Nectar of Devotion
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Chapter Fifty-one

Perverted Expression of Mellows

Rasabhasa, 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 Krsna: “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 santa-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 Madhumangala, an intimate friend of Krsna, was dancing before Krsna 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.

Kamsa once addressed his sister Devaki as follows: “My dear sister, having seen your dear son Krsna, 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-madhava, Srila Rupa Gosvami says, “The wives of the yajnika brahmanas were all young girls, and they were attracted to Krsna in the same way as the gopis of Vrndavana. Out of their attraction, they distributed food to Krsna.” 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 Srimati Radharani told Her, “My dear friend Gandharvika [Radharani], 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 Krsna 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 gopis have become purified by Krsna’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 Krsna threw His transcendental glance at the gopis, they became purified. In other words, because Krsna is the Absolute Truth, any action by Him is transcendentally pure.

After Krsna chastised the Kaliya-naga in the Yamuna River by dancing on his heads, the Kaliya-naga’s wives addressed Krsna, “Dear cowherd boy, we are all only young wives of the Kaliya-naga, so why do You agitate our minds by sounding Your flute?” Kaliya’s wives were flattering Krsna 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 Kailasa. 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 Narada Muni was passing through Vrndavana, he came to the Bhandiravana forest and saw in one of the trees the famous parrot couple that always accompanies Lord Krsna. The couple was imitating some discussion they had heard upon the Vedanta philosophy, and thus were seemingly arguing upon various philosophical points. Upon seeing this, Narada Muni was struck with wonder, and he began to stare without moving his eyelids. This is an example of anurasa, or imitation.

When Krsna was fleeing from the battlefield, from a distant place Jarasandha 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 Krsna 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 Krsna is to be taken as an impetus for transcendental mellow.

Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta summary study of Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu by Srila Rupa Gosvami.

Concluding Words

Srila Rupa Gosvami concludes by saying that Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu is very difficult for ordinary men to understand, yet he hopes that Lord Krsna, the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, will be pleased with his presentation of this book.

By rough calculation it is estimated that Srila Rupa Gosvami finished Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu in Gokula Vrndavana in the year 1552. While physically present, Srila Rupa Gosvami was living in different parts of Vrndavana, and his headquarters were in the temple of Radha-Damodara in the present city of Vrndavana. The place of Rupa Gosvami’s bhajana, execution of devotional service, is commemorated still. There are two different tomblike structures in the Radha-Damodara 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 Krsna’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.