Chapter Six: The Rasika Lineage of Rama Worship

Devotees who worship Rama in the sweet disposition are called rasikas. In this discipline, the word has become conventionally fixed in that sense, and the tradition is therefore called the Rasika Sampradaya.

Its lineage is held to be extremely ancient. The tradition’s foundational works identify Hanuman as its first teacher; his inward spiritual name is Sri Charushila. Sages such as Vyasa, Shukadeva, Vasishtha, and Parashara are also included.

Swami Siyalal Sharan Maharaj has recently published a life of Sri Premlata that gives the following lineage, pairing each historical name with the name of the corresponding rasika identity:

The theological note cited on the page explains that Rama is beloved of many women in the sweet mode, yet Janaki is sovereign of all women; because Rama is Lord of every conscious and unconscious being, devotees who worship him in the relation of wife to husband are properly called rasikas.¹