Changing Rasas?

[Sonic Yogi]

NOD ch. 15

<!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: bbcode_quote --> Quote:

<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="border: 1px solid rgb(102, 102, 102); padding-left: 3ex; padding-right: 3ex;" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"> Great devotees up to the standard of Uddhava are very dear friends of the Lord, and they desire to follow in the footsteps of the gopīs. So the gopīs' love for Kṛṣṇa is certainly not material lusty desire. Otherwise, how could Uddhava aspire to follow in their footsteps?

 

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TLC ch.30

 

 

No common man can understand the ecstasy of transcendental love between Rādhārāṇī and Kṛṣṇa, nor can he understand the transcendental flavor of the transcendental love between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs. Yet if one tries to follow in the footsteps of the gopīs, he may become situated in the highest stage of transcendental love. Thus one who wants to be elevated to the transcendental stage of perfection should follow in the footsteps of the damsels of Vraja as an assistant maidservant of the gopīs.

 

 

This assistant maidservant of the gopis is called manjari in shastric terms.

So, here Srila Prabhupada is recommending manjari-bhava.

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[Sonic Yogi]

So, in the evolution from sakhya-rasa to madhurya-rasa there is no loss of the sakhya-rasa.

It does not go away, but something more and better is added to it.

 

It's not like the sakhya-rasa devotee become dissatisfied and rejects his rasa for another one.

No, he advances in love of Krsna and the sakhya-rasa evolves into vatsalya-rasa and then later into madhurya-rasa keeping all the previous rasas intact.

[Narasingh]

 

Interesting. Have you ever heard an explanation of puja being an offering of what each item symbolizes rather than what they are? For instance, the blowing of a conch=sound=ether, fan+flower=sound+touch=air, lamp=sound+touch+form=fire, conchwater=sound+touch+form+taste=water, incense=sound+touch+form+taste+smell=earth. There was a formal introduction of Puja at the Smithsonian National Museum, which I attended, that explained Puja in such a way.

 

On another note, yet related... you can't curl up to earth for warmth, nor drink fire for thirst. Basically, although earth contains all sensational elements, it is not a substitute for each element, in and of itself. Although the elements of fire are contained within earth, fire can still be have the "abhiman" of being fire, in that earth is no substitute for fire. As someone once said... It is not all one! Baby Nimai was once chastised by His mother for just the same theory.

[andy108]

 

So, in the evolution from sakhya-rasa to madhurya-rasa there is no loss of the sakhya-rasa.

It does not go away, but something more and better is added to it.

 

It's not like the sakhya-rasa devotee become dissatisfied and rejects his rasa for another one.

No, he advances in love of Krsna and the sakhya-rasa evolves into vatsalya-rasa and then later into madhurya-rasa keeping all the previous rasas intact.

 

Very nice service Sonic.

 

Srila Prabhupada guided you to find all the right quotes to back up the theory and it is just ecstatic to see.

 

I am now remembering my intuitions on this subject, and contemplating the mechanisms by which these advances occur, and I am certain that one of the transcendental uses of the pastimes manifest in the "material world" is to facilitate these changes.

 

For those who are having a hard time accepting Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's purports as Sastra, I would refer them to the article describing Srila Gour Govinda Maharaja's quest to defend his Guru's translations of Sanskrit to English, the reknowned Sanskrit scholar he contacted, and their sublime realizations.

 

My advice to anyone who is wrestling with contradictions is to, upon encountering a contradiction, immediately repeat three times...

 

"simultaneously one, yet different".

 

This philosophy applies across the board to harmonize any and all contradictions.

 

Always remember that Lord Krsna has the capability to facilitate any and all possibilites. Any desire a pure devotee can conceive is already being arranged because it reflects the fulfillment of Krsna's desire also.

[Narasingh]

 

In the material world we say, "its a dirty job but somebody has to do it."

In the spiritual world they say, "its a blissful service but somebody has to do it." Compare and contrast. Talk amongst yourselves, I'm vaklemfed.

[Sonic Yogi]

 

In the material world we say, "its a dirty job but somebody has to do it."

In the spiritual world they say, "its a blissful service but somebody has to do it." Compare and contrast. Talk amongst yourselves, I'm vaklemfed.

I think a better way to think about it is "it's a wonderful position and millions of souls are standing in line to get such a position".

 

However, as shastric examples of devotees who came in contact with the gopis and aspired to follow in their footsteps in the pastimes of Krsna, Uddhava is one of the few examples we see.

 

Uddhava seems to be the preeminent example of a devotee from another rasa coming in contact with the gopis and becoming so moved by their devotional excellance that he actually comes to aspire to attain to that standard of love of Krsna.

 

We don't have a pleuthora of examples of this happening in the shastra.

 

So, it might not be a standard and common situation.

 

It might be that for the most part most of the nitya-siddhas stay in a fixed rasa and do not evolve beyond a certain point.

 

Or, maybe it is a common thing and we have only been shown one example to demonstrate the possibilities without making too much out of it and possibly disturbing the mind of neophytes who aren't ready to accept the concept of evolution in rasa in a systematic development.

 

If in fact Uddhava did take birth as a clump of grass in a future incarnation and got the foot dust of the gopis, then that opens up the possibililty that in his future birth after having been that clump of grass that the soul of Uddhava took birth as a gopi in Gokula Vrindavan and moved up from his previous dasya/sakhya rasa to madhurya rasa and then entered into Goloka as a gopi.

 

One thing we can know for sure is that there are umilimited possibilities for the liberated souls and that as spiritual beings they have the potential to continue spiritual advancement until the zenith of bhakti-rasa has been attained in madhurya-rasa - the conjugal love of Godhead.

[Sonic Yogi]

So, the concept of "changing rasa" is not the way to look at it.

One does not "change rasa" but rather his rasa evolves, advances and become deeper and sweeter progressing on through the stages of love until the pinnacle of love of Krsna is attained in the madhurya-rasa which contains within it all the previous rasas and stages of development.

 

A billionaire is also a millionaire.

Being a millionaire is contained within being a billionaire.

 

One does not cease to be a millionaire upon becoming a billionaire.

[Sonic Yogi]

NOD ch.37

 

 

Reverential devotion for the Lord gradually increases and transforms itself into ecstatic love, then affection and then attachment. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Thirty-eighth Chapter, verse 6, Akrūra says, "Because I am going to see Lord Kṛṣṇa today, all symptoms of inauspiciousness have already been killed. My life is now successful, because I shall be able to offer my respects unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead!"

 

Another devotee in ecstatic reverential affection once said, "When will that glorious day in my life come when it will be possible for me to go to the bank of the Yamunā and see Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa playing there as a cowherd boy?"

Here is an example of transformation of rasa.

[Sonic Yogi]

TLC ch. 17

 

 

There is a specific difference between the pure devotee and the confidential devotee. Different potencies of the Lord are engaged in serving the Supreme Lord in different transcendental relationships. They are situated in conjugal love, in parental affection, in friendship and in servitude. By impartially judging, one can find that the internal potencies of the Supreme Lord who are engaged in conjugal love with the Lord are the best of all devotees. Thus both internal devotees and confidential devotees are attracted by the conjugal love of the Supreme Absolute Truth. These are the most confidential devotees of Lord Caitanya. Other pure devotees, who are more or less attached to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu and Advaita Prabhu, are attracted by other transcendental relationships, such as parental affection, friendship and servitorship. When such devotees are attached to the activities of Lord Caitanya, they at once become confidential devotees in conjugal love with the Supreme Lord.