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Chapter Two: The Nature and Scope of Madhura-rasa

Types of madhura-rati according to the development of feeling

1. Prema. Prema means a bond of feeling. It is the imperishable seed of rati. According to its excellence, it has three degrees: mature, intermediate, and mild.

2. Sneha. This is the developed and elevated state of prema. On hearing the beloved's name, seeing his form, or remembering him, the heart melts; for the melting of the heart is its principal characteristic. According to excellence, it too is superior, intermediate, or lesser. Sneha has two principal forms:

   • Ghee-like affection (ghṛta-sneha) flows in an unbroken stream like clarified butter and, like ghee, is both fluid and dense. Rati arises within it.
   • Honey-like affection (madhu-sneha) is unbroken and sweet. In it rati becomes steady.

3. Māna. This is the pretence of indifference at a stage of excessive love. It is of two kinds: noble, corresponding to ghee-like affection; and playful, corresponding to honey-like affection.

4. Praṇaya, or confidential intimacy. Its two principal forms are friendly intimacy and companionate intimacy. Through contact with the noble and playful modes, these two kinds of praṇaya again become sumaitra and susakhya. Its order of development may be either:

   sneha → praṇaya → māna,

   or:

   sneha → māna → praṇaya.

5. Rāga. In śṛṅgāra, this is the transformation of pain into pleasure. It is said to have two colours: dark-blue and red. Dark-blue rāga has two forms: nīlī-rāga, whose colour does not change and which remains unmanifest; and śyāmā-rāga, which gradually reaches fullness and reveals itself little by little. Red rāga also has two forms: safflower rāga, a lighter colour that quickly blends into other colours and makes them manifest; and madder rāga, which is stable and independent.

6. Anurāga. This is love that is ever new. It has several stages: (1) the state of subjection, or self-surrender; (2) prema-vaicittya, the tender apprehension of separation; (3) birth as a non-living thing, the longing to be born in the form of an inanimate object so as to receive the beloved's touch; and (4) the manifestation of separation, a glimpse of the beloved during absence.

7. Bhāva or mahābhāva.

   1. Rūḍha, in which the sāttvika-bhāvas reach their supremely inflamed condition. In both union and separation: (a) separation even for the blink of an eye becomes unbearable; (b) one acquires the power to agitate the hearts of all who are near; (c) an instant becomes like an aeon and an aeon like an instant; and (d) even when the beloved is happy—