krsna has an emotional effect on the hearts of all those who witness him enter Kamsa's arena.
Srila Sridhara Svami quotes the following verse, which explains the ten attitudes toward Krsna described here:
raudro ’dbhutas ca srngaro
hasyam viro daya tatha
bhayanakas ca bibhatsah
santah sa-prema-bhaktikah
"[There are ten different moods:] fury [perceived by the wrestlers], wonder [by the men], amorous attraction [the women], laughter [the cowherds], chivalry [the kings], mercy [His parents], terror [Kamsa], abhorrence [the unintelligent], peaceful neutrality [the yogis] and loving devotion [the Vrsnis]."
Jiva Goswami krama sandarbha:
This verse shows various perceptions of Kṛṣṇa.
A small part from Jiva Goswami Vaishnava tosani tika (he has a very long tika, several pages):
Śrīdhara Svāmī says that here Kṛṣṇa is described as the conglomera on of all rasas since he is both the cause of rasa and its effect. Śru says raso vai saḥ rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhānandī bhava : the Lord is rasa, and attaining that rasa one attains bliss (Tairīya Upaniṣad). The particulars are as follows. The wrestlers, who were proud, thinking themselves the best of warriors, became angry because Kṛṣṇa, whose limbs were like thunderbolts and who acted with disregard, disrespected those who were also like thunderbolts, and in this state entered the arena. The wrestlers exhibited krodha-sthāyi-bhāva and raudra-rasa. The cizens of Mathurā, other than the wicked Kaṁsa and his followers, on seeing his extraordinary pastimes, were amazed. They exhibited vismayasthāyi-bhāva and adbhuta-rasa. The women of Mathurā other than the elder women manifested rati while thinking of him as their beloved. They exhibited priyatā-sthāyi-bhava and śṛṅgāra-rasa. His friends of the same age such as Śrīdāmā exhibited hāsa-sthāyi-bhāva and hāysa-rasa on seeing with unrestricted hearts his extraordinary costume decorated with the elephant’s blood and mada. The wicked kings saw him as a punisher. They experienced vīrya-rasa and the sthāyi-bhāva called utsāha on seeing his extreme courage. Devakī and Vasudeva, or Vasudeva and Nanda (pitroḥ) and others as well with similar sentiments experienced śoka-sthāyi-bhava and karuṇa-rasa, worrying about the evil intentions of the wrestlers since they thought his body was so because they saw him as a baby. The word dayā also indicates this rasa. Kaṁsa saw him as the cause of his death. This is the bhaya-sthāyī-bhāva and bhayānaka-rasa. The ignorant experienced jugupsa-sthāyī-bhāva and bībatsa-rasa (disgust) since they thought he was a material, imperfect person, even though the wise understood him to have a body of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Among yogīs, those who were devotees with some jñāna (jñāni-bhaktas) saw him as the param brahman, and experienced śānta-sthāyī and śānta-rasa. Śamo man-niṣṭhatā buddheḥ: śama means fixing the intelligence in me. (SB 11.19.36) Thus śānta-rasa means being fixed in Kṛṣṇa with peacefulness. Śānta refers to that affection which takes shelter of his svarūpa while there is an absence of all material desires, possessing affection for him while at the same me having an absence of more intense bhāvas like dāsya or sakhya. He was most worshipable for the Vṛṣṇis. He produced sa-prema-bhak (dāsya). This means that they had bhakti with knowledge of him as being worshipable. Prema-bhak was their sthāyi-bhāva. This is called sa-premabhakti in Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary.
A verse summarizes the rasas:
raudro ’dbhutaḥ śucir atho dhṛta-sakhya hāso vīro ’tha vatsalayutaḥ karuṇo bhayāṅkaḥ bībatsa-saṁjña udito ’tha thaiva śāntaḥ, sapremabhakir it te dvyadhika daśa syuḥ
The twelve rasas are raudra, adbhuta, śṛṅgāra, sakhya, hāsya, vīra, vatsala, karuṇa, bhayānaka, bībhatsa, śānta, and dāsya. The description of rasas in the verse is not in proper order, since the verse describes the people as they were seen.(...)
A small part of Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's tika:
This verse shows that Kṛṣṇa is the personified essential purport of all the Upanisads. Kṛṣṇa, who is declared in the Sruti to be the great original form of all rasa (mahā-rasasvarūpa), manifested Himself within the wrestling arena to the different types of people present in accordance with their particular mentalities.
This is a very wonderful thing, and an important point in our gaudiya vaishnava theology, that we can have different relationships with Krsna. And what is even more wonderful — Krishna responses accordingly to the type of the devotion [bhava] of the worshipper with the worshipper. That means everything is very personal and individual, and ones spiritual life is very much depending upon one's personal taste [which one gets through association - that means from ones guru].
That we all can have different relationships to Krsna is basic siddhanta. But that we attain the same relationship with Krsna, which we meditate now during our sadhana, is probably less known. Even it is mentioned all over in our shastras:
Bhagavad-gita 4.11
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्। मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश:॥११॥
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante
tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham
mama vartmānuvartante
manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
According to the manner in which they approach Me, I reciprocate/favour them in that very manner. O son of Pṛthā, human beings follow My path in every way.
यं यं वापि स्मरन् भावं त्यजत्यन्ते कलेवरम्। तं तमेवैति कौन्तेय सदा तद्भावभावित:॥६॥
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram |
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ ||6||
O son Kunti, whatever object one contemplates at the time of death while giving up the body, that and that only he attains, having been constantly absorbed in thoughts of it.
[Bhagavad-gita 8.6]
tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām
yad-yad-dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat-tad-vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya
Gita Press translation:
The path leading to You can be discovered only by hearing Your praises etc., and You surly dwell in the lotus-like hearts of Your devotee's, purified through the practice of devotion. In order to oblige Your devotees You assume that very form in which they think of You, O Lord, who are profusely praised!
[Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.11]
Bhanu Swami's translation:
O Lord! You, who are approached by being heard about, seen and directly served, enter and remain in the lotus of your devotee’s hearts infused with bhakti-yoga.
Much praised Lord! By your mercy, you bestow to them spiritual bodies appropriate to the mood they think of You during sādhana.
[Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.11]
Tapasyananda's translation:
11. O Lord! Discernible through the descriptions of Thy glory in devotional scriptures, Thou abidest in the heart-lotus of devotees purified by loving devotion for Thee. O Thou whose glory is being sung everywhere! Thou dost manifest, for the blessing of Thy devotees, in whatever form they contemplate on You
[Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.11]
Srila Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains – te sādhaka-bhaktāḥ sva sva bhāvānurūpaṁ yad yad dhiyā bhāvayanti tat tad eva vapus teṣāṁ siddha dehaṁ praṇayase prakarṣeṇa tān prāpayasi aho te sva bhakta pāravaśyam iti bhāvaḥ –
“Or your devotees doing sādhana concentrate on their spiritual form according to their mood of love using their minds, and you have them attain (praṇayase) their spiritual bodies. You become dependent on your devotee.”
Gajendra says in Śrīmad Bhāgavat 8.3.19 –
yaṁ dharma-kāmārtha-vimukti-kāmā
bhajanta iṣṭāṁ gatim āpnuvanti
kiṁ cāśiṣo rāty api deham avyayaṁ
karotu me 'dabhra-dayo vimokṣaṇam
"Persons desiring dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa worship the Lord and attain the desired destination. What to speak of other benedictions, they also receive [their desired] a spiritual body. May that Lord of unlimited mercy liberate me and bestow such a spiritual body."
|| 7.1.26 ||
tasmād vairānubandhena
nirvaireṇa bhayena vā
snehāt kāmena vā yuñjyāt
kathañcin nekṣate pṛthak
By continuous enmity, by favorable relationships, or by amorous feelings arising from strong spiritual affection out of fear of transgressing morality as an unmarried lover, or even as a married lover, the mind should concentrate on the Lord. One will realize a relationship with the Lord only according to the mode of practice.
|| 7.1.27 ||
yathā vairānubandhena
martyas tan-mayatām iyāt
na tathā bhakti-yogena
iti me niścitā matiḥ
27. The worm imprisoned by a wasp in a whole in the wall, and constantly made to think of it in anger and fear, becomes converted into the shape of the wasp itself [in his next life when the worm dies in this thoughts/consciousness].
|| 7.1.28 ||
kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtā ruddhaḥ
kuḍyāyāṁ tam anusmaran
saṁrambha-bhaya-yogena
vindate tat-svarūpatām
28. In the same way, their antagonism made persons like Sisupala constantly think of Krishna the Supreme Being who had assumed the shape of man through Maya. By such constant thought their minds were purified and they attained to Him.
|| 7.1.29 ||
evaṁ kṛṣṇe bhagavati
māyā-manuja īśvare
vaireṇa pūta-pāpmānas
tam āpur anucintayā
29. Being cleansed of all their impurities by fixing their minds on the Supreme Lord through lust, anger, fear, affection or Bhakti, many have attained suitable forms [siddha-deha] after asorbing their minds in the Lord.
|| 7.1.30 ||
kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehād
yathā bhaktyeśvare manaḥ
āveśya tad-aghaṁ hitvā
bahavas tad-gatiṁ gatāḥ
30. The Gopis through lust, Kamsa through fear, Sisupala and other kings through hatred, the Vrishnis and other allies through kinship, you (Pandavas) through affection, and we (sages) through Bhakti—these, O great King, are examples of the above-mentioned doctrine.
|| 7.1.31 ||
gopyaḥ kāmād bhayāt kaṁso
dveṣāc caidyādayo nṛpāḥ
sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād
yūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho
My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira! The gopīs by their amorous desires, Kaṁsa by his fear, Śiśupāla and other kings by envy, and the Yadus and you Pāṇḍavas by your affectionate family relationships with Kṛṣṇa, and we, by our (vaidhi) bhakti, have obtained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa.
|| 7.1.32 ||
katamo 'pi na venaḥ syāt
pañcānāṁ puruṣaṁ prati
tasmāt kenāpy upāyena
manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet
Any of the five types of persons, but not King Vena, will attain their objectives in relation to the Lord [by thinking of the Lord in ones desired mood/bhava]. Therefore, one should somehow think of Kṛṣṇa, by one of the favorable [desired] methods.
In the 11th canto, almost the same example is given:
|| 11.9.22 ||
yatra yatra mano dehī
dhārayet sakalaṁ dhiyā
snehād dveṣād bhayād vāpi
yāti tat-tat-svarūpatām
Bhanu Swami's translation:
If, out of love, hate or fear, an embodied soul fixes his mind with intelligence and complete concentration upon a particular form, he will certainly attain the form.
Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakur's tika:
It is not surprising that those who constantly meditate on the Lord attain forms similar to his. This the brāhmaṇa learned from the wasp. This is explained in two verses. When the action of the mind does not go elsewhere, the jīva attains a form similar to that of one’s meditation.
Tapasyananda's translation:
22. On whatever objects a person concentrates his mind, whether it be from love, animosity or fear, that person attains the state of that object.
BBT translation:
If out of love, hate or fear an embodied soul fixes his mind with intelligence and complete concentration upon a particular bodily form, he will certainly attain the form that he is meditating upon.
|| 11.9.23 ||
kīṭaḥ peśaskṛtaṁ dhyāyan
kuḍyāṁ tena praveśitaḥ
yāti tat-sātmatāṁ rājan
pūrva-rūpam asantyajan
23. The worm, placed in a hole by the wasp and continually frightened by its buzzing sound, turns into the shape of the wasp, even without giving up its old body.
BBT translation:
O King, once a wasp forced a weaker insect to enter his hive and kept him trapped there. In great fear the weak insect constantly meditated upon his captor, and without giving up his body, he gradually achieved the same state of existence as the wasp. Thus one achieves a state of existence according to one’s constant concentration.
Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu || 1.2.295 ||
sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi |
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ ||295||
Bhanu Swami's translation:
Following after the inhabitants of Vraja, one should perform service in one’s physical body and in one’s siddha body, with a desire for a particular bhāva.
Haberman's translation:
One who is desirous of attaining one of the emotional states [bhava] of the residents of Vraja should perform services in a manner that follows/imitates them with both the practitioner's body (sadhaka-rupa) and the perfected body (siddha-rupa).
Habermans footnote 1 to this verse:
I want to be very clear about my use of the term "imitation," by which I translate the Sanskrit word anuga, since this may be otherwise misunderstood. The term imitation has two connotations for the English speaker. First, the term is used to refer to something that is a fake copy or counterfeit. The second use of the term, commonly employed in a technical fashion by sociologists and psychologists, refers to the performance of an act that involves copying the patterns of behavior and thought of other individuals as a means to enter their world. I use the term imitation only in this latter sense. Donna Wulff has translated anuga as "conforming (oneself) to." [Drama as a Mode of Religious Realization: The Vidagdha Madhava of Rūpa Goswami (Chico, Calif: Scholars Press, 1984), p. 32.1. I also like this translation, especially considering the history of the Latin term confomatio by monastic theologians, such as Bernard of Clairvaux, who were concerned with articulating the "imitation of Christ." Yet I think "imitation" is an equally acceptable translation, if we keep in mind that it is not "mere imitation," but an imitation that includes a particular intention: the realization of the emotional world [bhava] of the one being imitated. Sincere imitation (sadhana) eventually gives way to becoming (bhava). The historian of religions Mircea Eliade also uses the term imitation in this positive sense. For him, it is the "imitation" of a religious paradigm that assures the authenticity of an act. See his Sacred and Profane (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1959).
Habermans footnote 2 to this verse:
Sadhaka-rupa is the physical body of the initiated practitioner, whereas the siddha-rupa is a meditative body. Jiva Goswami glosses the latter as the antas-cintitabhista-tat-sevopa-yogi-deha; that is, "an inwardly conceived body that is useful for performing service to Krsna in the manner one desires." A great debate arose in the tradition regarding just what Rūpa Goswami meant by the imitation of the residents of Vraja with both the sadhaka-rupa, or practitioner's body, and the siddha-rupa, or perfected body. Vishvanatha Cakravarti explains in his commentary on this verse, that there are different models for the two bodies. He argues that one is to follow Rūpa and Sanatana Goswami with the practitioner's body and such gopis as Radha, Lalita, Visakha, and Rūpa Mañjari (the perfected [siddha] form of Rūpa Goswami) with the perfected body only. He makes reference to others, however, who held that the gopis are the models for both bodies.
(what is definitely not the option of the author of this blog, and my guru told me strictly to follow in my sadhaka-deha Rūpa Goswami in a male body, and only in the siddha-deha one can follow Rūpa Mañjari).
Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu
||2.1.220||
nitya-guṇo vanamālī, yad api śikhāmaṇir aśeṣa-netṝṇām |
bhaktāpekṣikam asya, trividhatvaṁ likhyate tad api ||220||
Even though Kṛṣṇa is the topmost jewel among unlimited heroes endowed with eternal qualities, He is described as having three forms, which manifest according to the type of devotion in the devotee.
Here this verse of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, is related more to Krishna's character and his qualities which He showes/manifest, and not his rasa with a devotee, but still, the point is the same — according how the devotee approaches Krishna, He responses in the same way, which touches the devotees heart the most.
Srila Jiva Goswami has explained in Bhakti sandarbha:
tatra bhūta-śuddhir nijābhilaṣita bhagavat
sevaupayogika tat pārṣada deha bhāvanā
Bhūta śuddhi means that one meditates on one's own desired siddha deha which is fit for serving the Lord
[Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says in Bhakti Sandarbha 286]
kecid ashtadasakshara-dhyanam go-dohana-samaya-vamsi-vadya-samakrishta-tat- tat-sarvamayatvena bhavayanti | yatha caike tadrisam upasanam sakshad vraja- jana-viseshayaiva mahyam sri-guru-caranair mad-abhishta-visesha-siddhy-artham upadishtam bhavayami ||
Some, while remembering the eighteen-syllable mantra, meditate on the pastimes of tending cows and playing flute, becoming attracted and absorbed in them. In such upasana (worship), in order to attain my specifically desired perfection, I should meditate on that very form of a resident of Vraja my revered guru has instructed me in.
[Bhakti-sandarbha 312]
divyaṁ jñānaṁ hyatra śrīmatī mantre bhagavat svarūpa jñānaṁ tena bhagavatā sambandha viśeṣa jñānaṁ ca yathā padmottara khaṇḍādāv aṣṭākṣarādikam adhikṛtya vivṛtam asti
Here the word divya jñāna refers to knowledge of the empowered mantra being the very form of the Lord, and that through it the aspirant will achieve knowledge of his specific relationship with the Lord, Who is the Presiding Deity over the mantra.
[Śrī Bhakti Sandarbha 283, Śrīmat Jīva Gosvāmīpāda]
rāgānugā mārge anutpanna rati sādhaka bhaktair api svepsita siddha dehaṁ manasi parikalpya
On the rāgānugā-path even sādhaka bhaktas who have no rati yet can think of his own desired siddha deha."
(Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja’s Sāraṅga Rangadā ṭīkā of Kṛṣṇa Karṇāmṛta - verse 3)
Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāja in Caitanya Caritāmṛta:
mone nija siddha deha koriyā bhāvan,
Think of your own desired siddha deha as a sādhana
[CC Madhya-lila 22.155-6]
yugala carana sevi, nirantara ei bhavi,
anuragi thakibo sadaya.
sadhana bhavibo yaha, siddha-dehe pabo taha
raga pathera ei se upaya (55)
“I will always think of the [devotional] service of the Yugalas [the youthful pair Radha and Krnsa] lotus-feet, and I will always remain attached to that. Whatever I think of during my sadhana [spiritual practice] I will attain in my siddha deha [when I reach perfection]. This is the means of raga-bhakti.”
(Prema-bhakti Candrikā by Narottama dās Thākur)
sadhane ye dhana cai, siddha dehe taha pai,
pakkapakka matra se vicara
apakke sadhana riti, pakile se prema-bhakti,
bhakati lakshana tattva sara (56)
“The treasure I desire as a sadhaka [practitioner] I will get when I attain my siddha-deha [spiritual body]; it’s just a question of being ripe or unripe. The ripe stage is the stage of prema-bhakti and the unripe stage is the stage of sadhana [practice]. That is the essential truth about devotional principles.”
stage.
(Prema-bhakti Candrikā by Narottama dās Thākur)
For repetition, relishment and clarity:
'sādhane bhāvibe yāhā, siddha deha pābe tāhā'
Whatever siddha deha one thinks of during one’s sādhana is what one attains in siddha stage.
(Premabhakti Candrikā by Narottama dās Thākur)
mantre tīrthe dvije deve daivajñe bheṣaje gurau |
yādṛśī bhāvanā yasya siddhir bhavati tādṛśī
In the mantra, in the holy water, in the brahmin, in the god, in the astrologer, in the medicine or in the guru. Whatever you contemplate you will achieve siddha accordingly.
[Panchatantra 5.98]
yādṛśī bhāvanā yasya siddhir bhavati tādṛśī —
"One’s perfection will be according to one’s mood and thoughts during the phase of spiritual practice.”
[That the svarup is not dormant in the heart of the jiva and that we didn't fall from the spiritual world I will not discuss here, there are also already enough blogs, post which explains that. And I guess with this quotes everything is clear. People who think the opposite because their guru teaches apasiddhanta are just unlucky.]
For us Gaudiya Vaishnava's, the main rasa is madhurya rasa, which becomes very clear by studying Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Caitanya Caritāmṛta, and basically all Goswamis books, it is just ALL about madhurya rasa. In particular gopi bhava, even more in particular it is manjari bhava, but about this are already so many blogs written and i don't want to show this in this blog. But Krsna is after all the embodiment of ALL rasa's.
Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu
||1.1.1||
akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ prasṛmara-ruci-ruddha-tārakā-pāliḥ |
kalita-śyāmā-lalito rādhā-preyān vidhur jayati ||1||
Glory be to Krsna, the embodiment of all nectarean rasas, who has captivated Taraka and Palika with his radiant beauty, excited Syama and Lalita, and is the beloved of Radha.
[Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.1.1]
Haberman footnote 1:
Rasa can here briefly be defined as "religio(spiritual)-aesthetic enjoyment." For a discussion of Rasa and Rūpa Goswami's views on it, see the introduction**. For Rūpa Goswami, Rasa is the highest reality and the aim of devotion, and is simultaneously multiple (eight or twelve) and one (based on the single sthahyi-bhava [Foundational Emotion] of love for Krsna). In his commentary on this verse Jiva Goswami quotes the famous verse from the Bhagavata Purana (10.43.17) in which Krsna enters the arena of Kamsa in Mathura and appears differently to all the spectators. In his commentary on this important verse from the Bhagavata, Sridhara calls Krsna the sarva-rasa-kadamba- murti ("he whose form is the assemblage of all rasas") See also SB 4.8.84 & 85 for another expression of Krsna assuming all Rasas.
**
Small except of Haberman's introduction:
The term rasa originally meant "sap," "juice," or "essence," and by extension "flavor," "taste," and "enjoyment." It was used in the early Upanisads to mean "essence," and is often associated with "joy" (ananda). The Taittiriya Upanishad, for example, claims: "Verily he (atman) is rasa. One becomes joyful only after obtaining rasa. . . . That rasa alone causes a joy."(2.7). Although later aestheticians easily read their meaning back into these early Upanisadic texts, the concept of rasa inherited by Rūpa Goswami came out of the specific context of aesthetics, particularly out of reflections on the nature of dramatic experience. Within this context the term rasa is best translated as "dramatic sentiment," or "aesthetic enjoyment." To better understand this usage we must turn to the discussion of rasa found in the Natyashastra the legendary sage Bharata, the earliest of the dramatic texts. The
Natyashastra is an elaborate and authoritative treatise on drama, and as such is the oldest text to mention rasa as a definable aesthetic principle.(...)
Rūpa Goswami was certainly not the first to treat bhakti as rasa, although I think it could safely be said that he was the first to analyze the notion in a detailed and systematic manner.
||2.1.5||
vibhāvair anubhāvaiś ca sāttvikair vyabhicāribhiḥ |
svādyatvaṁ hṛdi bhaktānām ānītā śravaṇādibhiḥ |
eṣā kṛṣṇa-ratiḥ sthāyi-bhāvo bhakti-raso bhavet ||5||
This rati [love] for Kṛṣṇa, called the sthāyi-bhāva [Foundational Emotion], takes on a pleasurable nature in the hearts of the devotees, it is raised by means of the vibhāvas [Excitants], anubhāvas [Indications], sāttvika-bhāvas [Responses] and vyabhicāri-bhāvas [Transitory Emotions], through activities such as hearing, and then becomes bhakti-rasa.
Also the different ingredients of rasa I will not explain in this blog, there are enough other blogs who explain that, and after all, this is the main part of Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu in the second part of the book.
Haberman footnote 2:
This verse has an important double meaning. I have therefore translated it with two separate verses in English.
Haberman footnote 3:
The proper nouns here refer to gopis, the beautiful cowherd women, who are considered to be the highest exemplary lovers of Krsna.
And the last one:
vaikunthasya bhagavato jyotir-amsa-bhuta vaikuntha-loka-sobha-rupa ya ananta murtayas tatra vartante tasam ekaya saha muktasyaikasya murtir bhagavata kriyata iti vaikuntasya murtir iva murtir yesham ity uktam
In the spiritual world, Bhagavan [Supreme Lord] has unlimited spiritual forms. They all are expansions of Himself illuminating that world. With each one of those forms, the Lord enjoys pastimes with a single individual liberated soul.”
[Jiva Goswami in Priti Sandarbha 10]
*David L. Haberman is a devotee scholar und diksit [diksa-initiated] in the Radha-Vallabha sampradaya. He translated Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu, to my opinion most wonderfully. Also his understanding of the rasa-siddhanta is impressive. He wrote several books about Vrindavan, Yamuna, Goverdhana etc.
My beloved gurubhai, mentor and friend Advaita das, wrote 2020 already an blog
about the famous and important verse from the Bhagavatam 10.43.17, which I want to add here with his permission. The blog is brilliant, as everything from Advaita das.
None of my blogs is without his help. Everything in my life is the mercy of Radha and Krnsa, Advaita Prabhu, Sadhu Baba and Advaita Das.
Blog from Advaita Da:
Friday, December 25, 2020
Vrajavāsīs and Vṛṣṇis' distinction confirmed
In the famous Śrīmad-Bhāgavat-verse mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān (10.43.17), which describes how all the spectators to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma’s entry into King Kaṁsa’s arena had different feelings towards Kṛṣṇa, the Vṛṣṇis have a clearly different vision of Kṛṣṇa than the Vrajavāsīs - that shows that the distinction between their attitudes is not newly made up by the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava ācāryas. About the Vrajavāsīs the verse says gopānāṁ sva-jano - “The cowherds saw Him as their own”, meaning gopānāṁ śrīdāmādīnāṁ svajano vayasyaḥ (Vaiṣṇava Toṣaṇī ṭīkā), “The cowherd boys like Śrīdāma saw Him as a friend”, while vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito, "The Vṛṣṇis saw Him as the Supreme Lord." vṛṣṇīnāṁ paramārādhya iti, „The Vṛṣṇis saw Him as their most worshipable Lord” (Vaiṣṇava Toṣaṇī ṭīkā). In other words, the Vrajavāsīs clearly show a sweet, intimate human-like attitude towards Kṛṣṇa, while the Vṛṣṇis show a reverent attitude of awe towards Him. Everything the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas teach about the difference between aiśvarya (reverential worship of Kṛṣṇa) and mādhurya (a sweet, intimate attitude towards Him) is anchored in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavata! Hence Śrīnātha Cakravartīpāda, the disciple of Śrī Advaita Ācārya, says: śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalam – “The scripture Śrīmad-bhāgavata is the spotless authority.”
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