BRS 2.1.16

This verse distinguished the ālambana as Kṛṣṇa and His devotees. The object which inspires rati is called the viṣaya. That is Kṛṣṇa alone in this context. The ādhāra (container) is the foundation of the experience of rati, the person qualified to experience rati. Consequently, it refers to devotees--the highly affectionate devotees, even if they are recent devotees (not nitya-siddha). It also refers to the associates eternally situated in the Lord’s pastimes (nitya-siddha), the embodiments of profound rasa, who will be defined later in the text. According to other opinions, there is an alternative to being the āśraya. That rati which prominently distinguishes object (viṣaya) and subject (āśraya) takes place in persons other than the eternal associates of the Lord in His pastimes. However, even among the associates in the Lord’s pastimes, the distinction of āśraya and viṣaya takes place in all except the most intimate associates. For these most intimate among the intimate associates, there is no distinction of āśraya and viṣaya. In that case, only Kṛṣṇa as ālambana is prominent. Raty-ādeḥ (rati and other items) means the main sthāyi-bhāvas (five) and the seven secondary ones such as hāsa (humor), which will be explained later. The rati experienced within a person will be that which is being cultivated by the experiencer, and should not be dissimilar. It would be considered different if it were not related to the internal inclinations (saṁskāra) of the experiencer. If it is dissimilar but is not contradictory to his natural inclination in rati, that type of rati acts as a stimulus (uddīpana) (being observed by him in others) but the person does not directly act as the ālambana by directly experiencing that dissimilar rati. In what manner a person becomes the shelter of contradictory rati will be explained later in the text. [Note: This is explained in the Northern Section, in the chapter dealing with friendly and inimical rasas (4.8).]