Preface — The Work’s Subject Matter
Through sacred books and the company of those who have received Bhagavan’s grace, the four fruits—artha, dharma, kāma, and mokṣa—may be attained while still embodied. That alone is the cause of blessedness, as the Mānasa teaches:
Hearing and understanding, people bathe with delighted minds and deep love;
In the Prayaga of the saints’ assembly, they obtain the four fruits while still embodied.
The births and deeds of Bhagavan and of those who have received his grace are all divine. Unless the soul becomes alert through surrender to Bhagavan founded upon the grace of those recipients, it remains under divine illusion and wanders through the world. The very instant a right relationship arises with Bhagavan and his devotees, the soul is released from worldly sorrow—from the gods’ māyā:
Except for Bharata, Janaka, the sages, ministers, and discerning saints,
Divine illusion seizes everyone according to the condition it finds.
The Four Matters Taught
By the grace of Sri Hanuman, acharya of the five rasas, his words become visible to followers of the path of rasa according to their own devotional sentiment. Four matters are considered in every sacred work:
- Subject
- Relationship
- Purpose
- Qualified recipient
1. Subject
The name, form, play, and abode of Bhagavan Sita-Rama are consciousness and bliss, beyond material nature. They are not objects grasped by the senses; they are seen through eyes anointed with the collyrium of the love of lovers and devoted souls.