20260202 Śrī Caitanya-śīksāmṛta 7.7. Conjugal Bhakti-rasa

Seventh Shower — Rasa vicāra (Analysis of the mellows)

Seventh Stream — Conjugal Bhakti-rasa

Note: Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.3.23

sattvaṁ viśuddhaṁ vasudeva-śabditaṁ
yad īyate tatra pumān apāvṛtaḥ
sattve ca tasmin bhagavān vāsudevo
hy adhokṣajo me namasā vidhīyate

I am always engaged in offering obeisances to Lord Vāsudeva in pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is always pure consciousness, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Vāsudeva, is revealed without any covering.

His own form, qualities, and actions are also suffused with śuddha-sattva. The jīva bound by māyā is mixed with rajas and tamas.”

The Gosvāmī said, “Bābā! You have spoken a most subtle conclusion. Now tell me—how is the heart of the jīva illumined by pure existence (śuddha-sattā)?”

By the mercy of Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇavas, pure existence (śuddha-sattva) arises.

Vijaya said, “Prabhu! As long as the jīva remains bound in the material world (jaḍa-jagat), pure existence does not manifest clearly. To the extent that it does arise, to that extent the jīva attains realization of its own true nature (sva-svarūpa). No amount of material knowledge-effort (jaḍīya-jñāna-ceṣṭā) or action-effort (karma-ceṣṭā) can produce that result. If filth is smeared on the body, it cannot be cleansed by another kind of filth. Material action itself is impurity—how can it purify impurity? Discriminative knowledge (vyatireka-jñāna, knowledge that separates, analyzes, or negates) is of the nature of fire and when applied to a being contaminated by impurity (mala-duṣita-sattā), it burns that very being to the point of destruction. How, then, can it offer the joy that comes from purification? Therefore, it is only through devotion (bhakti) rooted in the mercy of guru, Kṛṣṇa, and Vaiṣṇavas that śuddha-sattva arises. It is śuddha-sattva alone that illumines the heart. Now, kindly instruct—how many types of nāyaka (heroes) are there?”

Jayapataka Swami: So, in material life naturally we are thinking of material desires. There was one journalist who came from the BBC to Māyāpur. Somehow I took him on the river Ganges and I mentioned something about we should not try for sense gratification. He said why not? Is that not the purpose of life? To enjoy the senses? So, the materially conditioned souls do not understand the bliss! They don’t understand the basic topic that we are not the body! They think they are the body, and think that gratifying the body’s demands is the purpose of life. But we have a different perspective. We don’t want to be go-dāsas but go-svāmīs. We want to control the senses by engaging them in Krsna’s service. This is the essence of bhakti-yoga!

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The Gosvāmī said, “Vijaya! Kṛṣṇa manifests four types of nāyaka (hero): dhīrodātta (noble and exalted), dhīralalita (graceful and playful), dhīraśānta (serene and composed), and dhīroddhata (proud and bold). Within these four types of nāyaka, He performs two kinds of pastimes as pati (wedded husband) and upapati (paramour).”

Note:

pūrvokta dhīrodāttādi caturbhedasya tasya tu
patiś copapatiś ceti prabhedāv itthaṁ viśrutau
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 1.10)

gambhīro vinayī kṣantā karuṇaḥ sudṛḍha-vrataḥ
akatthano gūḍha-garvo dhīrodāttaḥ susattva-bhṛt

A dhīrodātta is a person who is naturally very grave, gentle, forgiving, merciful, determined, humble, highly qualified, chivalrous and physically attractive.

vidagdho nava-tāruṇyaḥ parihāsa-viśāradaḥ
niścinto dhīra-lalitaḥ syāt prāyaḥ preyasī-vaśaḥ

A person is called dhīra-lalita if he is naturally very funny, always in full youthfulness, expert in joking and free from all anxieties. Such a dhīra-lalita personality is generally found to be domesticated and very submissive to his lover.

śama-prakṛtikaḥ kleśa-sahanaś ca vivecakaḥ
vinayādi-guṇopeto dhīra-śānta udīryate

A person who is very peaceful, forbearing, considerate and obliging is called dhīra-praśānta.

mātsaryavān ahaṅkārī māyāvī roṣaṇaś calaḥ
vikatthanaś ca vidvadbhir dhīroddhata udāhṛtaḥ

A person who is very envious, proud, easily angered, restless and complacent is called dhīroddhata by learned scholars.

Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.1.226, 230, 233, 236)

Jayapataka Swami: So these four qualities of the heroes are also present in Lord Kṛṣṇa. So this is very amazing that how Kṛṣṇa, He embodies all these transcendental qualities. And as a result, He is the object of love of the vraja-vāsīs.

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Vijaya said, “O Master! What are the types of Kṛṣṇa’s roles as pati (wedded husband) and upapati (paramour)?”

Pārakīya-rasa (Paramour Mellow)

Gosvāmī said, “This is a very deep mystery. The transcendental dynamics (cid-vyāpāra) is a secret jewel, within which parakīya-madhura-rasa is the kaustubha—distinct among all such jewels. When nirviśeṣa (impersonal, without variegatedness) conception is applied to the Supreme Reality, then no rasa (mellow) remains. The Vedic statements such as ‘raso vai saḥ’ become meaningless. In that, there is a complete absence of joy and therefore the nirviśeṣa (impersonal, without variegatedness) conception is not palatable. The more the saviśeṣa (personal with varieties of energy) moods are manifest, the more rasa develops. Rasa should be considered the principal truth. Even a slight mood of personal nature of the Supreme is superior to the nirviśeṣa conception. The mood of master-servant in dāsya-rasa is superior to the mood of Godhood in śānta-rasa. In the mood of sakhya, the excellence of rasa increases further. In vātsalya, it rises even higher. The mood in madhura-rasa is superior to vātsalya. Just as increasing excellence is seen in all these rasas, similarly, parakīya-madhura-rasa is seen to be superior to svakīya. The concepts of “mine” (ātmā) and “other” (para) are two distinct truths. From the nature of ātma-niṣṭhā (self-focused spiritual absorption) arises ātmārāmatā—self-delight, and since there is no distinct support for rasa, rasa does not manifest therein. Though Kṛṣṇa’s ātmarāmatā—His self-delight—is eternal, even His nature of līlā-rāmatā—delight in pastimes—is also similarly eternal. For the Supreme Person, the harmonious coexistence of seemingly opposing qualities is His natural attribute. Although Kṛṣṇa’s self-delight (ātma-rāmatā) is eternal, His delight in līlā (līlā-rāmatā) is also eternally real. For the Supreme Person, harmonizing opposing qualities is His inherent nature.

Jayapataka Swami: So, rasa, we could translate that as love. Different types of love for Kṛṣṇa are there and that is said as rasas. So, the idea is that we can share with this exchange of eternal rasa, eternal love for Kṛṣṇa and so whatever material situation is, above that comes our appreciation of Kṛṣṇa’s love, rasa. So one may be a gṛhastha and have material regulated sex life or maybe in the renounced order. But if everyone chants Hare Kṛṣṇa and engages in devotional service then, they are Vaiṣṇavas or Vaiṣṇavīs! So, we want to promote this that everyone should become a Vaiṣṇava. That is our basic thing. The Indian leaders are saying that we don’t want FDG. I say that we should ban for life, FDG! Ban everybody who is not a Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇavī! We are only pro-VDGs, not FDGs. So, I mean, there are many ślokas in the Vedas that say about women, śūdras, but in the Hari-bhakti-vilāsa, all these restrictive statements are for the non-Vaiṣṇavas or non-Vaiṣṇavīs. So like this, I am trying to fight that we can establish a proper thing, a proper siddhānta. I am trying to initially produce some videos and eventually will have some book or books. I think today we heard a little bit about Kṛṣṇa’s bhakti and the different rasas, and their comparison. So we want to be completely absorbed in serving Kṛṣṇa in His different forms of love and rasa.

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Thank you very much! Please accept my blessings. Kṛṣṇe matir astu!