Ninth Wave: Incomplete Expression of Mellows
Rasābhāsa
pūrvam evānuśiṣṭena vikalā rasa-lakṣaṇā |
rasā eva rasābhāsā rasa-jñair anukīrtitāḥ ||4.9.1||
“What appears to be rasa but is without the previously-mentioned characteristics is called rasābhāsa by the knowers of rasa.”
syus tridhoparasāś cānu-rasāś cāparasāś ca te |
uttamā madhyamāḥ proktāḥ kaniṣṭhāś cety amī kramāt ||4.9.2||
“Rasābhāsas are classed as three types: uttama, madhyama and kaniṣṭha, or uparasa, anurasa and aparasa.”
atra uparasāḥ —
prāptaiḥ sthāyi-vibhāvānu-bhāvādyais tu virūpatām |
śāntādayo rasā eva dvādaśoparasā matāḥ ||4.9.3||
“When the sthāyī-bhāva, vibhāva and anubhāva take on distorted forms, the twelve rasas starting with śānta-rasa are called uparasa.”
||4.9.4||
Śāntoparasa arises from accepting the impersonal brahman feature of the Lord, from contemplating oneness of everything with the Lord, from continual disdain for the body, and from discrimination of cit and acit.
||4.9.5||
Accepting the brahman form of the Lord:
“Seeing You, the ancient person, today I have realized the bliss of impersonal brahman which arises in samādhi purified by the splendor of knowledge.”
||4.9.6||
Contemplating oneness:
“Whatever objects I see, I see as You alone, because there is nothing other than You as the cause of all causes and effects, O pure one!”
||4.9.7||
“Prītoparasa (dāsyoparasa) arises by showing audacity in the presence of the Lord, disrespecting His devotees, seeing the devatās as more important than the Lord, and ignoring the rules.”
||4.9.8||
Showing audacity:
“After showing off his lack of bodily control while dancing and being ignored by the devotees, the fickle, shameless brāhmaṇa boy addressed the Deity of Kṛṣṇa in a bold voice, ‘O Lord! Look at me!’ In this way he showed his love for the Lord.”
||4.9.9||
“Preyānuparasa (sakhyoparasa) arises by one-sided friendship, disrespect for Kṛṣṇa’s friends and excessive fighting.”
||4.9.10||
One-sided friendship:
“When Kṛṣṇa addressed a king as His friend, the king replied, ‘I am not qualified to be Your friend.’ When Kṛṣṇa joked with him, the king began to recite prayers of praise to Him. When Kṛṣṇa embraced him, the king began to offer respects on the ground.”
||4.9.11||
“Vatsaloparasa arises from recognizing too much power in the Lord, from making no effort to care for the Lord affectionately as a child, and from excessive suffering.”
||4.9.12||
Seeing too much power in the Lord:
“O sister! Ever since I saw your son kill the wrestlers as hard as mountains, I
cannot be disturbed even if He engages in extended battles.”
||4.9.13||
Madhuroparasa:
“The sthāyī-bhāva of madhura-rasa is distorted where the love between two persons is one-sided or where one of the persons has many lovers. The distortion of the vibhāva brings about a distortion in the sthāyī-bhāva.”
||4.9.14||
One-sided love, from Lalita-mādhava:
“Though the fire of cupid began to smolder in the brāhmaṇas’ wives, Kṛṣṇa avoided their spontaneous, sweet smiles. He hid the restless glances from His eyes. An indescribable state of peace appeared in Kṛṣṇa’s mind.”
||4.9.15||
“The intention of the previous verse is also to point out the temporary nature of the wives’ rati (atyanta abhāvaḥ). However, madhuroparasa does not arise here solely because the rati did not exist previously.”
||4.9.16||
Rati for several persons:
“O Rādhā! O friend! O chaste woman! Seeing Balarāma perform pastimes on this earth and hearing the sound of Mādhava’s flute, You have been divided into two parts by Cupid.”
||4.9.17||
“Some say that madhuroparasa arises when the male lover does not distinguish between many types of women and treats all of them equally.”
||4.9.18||
“There is irregularity in the vibhāva (āśrayas) where there is lack of cleverness, suitability, good dress and purity. This irregularity is present in creepers, animals, the Pulinda women and old women.”
||4.9.19||
Creepers:
“The creepers that had become soft by Kṛṣṇa’s glance are oozing honey on hearing the sound of His flute. They reveal the love for Kṛṣṇa that has sprouted in their hearts by displaying goosebumps in the form of buds sprouting on their limbs.”
||4.9.20||
Animals:
“O friend! See these fortunate deer, experiencing extraordinary bliss on the bank of the Yamunā. Today, purified by Kṛṣṇa’s sideways glance, they are casting playful glances of conjugal love at His limbs.”
||4.9.21||
Pulinda women:
“Look here! The Pulinda women, seeing the restless eyes of Hari on the bank of the Yamunā, are wandering about with their hairs standing on end.”
||4.9.22||
Old women:
“Look, Rādhā! This old woman has dyed her hair black using kajjala and has raised her breasts by inserting bilva fruit in her bodice. She makes Kṛṣṇa smile as she throws amorous glances at Him.”
||4.9.23||
“If there is irregularity in the sthāyī-bhāva because of one-sided love, then the example will also show irregularity in the vibhāva. Previously it was said that irregularity in the vibhāva will produce irregularity in the sthāyī-bhāva.”
||4.9.24||
“It is said that proper conditions for madhura-rasa arise from purity, appropriate form and species, cleverness in love and good dress. Any lack of these qualities in the ālambana creates ābhāsa in the vibhāva of madhura- rasa.”
||4.9.25||
“The wise say that irregularity in the anubhāva consists of transgressing the codes of conduct, vulgarity and audacity.”
||4.9.26||
“The proper conduct for a woman who has been neglected by her lover is to show anger. The proper conduct for a man who has been hit by flowers thrown by his lover is to smile. For the man and woman to act otherwise is called transgression of normal conduct.”
||4.9.27||
Improper conduct:
“O Lord! Though You are marked by the nails of other lovers, I give up all shyness and request that You please accept me, who am Your servant residing on Mount Kailāsa.”
||4.9.28||
Vulgarity:
“Using unsuitable words such as bāla (child), using disagreeable language and scratching the buttocks are called vulgarity by the wise.”
||4.9.29||
Unsuitable words:
“O baby cowherd! How is it that You loosen the belts of us young snake girls living in the land of Kāliya by the sound of Your flute?”
||4.9.30||
Audacity:
“To request Kṛṣṇa for enjoyment overtly is called boldness.”
||4.9.31||
“O my lover! O Govinda! Living in a bower on Mount Kailasa, I am of the late kaiśora age and attractive, and You are clever in love affairs. What more can be said?”
||4.9.32||
“In a similar manner, the wise are able to understand uparasas of the secondary rasas such as hāsya, etc.”
||4.9.33||
“If the devotees as ālambanas and other elements are devoid of a relationship with Kṛṣṇa when expressing a certain rasa, then anurasa arises for the seven secondary rasas and śānta-rasa.”
||4.9.34||
An example of hāsyanurasa:
“When the female monkey Kakkhaṭi moved her eyebrows and danced furiously, all the cowherd boys laughed loudly.”
||4.9.35||
An example of adbhutānurasa:
“Hearing the prolonged debate on Vedānta among the parrots in creepers climbing the Bhāṇdira tree, Nārada’s eyes stopped blinking in wonder and his hairs stood on end.”
||4.9.36||
“Anurasa for vīra and the other secondary rasas should be understood in a similar way.”
||4.9.37||
“If the seven secondary rasas or śānta-rasa appear in neutral devotees with
Kṛṣṇa as the vibhāva etc. it is still considered anurasa.”
||4.9.38||
“If Kṛṣṇa becomes the viṣaya and His enemies become the āśraya of hāsya
and other secondary rasas, it is called aparasa by the wise.”
||4.9.39||
“Seeing Kṛṣṇa fleeing from far away, Jarāsandha began to laugh repeatedly.”
||4.9.40||
“In a similar way, one should understand examples of aparasa for adbhūta and other rasas. Some persons consider superior rasābhāsa (uparasa) to be rasa, because it has a relishable nature.”
||4.9.41||
For instance it is said:
“Some experts in rasa say that all bhāvas, even bhāvābhāsa and rasābhāsa are rasa, since they are enjoyable.”
bhāratādyāś catasras tu rasāvasthāna-sūcikāḥ |
vṛttayo nāṭya-mātṛtvād uktā nāṭaka-lakṣaṇe ||4.9.42||
“The four styles such as bharatī that indicate a condition of rasa in speech and drama have been explained in the work Nāṭaka-candrikā, since they are suitable only for drama.”
granthasya gaurava-bhayād asyā bhakti-rasa-śriyaḥ |
samāhṛtiḥ samāsena mayā seyaṃ vinirmitā ||
“For fear of making the work too long, I have gathered together the wealth of knowledge of bhakti-rasa in this work in summary form.”
gopāla-rūpa-śobhāṃ dadhad api raghunātha-bhāva-visārī |
tuṣyatu sanātano’sminn uttara-bhāge rasāmṛtāmbhodheḥ ||
“May He with eternal form, who possesses the beauty of a cowherd boy’s form, and who spreads His bhāvas to Rāmacandra and other forms, be pleased with this Northern Ocean of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.”
Alternate translation:
“May Sanātana Gosvāmī, who spread the mood of love expressed by Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī and nourished the love of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, be pleased with the Northern Ocean of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.”
iti śrī-śrī-bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhāv uttara-vibhāge
rasābhāsa-laharī navamī ||
“Thus ends the Ninth Wave of the Northern Ocean of Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, concerning rasābhāsa.”
iti śrī-śrī-bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhau
gauṇa-bhakti-rasa-nirūpaṇo nāma caturtho vibhāgaḥ samāptaḥ |
rāmāṅga-śatru-gaṇite śāke gokulam adhiṣṭhitenāyam |
bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhur viṭaṅkitaḥ kṣudra-rūpeṇa ||
This work called Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu was written in meager form in the year 1436 Śāka (1541 AD) while living in Gokula.
samāpto’yaṃ śrī-śrī-bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhuḥ ||
“Thus ends Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.”