Chapter Seven: Literature of the Rasika Tradition

—and is available with a vernacular commentary in its fifth edition. It contains 218 pages. No other work of such grandeur and authority has been written on the glory of Sri Rama’s name, which explains why it passed through so many editions in so short a time. Its popularity is itself powerful evidence of its worth.

Swami Yugalananda Sharan is universally accepted as a teacher of Rasika worship. This work shines with the light of his experience and learning. Interspersed through it are dohās, kavitts, and savaiyās of his own composition that are also important as poetry and will be considered in their proper place.

In the discipline of the name, Yugalananda Sharan gives special importance to love. He regards loving remembrance of the name, absorbed in the rasa of meditation upon the chosen Lord, as the highest practice:

Blessed and passionately devoted are the Rasikas, absorbed in knowledge, meditation, and rasa. They worship Jānaki, knowing her as their own, and move like great fish within the boundless rasa of the name.

This couplet contains the whole process of the discipline of the name in Rasika worship. The Śrī Sītārāma-nāma-pratāpa-prakāśa is an incomparable treasury of that discipline, beautifully gathering in one place the essence of all the scriptures on this subject. For this reason it is, and will remain, a cherished necklace for Rasika worshippers absorbed in the name.

Śrī Rāmatattva-bhāskara

Sri Harihar Prasad composed the Śrī Rāmatattva-bhāskara. It was printed and published in Vikrama year 1972 by Lakshminarayan Press, Moradabad, under the supervision of Sri Pramodavan Viharisharan of Shringara Bhavan, Ayodhya.

Its first half refutes many doctrines and establishes the author’s own. The latter half establishes Rama’s paratva and superiority to other deities. The greatness of the six-syllable mantra also enters incidentally. The section on the principle of the name separately describes the greatness of the names Vishnu, Narayana, Hari, Govinda, Vasudeva, Jagannatha, Krishna, Rama, and others. It next discusses offences against the name and then gives a particularly detailed exposition of the glory of Sri Rama’s name. By many different arguments, the author proves that Rama’s name is superior to every other name, sweet, and bestowing bliss. His style of exposition is forceful.

Upāsanātraya-siddhānta

The Upāsanātraya-siddhānta likewise holds a respected place among authoritative works. Sri Sarayu Das “Promoter of Vaishnava Dharma,” disciple of Paramahansa Sita Sharan, mahant of Kanak Bhavan in Ayodhya, laboured extensively to support it with evidence from Veda, Shastra, Purana, Saṃhitā, Tantra, esoteric works, drama, Rāmāyaṇa, and many other secret texts. He had it printed by M. N. Press, Banaras, and published by Seth Chhote—