Jagat

A couple of years ago, I started summarizing the three ratis from  Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi   I never completed the series, but the first two articles can still be found here: Samañjasā and Sādhāraṇī . I will now try to complete this project by working on  samarthā rati . This may require more than one article, and I intend to tie it in with some other ideas. I will start off this discussion by simply quoting verbatim my translation of  Mañjarī-svarūpa-nirūpaṇa , completed in 1983. ======== The dominant mood of erotic sacred rapture is also given the name of samarthā rati (“competent affection”). Kṛṣṇa is the greatest lover in the supernatural affaires-de-coeur of the sacred land of Vrindavan and there, the supreme among his lady-loves are the cowherd girls. Here Viśvanātha Cakravartin makes some relevant comments about samarthā rati in his commentary on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi : This samarthā rati is extremely potent and exists eternally in the gopīs; it does not dep...

In the viṣkambhaka (or introductory interlude) of Dāna-keli-kaumudī , Vrinda Devi speaks a couple of verses in glorification of Radha. She starts out with an expression of humility, anālocya vrīḍāṁ yam iha bahu mene bahu-tṛṇaṁ tyajann īrṣāpannāṁ madhuripur abhīṣṭām api ramām | janaḥ so’yaṁ yasyāḥ śrayati na hi dāsye’py avasaraṁ samarthas tāṁ rādhāṁ bhavati bhuvi kaḥ ślāghitum api || , Even though to give me honor, the enemy of Madhu shamelessly abandoned the Lakshmi Devi he cherishes, like nothing more than so much grass, despite her jealousy, I have never had the opportunity to serve Radha. Who then on this earth can possibly praise her adequately? (DKK 11) Vrinda Devi appears to be refering to her marriage to Shalagram in the form of Tulasi Devi, with whom she is identified. Here, though, she shows that like Radha's other sakhis, despite their own personal glorious attainments, she has put aside any such claims in order to give recognition to Radha’s vast superiority...

atha  samañjasā — UN 14.48-51— patnī-bhāvābhimānātmā guṇādi-śravaṇādijā kvacid bhedita-sambhoga-tṛṣṇā sāndrā samañjasā yathā tatraiva (10.52.38)— kā tvā mukunda mahatī kula-śīla-rūpa- vidyā-vayo-draviṇa-dhāmabhir ātma-tulyam dhīrā patiṁ kulavatī na vṛṇīta kanyā kāle nṛ-siṁha nara-loka-mano-’bhirāmam Now “conventional affection” ( samañjasā ): The [more] intense love known as samañjasā is occasionally pierced by the desire to enjoy. The essence of this love is the sense of identity and mood of being a wife. It arises from hearing about Krishna’s qualities. The example is given in Rukmini’s letter to Krishna: “O Mukunda! O lion amongst men! When the time comes, what unmarried maid of great qualities, of clear intelligence and of good breeding would not choose as a husband someone like yourself, who is equal to herself in family, character, physical beauty, knowledge, age, wealth, and influence, and who are a source of joy to the minds of all people in this world?” (10.52.49) ...

It is important to recognize that Rupa Goswami's descriptions of Radha and Krishna's love have relevance for our understanding of human love. For instance, let us examine Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 14.45-58: nātisāndrā hareḥ prāyaḥ sākṣād darśana-sambhavā sambhogecchā-nidāneyaṁ ratiḥ sādhāraṇī matā yathā śrī-daśame (10.48.9)— sahoṣyatām iha preṣṭha dināni katicin mayā ramasva notsahe tyaktuṁ sangaṁ te’mburuhekṣaṇa Sādhāraṇī rati is defined as follows: Love for Krishna that is not particularly intense and nearly always arises after directly seeing him, and which has sexual desire at its basis, is called “common” affection. For example, Kubja said to Krishna, “Come, my dear, and spend a few days with me. Make love to me, O lotus-eyed one, for I cannot abide the thought of leaving you.” (10.48.9) asāndratvād rater asyāḥ sambhogecchā vibhidyate etasyā hrāsato hrāsas tad-dhetutvād rater api Because the love is not particularly intense, it can be separated from the desir...

I am still writing my posts on Na Hanyate , which are backdated to when I first started working on it at June 19. At any rate, quite coincidentally, I came across the following terse statement in Bhojaraja's commentary to YS, given in the context of defining yoga in 1.1: puṁ-prak ṛ tyor viyogo’pi yogaḥ . The intention here is, "Separation between the conscious self and its attachment to matter is also yoga ." (Swami Veda's translation, See YS I, p.75). But the wording as given could be rendered: "The separation of puruṣa (man) from prak ṛ ti (woman) is also yoga." On one level, of course, this is the very basis of the yoga idea, in which the goal is kaivalya : "A human being is a compound of the power of pure consciousness and the corruptible, alterable, mutable material, including mental, components. When a person rediscovers the separation of the spiritual component from the material one, that is called isolation of the self from matter ( kaivalya...