akhila-rasAmrita-mUrtiH prasrimara-ruci-ruddha-tArakA-pAliH|
kalita shyAmA-lalito rAdhA-preyAn vidhur jayati ||1||
Victory to the moon
Who is enamored by the star named “Radha”
Who is the embodiment of all flavor and vitality
Whose radiant luster dominates the galaxy of stars
And who owns the romantic graces of the dark night.
– Or –
Victory to moonlike Krishna
Who is enamored by Radha
Who is the embodiment of all pleasure and vitality
Whose radiant luster dominates the hearts
of the star-like girl named Taraka
and the galaxy-like girl named Pali
And who owns the hearts
of the beautifully dark girl named Shyama
and the romantic, graceful girl named Lalita.
The first shloka of Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu invokes Shree Radha-Krishna and their associates.
The central word in this shloka is vidhu. A practical and literal translation of this word is “unique.” As such, the term is most often applied to two unique entities: the moon, who is unique amongst all the luminaries of the night sky, and the Supreme Being, who is unique among all beings. In this shloka Rupa Goswami synthesizes both meanings to create an eloquent and instructive double meaning.
Rupa Goswami says that the moon is enamored by the star called “Radha.” I am not conversant with Vedic cosmology and it’s modern correlations, but the moon is said to pass most closely to a star called “Radha.” Since it seems to make it’s entire journey across the dark sky just to come closer to this star, the moon is said to be in love with the Radha-star.
Rupa Goswami describes the Supreme Being as “in love with a girl named Radha.” This has two effects, (1) it makes explicit that Rupa Goswami is talking directly about Krishna, who is famous as Radha’s lover, and (2) it makes it clear that Radha is not an ordinary entity for she is most dearly and intimately loved by the Supreme Being.
Like the moon striving to reach his beloved star, Krishna’s every effort and movement focuses on only one thing: to come closer to his dear Shree Radha.
In Vedic cosmology, the moon is considered the embodiment of all flavor (rasa) and vitality (amrita). The moonlight is said to bestow all taste and nutrition to the earth’s vegetation. Like the moon, Krishna is the embodiment of all pleasure (rasa) and vitality (amrita). The potencies that radiate from his Being bestow all enjoyment and vigor to the living entities.
If we take the words rasa and amrita as one unit (“rasAmrita”) we discover that Krishna is the source not only of all temporary, phenomenal pleasures (rasa-Amrita), but of all eternal, transcendent pleasures (rasa-amrita) as well. The highest pleasure is to love and be loved. Rupa Goswami calls this pleasure “bhakti-rasa.” Later in this book, he will organize bhakti-rasa into twelve basic categories, all of which, in both their phenomenal and transcendental forms, emanate like cooling rays of moonlight from the effulgent Shree Krishna.
The splendor of the moon radiates in all directions, and dominates the galaxy of stars in the night sky. Likewise, Krishna’s splendors beauty radiates in all directions and dominates the hearts of the gopi named TArakA (“She who is like a star”) and the gopi named PAli (“She who is like the galaxy”).
The moon owns the romantic grace (lalita) of the dark night (shyama) because without the moon the dark night would be more fearful than romantic, and more troublesome than graceful. Similarly, Krishna owns the hearts of the gopi named Shyama (“She who is dark and beautiful like Krishna”) and the gopi named Lalita (“She who is graceful in all the arts of romance”). Without Krishna, the hearts of these girls would neither beat nor continue to sustain their lives.
The gopi named Radha (“She who is devotion personified”) is supreme. Though Krishna “dominates” some gopis and “owns” the hearts of others, Krishna himself, the source of all bliss, is dominated and enthralled by the blissful beauty and charms of Shree Radha.
The other gopis gain their ability to similarly affect Krishna depending on how closely they are associated with Shree Radha. Most removed is Taraka, who belongs to a group of girls that are competitive towards Radha. Next is Pali, who belongs to a group who are neutral to Radha. Next is Shyama, who belongs to a group who are friendly to Radha. Next is Lalita, who belongs to Radha’s own group of intimate friends. The more removed one is from Radha, the less affect one is able to have on Krishna.
Rupa Goswami uses this word is in the present tense to remind us that Krishna’s loving relationship with Radha and her counterparts is supernatural, for Krishna is vidhu – the Supreme Being who is beyond all constraints like time and space, and who is therefore fully present and tangible today, in the present.
We who are currently writing and reading these words can also join in the loving relationship between Radha and Krishna and thus directly experience the embodiment of all pleasure and vitality. The activities of this loving relationship between the soul and the supreme are the subject matter of Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu.
hRdi yasya preraNayA pravartito ‘ham varAka-rUpo 'pi |
tasya hareH pada-kamalaM vande caitanya-devasya ||2||
From within my heart, He inspires me to write this book – even though I am the unqualified and lowly RUpa. I make prayers to the lotus feet of that Lord Hari, who is Sri Caitanya-deva.
Here Rupa Goswami identifies Sri Caitanya as Lord Hari who dwells within the heart of all living entities. Despite feeling himself unqualified for the task, Rupa Goswami got the inspiration to write Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindu from Sri Caitanya. In addition to this internal inspiration, Sri Caitanya personally explained the subjects that would become Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu to Rupa Goswami on the Dvadasvamedha Ghat in Prayag, India. This traces the origin of Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu to the Personality of Godhead, as is mandatory for religious texts (dharman tu sakshat bhagavan pranitam)
vishrAma-mandiratyA tasya sanAtaNa-tanor mad Ishasya |
bhakti-rasAmRta-sindhur-bhavatau sadAyam promodAya ||3||
Let this Bhakti-RasAmRta-Sindhu be a restful temple of constant pleasure to my Lord SanAtana.
By poetic use of the phrase “sanatana-tanor mad-isha” Rupa Goswami endows this sloka with double meaning: (1) “Let this Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu be a restful temple of constant pleasure to my master, Sri Sanatana Goswami.” And (2) “Let this Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu be a restful temple of constant pleasure to my Lord, the Eternal (‘sanatan’ – the Supreme Godhead).
bhakti-rasAmRta-sindhau carataH paribhUta-kAla-jAlabhiyaH |
bhakta-makarAnashIlita mukti-nandIkAnna-masAmi ||4||
I respectfully bow to the great devotees who are like sharks swimming freely in the ambrosial ocean of devotion, deep beneath the fishing-nets of time, abandoning the shallow rivers of liberation.
Rupa Goswami compares the bhakta (devotee of Radha, Krishna and Lord Caitanya) to a Shark for three reasons: (1) A shark enjoys the waters as the King of the Ocean; so does a bhakta swim in the Ocean of Devotion, enjoying its ambrosial waters. (2) A shark never leaves the ocean for the land or rivers; Similarly, a bhakta never leaves the ocean of devotion for land-locked material pleasures, nor even for the shallow rivers of spiritual opulence. (3) A shark cannot be caught by fishing-nets because it swims deeply in the ocean; Neither can a bhakta swimming deeply in the ambrosial ocean of devotion be caught by the nets of time, which bring about material existence.
mImAMsakava-DavAgneH kaThinAmapi kuNThayannasau |
jihvAm sphurantu sanAtana suciraM tava bhakti-rasAmRtAm-bhodhiH ||5||
O Sanatana let the resplendent waters of this Bhakti-Rasamrita-Sindhu extinguish the flames that issue from the tongues of Mimamsakas.
Having invoked Radha and Krishna (sloka 1), Sri Caitanya (sloka 2), his guru, Sanatan Goswami (sloka 3) and the community of bhaktas (sloka 4), Rupa Goswami now prays for the benediction that his book never be damaged by interpretations from those who believe the ultimate aim of religion to be ritual (karma mimamsaka) or philosophy (jnana mimamsaka).
bhakti-rasya prastutir-akhila-jagaN-maNgala-prasaNgasya |
agyenApi mayAsya kriyate suhRdAm pramodAya ||6||
Though I am unqualified, I will write this book about bhakti-rasa – the source of universal auspiciousness - to please my dear friends.
etasyah bhagavad-bhakti rasAmRta-payonidheH |
catvArah khalu vakSyaNte bhAgAH pUrvAdayaH kramAt ||7||
tatra pUrve vibhAge 'smin bhakti-bhedAnirUpake |
anukrameNa vaktavyaM laharINAM catuSTayam ||8||
AdyA sAmAnya-bhaktADhyA dvitIyA sAdhanAnvitA |
bhAvAShritA tRtIyA caturyA prema-nirUpikA ||9||
This ocean of Bhakti-Rasamrita I will divide into four sections: East, South, West, and North. First, the Eastern Ocean, having four waves in it, describes the various stages of bhakti.
The first wave concerns bhakti in general (samanya-bhakti). The second wave concerns bhakti in practice (sadhana-bhakti). The third wave concerns bhakti as it becomes perfect (bhava-bhakti). The fourth wave concerns the perfection of bhakti (prema-bhakti).