Chapter Two: The Nature and Scope of Madhura-rasa
—one becomes distressed by apprehension of calamity; and (e) complete self-forgetfulness occurs even in the absence of delusion, fainting, and the like.1
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Adhirūḍha, the exceptionally exalted condition of the foregoing rūḍha-bhāva. It has two forms:
- Modana, the exquisitely and intensely inflamed condition of the sāttvika-bhāvas, found only among Radha and her circle.
- Mādana, its still further development, in which the sāttvika-bhāvas attain a perfectly blazing beauty: the beloved faints even while embraced by his lover;2 she desires his happiness even at the cost of accepting unbearable pain herself;3 she can throw the whole universe into turmoil;4 animals weep;5 and even while choosing death, she longs for union of her elemental body with the beloved.6 Finally comes divine madness.
In the state of divine madness, many involuntary actions and gestures can occur; this is called udghūrṇā. On meeting one of the beloved's friends, many kinds of speech may arise; this is called citra-jalpa. Its ten modes are prajalpa, parijalpa, vijalpa, ujjalpa, sañjalpa, avajalpa, abhijalpa, ājalpa, pratijalpa, and sujalpa.
Mādana means the sprouting of every feeling. It is found only in Radha. Its sign is the arising of māna even when no cause for māna exists, together with apprehension of separation even while united with the beloved, or the contemplation and recollection of the many things associated with the hero.
The enduring emotion of madhura-rati becomes madhura-rasa, or śṛṅgāra-rasa. It has two divisions: union and separation. Separation has numerous subdivisions.7
Footnotes
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The scan carries this note in continuation of the five signs of rūḍha-bhāva. ↩
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Kāntāliṅge 'pi mūrcchanā—fainting even in the beloved's embrace. ↩
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Asahya-duḥkha-svīkārād api tat-sukha-kāmitā—desiring his happiness even by accepting unbearable pain. ↩
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Brahmāṇḍa-kṣobha-kāritvam—the capacity to convulse the universe. ↩
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Tiraścām api rodanam—even animals begin to weep. ↩
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Sri Jiva Goswami prays: Pañcatvaṃ tanur etu bhūta-nivahāḥ svāṃśe viśantu sphuṭaṃ / dhātāraṃ praṇipatya hanta śirasā tatrāpi yāce varam / tad-vāpīṣu payas tadīya-mukure jyotis tadīyāṅgane / vyomni vyoma tadīya-vartmani dharā tat-tāla-vṛnte 'nilaḥ //—“Let my body perish and its elements plainly enter their corresponding elements. Bowing my head to the Creator, I ask this boon: may its water become the water of her pools, its light the light in her mirror, its ether the ether of her courtyard, its earth the earth of her path, and its air the air in her palm-leaf fan.” ↩
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The Rasārṇava-sudhākara recognises four kinds of separation: prior love, māna, absence abroad, and compassionate separation. ↩