God And The Hierarchy Of Rasa -

We are all well familiar with the five-fold gradation of primary bhakti-rasa, progressing in order of superiority from neutrality to amorous love. Though all devotees are certainly supremely fortunate, those in the more intimate relations of a friend, parent and beloved are the most fortunate of all, as their moods are the most enjoyable to Sri Krishna and as they subsequently enjoy the greatest relish of rasa themselves.

Since the essential self-defining purpose of God is to enjoy, it logically follows that he must be in a position to savor all varieties of rasa in the greatest, most optimal situation. After all, He is the akhila-rasAmRta-mUrti! Does the same gradation of savoring rasa apply with Sri Krishna, who is the generally thought of as the viSaya (object) of rasa?

If we observe the pastimes of Sri Krishna in Vraja from the vantage point of vatsalya-bhAva , we observe that He is consistently in the position of the viSaya of vatsalya-bhAva , but never its Azraya. He is only able to act as the Azraya of the relishable vatsalya-bhAva in the lesser realms outside Vraja-dhAma, such as in DvArakA, where He fondly looks after His sons headed by Pradyumna, who relish the nectar of gauravottarA-prIti (a certain subdivision of dAsya-rasa), which falls into the lower hemisphere of the nectarine universe of bhakti-rasa.

How does Sri Krishna enjoy the fullest expressions of vatsalya-bhAva ? Is there an answer to this, aside considerations of the abheda-tattva between Sri Krishna and the appearances of His antarAGga-zakti leading to His indirect enjoyment of the entire grand scala of rasa?

Indeed, it seems that Bhagavan has arranged the scenario of rasa in the sweetest of His abodes to be the most optimal for His devotees, with less concern for His own relish, as He has agreed to taste the moods of revering His parents, while they relish the great nectars of fondling Him, looking after Him and rebuking Him!

So, alas! That's all?

I think Krishna is very sweet and kind.

He is a good host in His own village, He wants us all to have a good time there.

Sorry, that was not so philosophical..

Krishna is sweet and kind?
Any references?

I would prefer references from "bonafide" sources like shastra rather than the opinions of the conditioned souls mentioned above.

QUOTE(betal_nut @ May 20 2004, 02:39 PM)

Krishna is sweet and kind?
Any references?

madhuraM madhuraM vapur asya vibhor
madhuraM madhuraM vadanaM madhuram |
madhu-gandhi mRdu-smitam etad aho
madhuraM madhuraM madhuraM madhuram || kRSNa-karnAmRtam 1.92 ||

adharaM madhuraM vadanaM madhuraM
nayanaM madhuraM hasitaM madhuraM |
hRdayaM madhuraM gamanaM madhuraM
madhurAdhipater akhilaM madhuraM || vallabhAcArya, madhurASTakam 1 ||

Jatayu, we have a separate area for copy/paste. Please copy and paste there and only include a link to that topic, do not clutter threads with long copy/pastes. I moved the My Sweet Lord post to where it belongs.

If you see Krsna as the only vehicle of Bhagavan in Vraja for Rasa then there is no way for vatsalya bhava to be enjoyed as you mention Krsna does in Dwarka, in reality Bhagavan is not only Krsna in Vraja, mothers and fathers of others are also Bhagavan and it is there that they enjoy Vatsalya bhava as Asraya.

Of course their children will not know whom their parents (i.e God) are as that would spoil the purpose of Vraja in the first place.

If you ask for verses in support there may be some or there may not be some, not everything is revealed in sastra, but logically speaking this is How what you describe would be accomplished and therefore if such a rasa is desired then it is being manifest as such.

Hari, I believe I said exactly that in the end of my original post.

QUOTE

Is there an answer to this, aside considerations of the abheda-tattva between Sri Krishna and the appearances of His antarAGga-zakti leading to His indirect enjoyment of the entire grand scala of rasa?

They are, however, not directly Bhagavan.

QUOTE

They are, however, not directly Bhagavan.

I don't know what that means.

To me there is only one Bhagavan, in a myriad of forms, so if Bhagavan desires that rasa in Vraja being the parents of all the jivas would be satisfying, in fact I doubt that any other arrangement is even likely in Vraja, if a jiva goes to Vraja in vatsalya bhava they would be Krsna's parents, not the parents of jiva's, that leaves the job up to God.

QUOTE(Malatilata @ May 20 2004, 02:29 PM)

I think Krishna is very sweet and kind.

He is a good host in His own village, He wants us all to have a good time there.

Sorry, that was not so philosophical..

It has been a very long time since I have seen you post! Nice to see you again! Jaya Radhe!

Don't worry about being "philosophical," because apparenty it is simplicity that makes one a Vaishnava!