ÄpanÄre 'pÄlaka' jñÄna, kṛṣṇe 'pÄlya'-jñÄna
'cÄri' guṇe vÄtsalya rasa — amá¹›ta-samÄna

 ÄpanÄre - unto himself; pÄlaka jñÄna - the notion of a caretaker; kṛṣṇe - in Lord Kṛṣṇa; pÄlya - as object of protection; jñÄna - notion; cÄri - four; guṇe - in qualities; vÄtsalya rasa - the mellow of parental love; amá¹›ta-samÄna - like nectar.


Text

“On the platform of parental love, the devotee considers himself the Lord’s maintainer. Thus the Lord is the object of maintenance, like a son, and therefore this mellow is full of the qualities of four rasas — Å›Änta-rasa, dÄsya-rasa, fraternity and parental love. This is more transcendental nectar.

Purport

In his Amá¹›ta-pravÄha-bhÄá¹£ya, ÅšrÄ«la Bhaktivinoda ṬhÄkura gives us a short summary of this complicated description of the different rasas. He states that by becoming firmly fixed in the Lord’s service, one is devoid of all material desires. These are the two transcendental qualities on the Å›Änta-rasa platform. Just as sound vibration is found in all the material elements, these two qualities of Å›Änta-rasa are spread throughout all the other transcendental mellows, which are known as dÄsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vÄtsalya-rasa and madhura-rasa. Although in Å›Änta-rasa there is attachment for Kṛṣṇa in awe and veneration — since the two valuable transcendental qualities of this rasa are attachment for Kṛṣṇa and detachment from material desires — nonetheless the sense of intimacy is lacking. The reason for this is that in Å›Änta-rasa attachment for impersonal Brahman and localized ParamÄtmÄ is prominent. In other words, the sense of intimacy by which one thinks of Kṛṣṇa as one’s only shelter and friend is absent in Å›Änta-rasa because one accepts Kṛṣṇa as the impersonal Parambrahma or localized ParamÄtmÄ. This understanding is based on the speculative knowledge of the jñÄnÄ«. However, when this knowledge is further developed, one is convinced that the ParamÄtmÄ, the Supreme Lord, is the master and that the living entity is His eternal servant. One then attains the platform of dÄsya-rasa. In dÄsya-rasa the Lord is accepted with awe and veneration. Thus the active service that is absent in Å›Änta-rasa becomes prominent in dÄsya-rasa. In other words, in dÄsya-rasa the qualities of Å›Änta-rasa are present, and service also becomes predominantly visible. Similarly, when this same rasa is developed into fraternity (sakhya-rasa), a friendly intimacy is added. There is no awe or veneration in sakhya-rasa. Therefore sakhya-rasa is invested with the qualities of three rasas — Å›Änta, dÄsya and sakhya. Similarly, on the platform of parental love, the qualities of Å›Änta-rasa, dÄsya-rasa and sakhya-rasa are fully developed in another form — the sense of maintaining the Lord. Therefore on the platform of parental love there exists a combination of the qualities of four transcendental mellows — Å›Änta, dÄsya, sakhya and parenthood. The mellow of parenthood puts the devotee in the position of a maintainer. Indeed, without formality the devotee takes the position of maintainer and regards the Lord as the object of maintenance. Thus on the platform of parental love the qualities of four transcendental mellows of love of Kṛṣṇa are present.