The highest truth, the embodiment of supreme consciousness, is rasa. If a person cannot realize rasa, he cannot at all realize the supreme truth.
Thus the Taittirīya Upaniṣad says:
raso vai saḥ
rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhāvati
ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt
yad eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt
eṣa hy evānandayati
The supreme truth is rasa. The jīva becomes blissful on attaining this rasa. Who would work with body and prana, if this blissful, complete form did not exist. He gives bliss to all. (Taitterīya 2.7)
Progressing through faith, steadiness, taste, and attachment, when the relationship with Kṛṣṇa matures into rati, it is called sthāyi bhāva. When this sthāyi bhāva becomes mixed with the ingredients vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika bhāva and vyabhicārī bhāva, it attains a remarkable state called bhakti rasa. The workings of material rasa and spiritual rasa are similar. When there is a sthāyi bhāva directed towards Kṛṣṇa, it becomes bhakti rasa. When the sthāyi bhāva is directed towards enjoyment of sense objects, it becomes the ephemeral material rasa. When the sthāyi bhāva is based on an inclination towards undifferentiated knowledge, it becomes impersonal brahmā rasa. When the sthāyi bhāva is directed into yoga practice, it becomes paramātmā rasa. When a person, before attaining genuine rati, attempts to experience rasa using vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika and vyabhicārī bhāvas, it becomes imperfect, fragmented rasa. Material rasa is insignificant. Let material literature describe this, and let the materalistic enjoyers relish it. The devotee has no interest in this, and discusses the spiritual rasa alone. The differences from brahmā rasa and paramātmā rasa previously mentioned will be discussed later. Now rasa will be clarified by discussing the ingredients.
In the workings of rasa, rati, the sthāyi bhāva (permanent inclination), is the container. It transforms to rasa by combination with the ingredients. There are four ingredients: vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika bhāva and vyabhicārī bhāva. Vibhāva (cause of emotion) has two categories: ālambana and uddīpana. Ālambana (support in the form characters) has two divisions: āśraya and viṣaya. The person possessing sthāyi bhāva is the āśraya or shelter. The person towards whom the sthāyi bhāva is directed is the viṣaya or object. In spiritual rasa, the viṣaya is the worshipable Lord, and the worshipper devotee is the āśraya. The innumerable qualities of the Lord are the uddīpana (stimulus). Dancing, choking up, singing,, speaking loudly, stretching the body, hiccuping, yawning, sighing, disregard for others, drooling, laughing, wailing , grinding the teeth-such visible manifestations of emotion are called anubhāva (external symptoms). Being stunned, sweating, standing of hairs, breaking of voice, shivering, chage of color, tears and fainting-these eight bodily changes due to disturbance of heart and pranas are called sāttvika bhāva (symptoms arising from internal disturbance). The thirty-three symptoms that appear suddenly in the ocean of sthāyi bhāva are called vyabhicārī bhāvas (transitory emotional symptoms). Appearing like waves in the ocean of sthāyi bhāva, these symptoms nourish the state of sthāyi bhāva.
Rasa is of two types: primary and secondary. Primary rasas are five: śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura. Secondary rasas are seven: comedy, wonder, bravery, lamentation, anger, fear and ghastliness.
The five major rasas appear in different persons according to their rati. Śānta rati makes brahman and paramātmā the viṣaya in a state of peace. In a more intense state, the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha becomes the viṣaya. Dāsya rati accepts the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha as viṣaya with admiration of the Lord's power. When the attraction becomes more intense, Kṛṣṇa alone becomes the object in sakhya, vātsalya and madhura rati. Caitanya Caritāmṛta says:
sādhana bhakti haite haya ratira udaya
rati gāḍha haile tā'ra prema nāma kaya
prema vṛddhi krame nāma -sneha, māna, praṇaya
rāga, anurāga, bhāva, mahābhāva haya
yaiche bīja, ikṣu, rasa, guḍa khaṇḍa sāra
śarkarā, sitā-michari, uttama michari āra
ei saba kṛṣṇa bhakti rase sthāyibhāva
sthāyibhave mile yadi vibhāva anubhāva
sāttvika, vyabhicārī bhāvera milane
kṛṣṇa bhakti rasa haya amṛta āsvādane
bhakti bhede rati bheda pañca parakāra
śānta rati, dāsya rati, sakhya rati āra
vātsalya rati, madhura rati e pañca vibheda
rati bhede kṛṣṇa bhakti rase pañca bheda
By regularly rendering devotional service, one gradually becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When that attachment is intensified, it becomes love of Godhead. The basic aspects of prema, when gradually increasing to different states, are affection, abhorrence, love attachment, further attachment, ecstasy and great ecstasy. The gradual development of love may be compared to different states of sugar. First there is the seed of the sugarcane, then sugarcane and then the juice extracted from the cane. When this juice is boiled, it forms a liquid molasses, then a solid molasses, then sugar, candy, rock candy and finally lozenges. All these stages combined are called sthāyi bhāva, or continuous love of Godhead in devotional service. In addition to these stages, there are vibhāva and anubhāva. When the higher standard of ecstatic love is mixed with the symptoms of sāttvika and vyabhicārī, the devotee relishes the transcendental bliss of loving Kṛṣṇa in a variety of nectarean tastes. Thse tastes are like a combination of yogurt, sugar candy, ghee, black pepper and camphor and are as palatable as sweet nectar. According to the devotee, attachment falls within the five categories of śānta rati, dāsya rati, sakhya rati, vātsalya rati and madhura rati. These five categories arise from the devotees' different attachments to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The transcendental mellows derived from devotional service are also of five varieties. (C.C.Madhya 19, 177-183)
Those who desire to understand about rasa may study Bhakti Rasamṛta Sindhu, south, west and north parts, and its supplement Ujjvala Nīla Maṇi, under the guidance of a guru. These subjects are summarized in the teachings to Rūpa and Sanātana in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta.
In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa will be shown as the reservoir of all rasa. Kṛṣṇa has already been show as the supreme entity in Chapter Two. Kṛṣṇa has also been show to be the possessor of all powers. By examining the verses written by Rūpa Gosvāmī, one will understand all about Kṛṣṇa.
siddhantatas tv abhede'pi śrīśa-kṛṣṇa-svarūpayoḥ
rasenotkṛṣyate kṛṣṇa-rūpam esa rasa-sthitiḥ
Ontologically, there is no difference between Nārāyaṇa and Kṛṣṇa. However, the form of Kṛṣṇa holds a special attraction due to the rasa, especially invoked by conjugal sentiments. This is the nature of rasa. (B.R.S. Pūrva Vibhāga 32)
Though brahman and paramātmā are particular realizations of the absolute truth, they are devoid of unique, personal form (svarūpa). Realization of the Lord's personal form (bhagavān) is the perfection in God realization. The Supreme Person appears in two forms; one is endowed with majesty and the other is endowed with sweetness. The śānta rasa available through brahman or paramātmā realization is extremely meager. With realization of the lord's form in a majestic mood, dāsya rasa (servitorship) arises in the worshipper. The extreme difference between the great powers of the Lord and the minute qualities of the jīva make reverence inevitable. But because of this state of reverence, the jīva is barred from higher rasa. Therefore by his mercy, the Lord reveals his real form as Kṛṣṇa to the jīva.
Therefore, Caitanya Caritāmṛta says:
aiśvarya-jñānete saba jagat miśrita
aiśvarya śithila preme hāni mora prīta
āmāre īśvara māne āpanake hīna
tā'ra preme vaśa āmi, na hai adhīna
āmāke ta' ye ye bhakta bhaje yei bhāve
tāre se se bhāve bhaji-e mora svabhāve
mora putra, mora sakhā, mora prāṇa pati
ei bhāve yei mora kare śuddha bhakti
āpanake baḍa māne, āmāre sama hīna
sei bhāve hai āmi tāhāra adhīna
mātā more putra bhāve karena bandana
ati hīna jñāne kare lālana pālana
sakhā śuddha sakhye kare skandhe arohaṇa
tumi kon baḍa loka, tumi āmi sama
prīya yadi māna kari' karaye bhartsana
veda stuti haite hare sei mora mana
ei śuddha bhakti laña karimu avatāra
kariba vividha vidha abdhuta vihāra
The universe is filled with the conception of My majesty, but love weakened by that sense of majesty does not satisfy Me. If one regards me as the Supreme Lord and himself as a subordinate, I do not become subservient to his love, nor can it control Me. In whatever transcendental mellow My devotee worships Me, I reciprocate with him. That is my natural behavior. If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking of Me as his son, his friend or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him.
Mother sometimes binds Me as her son. She nourishes and protects Me, thinking Me utterly helpless. My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, "What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal." If my beloved consort reproaches Me in a sulky mood, that steals My mind from the reverent hymns of the Vedas. Taking these pure devotees with Me, I shall descend and sport in various wonderful ways, unknown even in Vaikuṇṭha. (CC. Adi 4. 17-27)
If Kṛṣṇa had not appeared in his original form, the jīva would not have access to the higher rasas, namely, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura. Bhāva (emotion ) is actually the primary pursuit in the world. The jīva's knowledge of the supreme is limited. By pursuing the path of knowledge, the jīva does not receive any trace of love of God. By pursuing that path, a person does not realize the form of God, and instead concludes that God is formless and without qualities. The path of knowledge does not lead to realization of God's form. There is no process to realize the Lord except by the path of devotion (bhāva). As a jīva advances, proportionately his attraction (bhāva) to the Lord increases and gives satisfaction. Advancement due to education or intelligence is not spiritual advancement. One can gain spiritual advancement only by increasing development of pure bhāva. Thus an illiterate fool can attain a high degree of the Lord's mercy, and a learned scholar, being atheistic, on the level of an animal, an be completely devoid of the Lord's mercy. To attain the Lord's mercy, birth, education, wealth, strength, beauty or skills are ineffective. The great scholar and warrior, full of pride, gradually proceed to hell, while the fool and weakling worship the Lord in devotion and attains supreme peace. Thus the root of all spiritual attainment is bhāva (emotion, ecstasy). This bhāva takes the form of śānta or dāsya in many cases, suitable to the qualification of the person. In rare cases, the devotee achieves the highest goal of sakhya, vātsalya and madhura. The pure devotee who attains madhura bhāva is the chief of all the devotees tasting rasa.
Caitanya Caritāmṛta says:
śāntera guṇa, dāsyera sevana-sakhya dui haya
dāsye sambhrama gaurava seva, sakhye viśvasa māyā
āpanake pālaka jñāna kṛṣṇe pālya jñāna
cāri rasera guṇe vātsalya amṛta samāna
kānta bhāve nijāṅga diya karena sevana
ata eva madhura rasa haya pañca guṇa
ākāśādi guṇa yena para para bhūte
eka dui tina krama pañca pṛthivīte
The qualities of śānta rasa and the service of dāsya rasa are both present on the platform of sakhya rasa. On the platform of fraternity, the qualities of dāsya rasa are mixed with the confidence of fraternity instead of awe and veneration.
On the platform of paternal love, the devotee considers himself the Lord's maintainer. Thus the Lord is the object of maintenance, like a son, and therefore this mellow is full of the four qualities of śānta rasa, dāsya rasa, fraternity, and parental love. This is more transcendental nectar.
On the platform of conjugal love, the devotee offers his body in the service of the Lord. Thus, on this platform all five transcendental qualities are present. All the material qualities evolve one after another in the material elements, beginning from ether. By gradual evolution, first one quality develops, then two qualities develop, the three and four, until all five qualities are in earth. (C.C.Madhya.19.222,228, 232-233)
When devotees with meager rasa hear about madhura rasa, they cannot believe it, and moreover, they fear that it is offensive. The common spiritual practices take shelter of dāsya rasa. Persons of this mentality, when they hear about worshipping the Lord in madhura rasa, reject it because of dread or fear of falldown. Some even think that this rasa is a perverse concoction. Those of lower qualification mistake the actions of those of superior qualification. Only when they attain that higher qualification by good fortune, they will realize, " Oh, I was such a fool! I have criticized elevated souls!" Therefore, we humbly request those following other paths to understand that this topic is very deep. Without special deliberation on this topic, one should not come to some erroneous conclusion.
A person should give a seat to the Lord of the heart within the core of his heart, and try worshipping Him in the madhura mood. If he appreciates it, then he should take shelter of a guru competent in rasa and attempt to taste this rasa. If he does not appreciate it, then he may reject it as contrary to his nature-but in any case he should not denounce it.
Here, there is no space for elaborate discussion of this topic. It is enough to say that those who are qualified for madhura rasa are not attracted to any form other than Kṛṣṇa's. Kṛṣṇa is the sole object of the highest rasa. If a person impartially judges after giving up all contamination of ideas due to various philosophies, he must conclude that the form of Kṛṣṇa is the best and purest of all. But because Kṛṣṇa displays the quality of being on an equal level with his devotee, one should not consider that his form is less than other forms of God. Rather than being less, this form is in all ways greater than other forms. Kṛṣṇa has whatever spiritual, complete qualities the other forms of God possess, but He has the additional unique quality of revealing his complete spiritual pastimes to all the material senses through His cit śakti. When he appears in the material world, he is endowed with all powers, though carrying out seemingly material activities.
When he acts like a boy with dear friends, when he acts like a baby under the protection of his parents, when he is the lover of those devotees in madhura rasa, he still exhibits his supreme control. Even while performing his pastimes like a human being among human beings, .he astonished the most learned persons by acting as the master of all the elevated devatās. If Kṛṣṇa had not mercifully revealed his intoxicating pastimes as a cowherd to the world, who would be able to realize that the Supreme Lord is the reservoir of madhura rasa? The pastimes of Kṛṣṇa are not the creations of human imagination, nor are they based on the blind faith of bewildered, foolish people. However, only knowledgeable persons can understand this.
Among all Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, the pastimes in Vraja are supreme, because in those pastimes can be seen the highest attainment in rasa possible for the jīva. Argumentative or logical intelligence cannot touch the glory of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. Only those devotees who can taste the rasa of the Vraja pastimes can understand their sweetness. Understanding the Vraja pastimes is the greatest good fortune. Logic, ethics, scholarship yoga and knowledge of right and wrong become insignificant in front of the great shining lamp of Vraja pastimes, which illumine the hearts of the spiritually intelligent people.
Concerning this there is a kārikā:
vibhāvādyair jaḍodbhutair raso'yam vyavahārikaḥ
aprākṛtair vibhāvādyair raso'yam paramārthikaḥ
paramārtha rasaḥ kṛṣṇas tanmāyā chāyayā pṛthak
jaḍoditaṁ rasaṁ viśve vitanoti bahir mukhe
bhāgyavāṁs tam parityajya brahmanandādikam svakam
cid viśeṣam samāśritya kṛṣṇa rasābdhim āpnuyat
taṁ tv aopaniṣadaṁ sāksāt puruṣaṁ kṛṣṇam eva hi
ātmā śabdena vedānta vadanti prīti pūrvakam
Where rati is nourished by material vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika bhāva and vyabhicārī bhāva, the rasa is material. Where the ingredients are spiritual, the rasa is spiritual. The object of spiritual rasa is Kṛṣṇa. The degraded reflection of this rasa appears in the material world, a shadow of the spiritual realm. It is distinct from the spiritual rasa, pervading only the material world. When a fortunate person gives up the quest of happiness in the material world or in impersonal brahman and takes shelter of spiritual variety, he attains the ocean of Kṛṣṇa's prema rasa. The Brhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad says, tam tv aupaniṣadam puruṣam pṛcchami (I inquire after the person spoken of in the Upaniṣads.) That person is none other than Kṛṣṇa. When the Vedānta sūtras speak of ātmā or self, they are describing Kṛṣṇa with affection.
There are two types of rasa: material and spiritual. When material anubhāva, vibhāva, sāttvika and vyabhicārī bhāvas bring material rati to the state of rasa, it is only rasa between material male and female bodies. This rasa is insignificant, ephemeral and perverse. It is but a disgusting reflection of the spiritual rasa. The pure jīva liberated from his relation to the material gross and subtle bodies is spiritual. His natural rati is also spiritual. This rati, when it becomes fixed as sthāyi bhāva, mixes with the ingredients of spiritual anubhāva, vibhāva, sāttvika, and vyabhicārī bhāva, and attains a relishable nature; it becomes spiritual rasa. And when the spiritual form of Kṛṣṇa becomes the object of that rasa, Kṛṣṇa bhakti rasa arises. Kṛṣṇa is supreme rasa. Kṛṣṇa's māyā śakti distributes material rasa, a shadow of the real rasa, to the jīvas adverse to Kṛṣṇa in the material world. The fortunate person gives up this lower rasa and surpasses even the insignificant rasa of bliss in brahmanwithin himself; and taking support of the variegated, pure rasa belonging to the spiritual world, he attains the ocean of rasa, in the form of Kṛṣṇa.
For those who dismiss the rasa of Kṛṣṇa as insignificant, Ujjvala Nīla Maṇi says:
laghutvam atra yat proktaṁ tat tu prākṛta nāyake
na kṛṣṇe rasa niryāsa svādārtham avatārinī
When sṛṅtgara rasa becomes material, it is extremely insignificant and condemned, but when it is spiritual, it is most significant and the most worshipable in the spiritual world. (Ujjvala Nīlamaṇi, Nāyaka bheda, 16)
This rasa is not at all material. Its vibhāvas (subject and object, Kṛṣṇa and devotee) have nothing to do with the material gross or subtle bodies. The anubhāvas, sāttvika bhāvas and vyabhicārī bhāvas (ecstatic symptoms) have a slight appearance in the material world. In order to taste the nectar of rasa, Kṛṣṇa appeared in the material world, but He is not even an avatāra, but avatari, the source of the avataras. Therefore the spiritual parakīya relationships that occur in spiritual sṛṅgāra rasa with the avatārī cannot be criticized.
One will be able to judge these topics correctly according to the degree of detachment from material energy. When the hatred that the moralist displays towards material rasa is carried to the spiritual rasa, it brings about a prejudiced response. Unfortunate people detest the spiritual rasa embodied in the rāsa līlā between spiritual Kṛṣṇa and the jīvas with spiritual bodies. Such people are only cheating themselves.
Kṛṣṇa is the only male, as mentioned in the Upaniṣads. The Vedānta speaks of him affectionately by addressing him as ātmā.[1]
ātmāivedaṁ sarvam iti sa va eṣa evaṁ
paśyann evaṁ manvān evaṁ vijānan
ātmā ratir ātmā krīḍa ātmā mithuna
ātmānandaḥ sa svarāḍ bhavati
Kṛṣṇa (the ātmā, self) is all in all. Seeing this form, meditating on this form, knowing this form, the jīva develops attachment, pastimes, sexual relationships and bliss with the Lord. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.2.52)
sarvam hy etad brahmāyam ātmā
brahmā so'yam ātmā catuṣpāt
Everything in the universe is inferior brahman, a product of the energy of brahman. The real ātmā of this brahman is Kṛṣṇa, the supreme brahman. Though he is one, through his inconceivable energy, he appears eternally in four forms for relishing rasa. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2)
The four forms are mentioned by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī in Bhagavat Sandarbha.
ekam eva tat paramaṁ tattvam svābhāvikācintya-śaktyā
sarvadaiva svarūpa-tad-rūpa-vaibhāva-jīva-pradhāna-
rūpeṇa caturdhāvatiṣṭhate sūryāntara-maṇḍala-sthita-tejo iva
maṇḍala-tad-bahir-gata-tad raśmi-tat-praticchavi-rūpeṇa
The supreme truth is one. He is equipped with his natural inconceivable energies. Through this energy he exists in four forms: his own form, his expansion in the spiritual world, the jīva and the material world. These may be compared to the sun, its internal effulgence, its external rays and its distant reflection. (Bhagavat Sandarbha 16)
Kṛṣṇa's form, his spiritual expansions, and the jīva absorbed in pastimes of spiritual rasa are all superior elements.
There is a verse:
vedārtha bṛṁhaṇaṁ yatra tatra sarve mahājanāḥ
anveṣayanti śāstreṣu śuddhaṁ kṛṣṇāśritaṁ rasam
sanākādi-śiva-vyāsa-nāradādi-mahattamāḥ
śāstreṣu varṇayanti sma kṛṣṇa līlātmākaṁ rasam
labdhaṁ samadhinā sāksāt kṛṣṇa-kṛpoditaṁ śubham
aprākṛtaṁ ca jīve hi jaḍa-bhāva-vivarjite
According to the scriptures which elucidate the meaning of the Vedas (Bhāgavatam and others), all the great devotees are searching for the pure rasa directed to Kṛṣṇa. Sages such as Sanāka, Śiva Vyāsa and Nārada have described in their various works the spiritual rasa of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes. These pastimes can be realized by Kṛṣṇa's mercy, by the pure jīvas devoid of material sentiments.[2]
It is Caitanya Mahāprabhu, guru of the universe, who has brought Kṛṣṇa's sweet rasa to the material world. No one had done so before his appearance. To substantiate this, there is a verse by Śrīla Prabhodānanda Sarasvatī:
premā-nāmādbhutārthaḥ śravaṇa-patha- gataḥ kasya nāmnāṁ mahimnaḥ
ko vettā kasya vṛndāvana-vipina-mahā mādhurīṣu praveśaḥ
ko va jānāti rādhāṁ parama-rasa-camatkāra-mādhurya-sīmām
ekaś caitanya-candraḥ parama-karuṇayā sarvam āviścakāra
O brother! Who had heard of the supreme objective of human life called prema? Who knew the glories of the name of Hari? Who was able to enter the sweetness of Vṛndāvan? Who knew about the supreme energy, Rādhikā, the perfection of the wonderful mādhurya rasa? Only the most merciful Caitanya has uncovered all of these topics for the jīvas. (Caitanya Candrāmṛta 130)
[1] In this next section Bhaktivinoda shows how the Upaniṣads reveal intense attraction and rasa for the supreme male.
[2] Bhaktivinoda concludes by saying that rasa can be know only by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, and by the mercy of Caitanya Mahāprabhu.