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Chapter 51: Perverted Expression of Mellows

Purport

RasÄbhÄsa, or incompatible mixtures of mellows, may be classified as uparasa (false expression), anurasa (imitation) and aparasa (perverted or misrepresented mellows).

There is the following statement by an impersonalist who had just seen Kṛṣṇa: "When a person has passed completely from all contamination of material existence, he relishes a transcendental bliss of being established in trance. But as soon as I saw You, the original Personality of Godhead, I experienced the same bliss." This perverted reflection of mellows is called Å›Änta-uparasa, or a perverted reflection of mixed impersonalism and personalism.

There is another statement as follows: "Wherever I am glancing I simply see Your personality. Therefore I know that You are the uncontaminated Brahman effulgence, the supreme cause of all causes. I think that there is nothing but You in this cosmic manifestation." This is another example of uparasa, or a perverted reflection of impersonalism and personalism.

When Madhumaṅgala, an intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa, was dancing before Kṛṣṇa in a joking manner, no one was paying attention to him, and he jokingly said, "My dear Lord, please be merciful upon me. I am praying for Your mercy." This is an example of uparasa in fraternal affection and neutrality.

Kaá¹sa once addressed his sister DevakÄ« as follows: "My dear sister, having seen your dear son Kṛṣṇa, I think that He is so strong that He can kill even wrestlers as strong as the mountains. So I will have no more anxieties about Him, even if He is engaged in a terrible fight." This is an instance of uparasa in a perverted reflection of parental love.

In the Lalita-mÄdhava, ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« says, "The wives of the yÄjñika brÄhmaṇas were all young girls, and they were attracted to Kṛṣṇa in the same way as the gopÄ«s of Vá¹›ndÄvana. Out of their attraction, they distributed food to Kṛṣṇa." Here the two devotional mellows are conjugal love and parental love, and the result is called uparasa in conjugal love.

One of the friends of ÅšrÄ«matÄ« RÄdhÄrÄṇī told Her, "My dear friend GÄndharvikÄ [RÄdhÄrÄṇī], You were the most chaste girl in our village, but now You have divided Yourself and are partially chaste and partially unchaste. It is all due to Cupid's influence upon You after You saw Kṛṣṇa and heard the sound of His flute." This is another example of uparasa caused by divided interests in conjugal love.

According to some expert learned scholars, the feelings between lover and beloved create perverted reflections of mellows in many ways.

"The gopīs have become purified by Kṛṣṇa's glance, and as such, Cupid's influence is distinctly visible on their bodies." Although in the material sense the glancing of a boy at a girl is a kind of pollution, when Kṛṣṇa threw His transcendental glance at the gopīs, they became purified. In other words, because Kṛṣṇa is the Absolute Truth, any action by Him is transcendentally pure.

After Kṛṣṇa chastised the KÄliya-nÄga in the YamunÄ River by dancing on his heads, the KÄliya-nÄga's wives addressed Kṛṣṇa, "Dear cowherd boy, we are all only young wives of the KÄliya-nÄga, so why do You agitate our minds by sounding Your flute?" KÄliya's wives were flattering Kṛṣṇa so that He would spare their husband. Therefore this is an example of uparasa, or false expression.

One devotee said, "My dear Govinda, here is a nice flowery bush in KailÄsa. I am a young girl, and You are a young poetic boy. After this, what more can I say? You just consider." This is an example of uparasa, caused by impudence in conjugal love.

When NÄrada Muni was passing through Vá¹›ndÄvana, he came to the BhÄṇá¸Ä«ravana forest and saw in one of the trees the famous parrot couple that always accompanies Lord Kṛṣṇa. The couple was imitating some discussion they had heard upon the VedÄnta philosophy, and thus were seemingly arguing upon various philosophical points. Upon seeing this, NÄrada Muni was struck with wonder, and he began to stare without moving his eyelids. This is an example of anurasa, or imitation.

When Kṛṣṇa was fleeing from the battlefield, from a distant place JarÄsandha was watching Him with restless eyes and was feeling very proud. Being thus puffed up with his conquest, he was repeatedly laughing. This is an example of aparasa.

Everything in connection with Kṛṣṇa is called ecstatic devotional love, although it may be exhibited in different ways: sometimes in right order and sometimes as a perverted reflection. According to the opinion of all expert devotees, anything that will arouse ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is to be taken as an impetus for transcendental mellow.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta summary study of ÅšrÄ« Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu by ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«.

By rough calculation it is estimated that ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« finished ÅšrÄ« Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu in Gokula Vá¹›ndÄvana in the year 1552. While physically present, ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« was living in different parts of Vá¹›ndÄvana, and his headquarters were in the temple of RÄdhÄ-DÄmodara in the present city of Vá¹›ndÄvana. The place of RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«'s bhajana, execution of devotional service, is commemorated still. There are two different tomblike structures in the RÄdhÄ-DÄmodara temple; one structure is called his place of bhajana, and in the other his body is entombed. Behind this very tomb I have my place of bhajana, but since 1965 I have been away. The place, however, is being taken care of by my disciples. By Kṛṣṇa's will, I am now residing at the Los Angeles temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This purport is finished today, the 30th of June, 1969.