Jagat

I have been writing about the folk and classical versions of the dāna-keli-līlā , in particular with reference to its classicization in the DKK. My point has been that the difference between the folk tradition and the classical is similar to most low-brow and high-brow culture. In one of my last posts , I gave the analogy of folk music to a symphony, or folk stories to an opera as being the kind of distinction that could be made. There will always be people who favor one or the other, but I think it can be said without too much exaggeration that the latter does require and expect a greater amount of education, or saṁskāra , on the part of the audience. This will, as we have been discussing in the comments on some articles on culture, always be a point of contention: how to popularize something while at the same time making its full power and richenss available; the whole question is one of throwing pearls before swine. I have been reading a couple of nice books that go into many of...

(2) vibhur api kalayan sadābhivṛddhiṁ gurur api gaurava-caryayā vihīnaḥ muhur upacita-vakrimāpi śuddho jayati muradviṣi rādhikānurāgaḥ Though all-pervading, it increases at every moment; Nothing as serious, yet always lighthearted; Full of twists and turns, yet always straight and pure: Ever glorious is Radha’s love for the enemy of Mura. The second verse of the nāndī shares several common features with the first. First of all, both differ from the usual invocatory prayers in no particular god is being addressed, invoked or supplicated. Here, as in the first verse, where Radha’s anubhāva known as kilakiñcita was seen as the source of blessings, the sthāyi-bhāva of anurāga has been singled out for a declaration of victory. The basic definition of anurāga , which will be discussed in greater detail below, is given in the Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi as follows: sadānubhūtam api yaḥ kuryān nava-navaṁ priyam rāgo bhavan nava-navaḥ so’nurāga itīryate When Rāga becomes ever newer and...

vibhur api sukha-rūpaḥ sva-prakāśo'pi bhāvaḥ kṣaṇam api rādhā-kṛṣṇayor yā ṛte svāḥ pravahati rasa-puṣṭiṁ cid-vibhūtīr iveśaḥ śrayati na padam āsāṁ kaḥ sakhīnāṁ rasajñaḥ Nandimukhi continues: “Hey Vrinde! Just as the all-pervading Supreme Lord cannot relish pleasure without his hlädiné çakti , Radha Krishna’s combined form of premānanda fails to be nourished without the sakhis’ help. How then could a rasika bhakta resist the temptation to take their shelter?” This verse has been of interest to me for some time. It is quoted in the Ramananda-samvada as a glorification of the necessity of taking shelter of the sakhis. Generally, the GLA does not make philosophical or theological statements, as it is a lila grantha. Here, however is a statement about rasa-tattva and lila-tattva that is quite unique. Without the sakhis, Radha and Krishna's bhava, even though it is all-pervading, full of joy and self-luminous (sat, ananda, cit), does not fulfill its potential as rasa withou...