Śrī Bhakti- rasāmṛta-sindhu “The Eternal Ocean of Nectar of Devotion” — by — Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī — Edited by — Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī — Published by — Esoteric Teaching Seminars, Inc. http://bhaktimasterclass.org ISBN 978-0-557-98131-1 License: Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial- Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. You are free: • To Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work • To Remix — to adapt the work Under the following conditions: • Attribution: You must attribute the work [but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work] by providing a link to the above website. • Noncommercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. • Share Alike: If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. 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TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface: About Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī ......................................1 Introduction: The Importance of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu ...7 Eastern Ocean: Types of Bhakti First Wave: General Overview of Bhakti ............................31 Second Wave: Sādhana-Bhakti ...........................................45 Third Wave: Bhāva-Bhakti ...............................................125 Fourth Wave: Prema-Bhakti .............................................141 Southern Ocean: Components of Rasa First Wave: Vibhāva ..........................................................149 Second Wave: Anubhāva ..................................................249 Third Wave: Sattvika-bhāva .............................................257 Fourth Wave: Vyābhicāri-bhāva ........................................283 Fifth Wave: Sthāyī-bhāva ..................................................359 Western Ocean: Primary Bhakti-rasas First Wave: Śānta-rasa ......................................................393 Second Wave: Prīti-rasa [Dāsya-rasa] ..............................407 Third Wave: Preyo-rasa [Sakhya-rasa] .............................457 Fourth Wave: Vatsala-rasa ................................................493 Fifth Wave: Madhura-rasa ................................................517 Northern Ocean: Secondary Bhakti-rasas First Wave: Hāsya-rasa ......................................................531 Second Wave: Adbhuta-rasa .............................................539 Third Wave: Vīra-rasa ......................................................543 Fourth Wave: Karuṇa-rasa ................................................559 Fifth Wave: Raudra-rasa ...................................................565 Sixth Wave: Bhayānaka-rasa .............................................573 Seventh Wave: Bībhatsa-rasa ............................................577 Eighth Wave: Maitrī-vairī-sthiti ........................................581 Ninth Wave: Rasābhāsa ....................................................605 About the Author ..............................................................619 Preface: About Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Even though there are so many great ācāryas, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has been given honor of being that person who has established the mano- bhiṣṭam, the innermost heart’s desire, of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When Mahāprabhu came to the village of Rāmakelī-grāma, He met with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī and told them, “You should leave your homes and be with Me.” After a short time they left their homes, and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came from Vrndavana and met with Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Prāyag, the confluence of the rivers Yamunā and Gaṅgā. The Lord told him: pārāpāra-śūnya gabhīra bhakti-rasa-sindhu tomāya cākhāite tāra kahi eka ‘bindu’ “The ocean of the transcendental mellows of devotional service is so large that no one can estimate its length and breadth. Preface & Introduction 1 However, just to help you taste it, I am describing one drop.” [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 19.137] Lord Caitanya gave one drop of the ocean of rasa to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, and that one drop was sufficient to inundate millions upon millions of universes. Later, He instructed Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in Varānasī. Therefore, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s and Sanātana Gosvāmī’s understanding of the mellows of devotional service, and specifically the mellow of conjugal love, was extremely exalted. When Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī was in Purī with Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Lord was dancing at the Ratha-yatra festival and uttering a verse from a book of mundane poetry called Sahitya-dārpaṇa: yaḥ kaumāra-haraḥ sa eva hi varas tā eva caitra-kṣapās te conmīlita-mālatī-surabhayaḥ prauḍhāḥ kadambānilāḥ sā caivāsmi tathāpi tatra surata-vyāpāra-līlā-vidhau revā-rodhasi vetasī-taru-tale cetaḥ samutkaṇṭhate “That very personality who stole away my heart during my youth is now again my master. These are the same moonlit nights of the month of Caitra. The same fragrance of malati flowers is there, and the same sweet breezes are blowing from the kadamba forest. In our intimate relationship, I am also the same lover, yet my mind is not happy here. I am eager to go back to that place on the bank of the Reva under the Vetasi tree. That is my desire.” [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 1.58] No one could understand why Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was uttering this verse and in what mood He was absorbed. Immediately upon hearing this verse from Mahāprabhu, another verse appeared in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s heart, and he wrote down that verse: 2 Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu priyaḥ so ‘yaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ saha-cari kuru-kṣetra-militas tathāhaṁ sā rādhā tad idam ubhayoḥ saṅgama-sukham tathāpy antaḥ-khelan-madhura-muralī-pañcama-juṣe mano me kālindī-pulina-vipināya spṛhayati “My dear friend, now I have met My very old and dear friend Kṛṣṇa on this field of Kurukṣetra. I am the same Rādhārāṇī, and now We are meeting together. It is very pleasant, but still I would like to go to the bank of the Yamunā beneath the trees of the forest there. I wish to hear the vibration of His sweet flute playing the fifth note within that forest of Vṛndāvana.” [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 1.76] In this verse spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has clarified Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s inner meaning and thus he revealed to the world the importance of pārakīya-rasa, the mood of paramour love between Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. Therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is the very person who established within this world the innermost heart’s desire of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. These deliberations and philosophical conclusions are extremely deep, and very difficult to understand. It is therefore essential that one come under the guidance of a self-realized guru, associate with advanced pure devotees, and give one’s full time, energy and enthusiastic work in service and in chanting the Holy Names of Kṛṣṇa. One should also make a great effort to understand and realize the reason for which Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī appeared in this world, and why he wrote so many wonderful transcendental books like Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Śrī Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Śrī Vidagdha-mādhava and Śrī Lalītā-mādhava. oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya jñānāñjana-śalākayā cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ Preface & Introduction 3 śrī-caitanya-mano-’bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale svayaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam “I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him. When will Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, who has established within this material world the mission to fulfill the desire of Lord Caitanya, give me shelter under his lotus feet?” [Bhagavad-gītā, Introduction] We have chanted this prayer many times in our presentations; now by studying the ontological position of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, we start to really comprehend its meaning. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared in this world for two principal reasons: the external, public presentation of the yuga-dharma, harināma-saṅkīrtan, and the internal, confidential reason of relishing the ecstatic moods of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ “May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Śrīmatī Śacī- devī be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart. Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional service, the mellow of conjugal love.” [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi 1.4] 4 Śrī Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmād ekātmānāv api bhuvi purā deha-bhedaṁ gatau tau caitanyākhyaṁ prakaṭam adhunā tad-dvayaṁ caikyam āptaṁ rādhā-bhāva-dyuti-suvalitaṁ naumi kṛṣṇa-svarūpam “The loving affairs of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental manifestations of the Lord’s internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally. Now these two transcendental identities have again united, in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.