Jagat

Part I , Part II . (FN1) The use of the term bhāva throughout this section is significant. Bhāva is a multivalenced term. Bhāva is said to be the first stage of love of Godhead. More significantly for our understanding of rasa , however, is that it is the basis for experiencing rasa . According to Rupa Goswami’s conception then, bhāva is self-realization in the sense of establishing one’s spiritual identity or sthāyi-bhāva . Rupa Goswami describes the sthāyi-bhāvas in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.5. He speaks there of a preliminary state of the sthāyi-bhāva , known as śuddhā , i.e., undeveloped or without any particular characteristics (2.5.8). This preliminary stage of the sthāyi-bhāva is divided into three subcategories— sāmānyā, svacchā and śānti . The first of these is the undeveloped attitude to Krishna, such as that of a child or general admirer, the second that of a devotee whose association is mixed and whose attitude to the Lord changes with the company he keeps; the t...