Chapter Two: The Nature and Scope of Madhura-rasa
One fact should be kept in mind: among tens of millions of liberated persons, even one devotee of God is rare. Those who attain liberation through eightfold yoga or knowledge of Brahman remain in the realm of Brahman, enjoying the bliss of self-forgetfulness. Devotees devoted to the Lord's majesty do not go to Goloka either. In Vaikuntha they serve the Lord's majestic form according to their particular disposition. Only those who worship him in the rasa of Vraja behold Goloka.
Goloka is a pure conscious manifestation, a self-luminous reality. It reveals itself within devotees' hearts.
The supporting determinants of Krishna devotion
- Krishna, the object
- his essential form
- concealed
- manifest
- other forms
- his essential form
- Krishna devotion, the receptacle
- the practitioner
- the perfected devotee
- one who has attained perfection
- through practice
- through grace
- the eternally perfect
- one who has attained perfection
Types of hero
The hero is of four kinds: faithful to one beloved, considerate toward several, deceptive, and brazen. Each of these may again be noble and self-controlled, playful and self-controlled, proud and self-controlled, or peaceful and self-controlled.
Types of assistant
The hero's assistants are of five kinds: attendant, gallant companion, jester, intimate subordinate, and dear confidential friend.
The female messenger is of two kinds: self-appointed or trusted. A self-appointed messenger attracts the hero toward the heroine through gestures and signals—play of the eyebrows, biting the lip, and the like. A trusted messenger carries the hero's letter and similar communications. Trusted messengers are of three kinds: those who infer an unspoken purpose, those explicitly entrusted with a purpose, and letter-bearers. They include artists, astrologers, women wearing religious garb, attendants, nurses, friends, forest goddesses, and many others. A signal may be directly stated or suggested; it may be open or conveyed under a pretext.