mallÄnÄm aÅ›anir nṛṇÄá¹ nara-varaḥ strīṇÄá¹ smaro mÅ«rtimÄn
gopÄnÄá¹ sva-jano 'satÄá¹ ká¹£iti-bhujÄá¹ Å›ÄstÄ sva-pitroḥ Å›iÅ›uḥ
má¹›tyur bhoja-pater virÄḠaviduá¹£Äá¹ tattvaá¹ paraá¹ yoginÄá¹
vṛṣṇīnÄá¹ para-devateti vidito raá¹…gaá¹ gataḥ sÄgrajaḥ
mallÄnÄm - for the wrestlers; aÅ›aniḥ - lightning; nṛṇÄm - for the males; nara-varaḥ - the best of men; strīṇÄm - for the women; smaraḥ - Cupid; mÅ«rti-mÄn - incarnate; gopÄnÄm - for the cowherds; sva-janaḥ - their relative; asatÄm - impious; ká¹£iti-bhujÄm - for the kings; Å›ÄstÄ - a punisher; sva-pitroḥ - for His parents; Å›iÅ›uḥ - a child; má¹›tyuḥ - death; bhoja-pateḥ - for the King of the Bhojas, Kaá¹sa; virÄá¹ - the totality of the material universe; aviduá¹£Äm - for the unintelligent; tattvam - the Truth; param - Supreme; yoginÄm - for the yogÄ«s; vṛṣṇīnÄm - for the members of the Vṛṣṇi dynasty; para-devatÄ - their most worshipable Deity; iti - in these ways; viditaḥ - understood; raá¹…gam - the arena; gataḥ - He entered; sa - along with; agra-jaḥ - His elder brother.
The various groups of people in the arena regarded Kṛṣṇa in different ways when He entered it with His elder brother. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa as a lightning bolt, the men of MathurÄ as the best of males, the women as Cupid in person, the cowherd men as their relative, the impious rulers as a chastiser, His parents as their child, the King of the Bhojas as death, the unintelligent as the Supreme Lord’s universal form, the yogÄ«s as the Absolute Truth and the Vṛṣṇis as their supreme worshipable Deity.
ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« quotes the following verse, which explains the ten attitudes toward Kṛṣṇa described here:
raudro ’dbhutaÅ› ca śṛṅgÄro
hÄsyaá¹ vÄ«ro dayÄ tathÄ
bhayÄnakaÅ› ca bÄ«bhatsaḥ
Å›Äntaḥ sa-prema-bhaktikaḥ
“[There are ten different moods:] fury [perceived by the wrestlers], wonder [by the men], conjugal attraction [the women], laughter [the cowherds], chivalry [the kings], mercy [His parents], terror [Kaá¹sa], ghastliness [the unintelligent], peaceful neutrality [the yogÄ«s] and loving devotion [the Vṛṣṇis].â€
ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« points out that people like the wrestlers, Kaá¹sa and the impious rulers perceive Kṛṣṇa as dangerous, angry or threatening because they fail to understand the actual position of the Personality of Godhead. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa is everyone’s friend and well-wisher, but because we rebel against Him, He chastises us, and thus we may perceive Him as threatening. Kṛṣṇa, or God, is actually merciful, and when He punishes us, that is also His mercy.
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura quotes the following Vedic statement: raso vai saḥ rasaá¹ hy evÄyaá¹ labdhvÄnandÄ« bhavati. “He Himself is rasa, the taste or mellow of a particular relationship. And certainly one who achieves this rasa becomes ÄnandÄ«, filled with bliss.†(TaittirÄ«ya Upaniá¹£ad 2.7.1)
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« quotes a further verse to explain the word rasa:
vyatÄ«tya bhÄvanÄ-vartma
yaÅ› camatkÄra-bhÄra-bhūḥ
há¹›di sattvojjvale bÄá¸haá¹
svadate sa raso mataḥ
“That which is beyond imagination, heavy with wonder and relished in the heart shining with goodness — such is known as rasa.â€
As ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« elaborately explains in his Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu, there are five main rasas — neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental love and conjugal love — and seven secondary rasas — amazement, humor, chivalry, compassion, fury, fear and dread. Thus altogether there are twelve rasas, and the supreme object of them all is ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa Himself. In other words, our love and affection are actually meant for ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, out of ignorance we stubbornly try to squeeze happiness and love out of material relationships, which are not directly connected to Kṛṣṇa, and thus life becomes a constant frustration. The solution is simple: surrender to Kṛṣṇa, love Kṛṣṇa, love Kṛṣṇa’s devotees and be happy forever.
