Cc Madhya 19.228

Text

āpanāre 'pālaka' jñāna, kṛṣṇe 'pālya'-jñāna
'cāri' guṇe vātsalya rasa--amṛta-samāna

Synonyms

āpanāre-unto himself; pālaka jñāna-the notion of a caretaker; kṛṣṇe-in Lord Kṛṣṇa; pālya-as object of protection; jñāna-notion; cāri-four; guṇe-in qualities; vātsalya rasa-the mellow of parental love; amṛta-samāna-like nectar.

Translation

"On the platform of paternal 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 four qualities of śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, fraternity and parental love. This is more transcendental nectar.

Purport

In his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura 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. There are two transcendental qualities on the śānta-rasa platform. In all the material elements, sound vibration is found. Similarly, śānta-rasa is spread over all the other transcendental mellows, which are known as dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and madhura-rasa. Although there is attachment for Kṛṣṇa in awe and veneration in the śānta-rasa along with two valuable transcendental qualities -attachment for Kṛṣṇa and detachment from material desires-nonetheless the sense of intimacy is lacking. Therefore in the śānta-rasa, attachment for impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā is prominent. The sense of intimacy is lacking. By that intimacy one thinks of Kṛṣṇa as one's only shelter and only friend. In the śānta-rasa one accepts Kṛṣṇa as the impersonal Param Brahma or the localized Paramātmā. This is based on the speculative knowledge of the jñānī. However, when this knowledge is further developed, one is convinced that Paramātmā, the Supreme Lord, is master and that the living entity is His eternal servant. One then attains the platform of dāsya-rasa. In dāsya-rasa the Lord is accepted with awe and veneration. However, although in the śānta-rasa there is no active service, in the dāsya-rasa active service is prominent. Thus in the dāsya-rasa, the qualities of śānta-rasa and service are 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 the sakhya-rasa.The sakhya-rasa is invested with three qualities-śānta, dāsya, and sakhya. Similarly, on the platform of parental love, the qualities of śānta-rasa and dāsya-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 four transcendental qualities-śānta, dāsya, sakhya, and the qualities of paternity, which put the devotee in the position of a maintainer. Thus on the platform of parental love the four qualities of transcendental love are present.