Verse Text
alaukikyā prakṛtyeyaṁ sudurūhā rasa-sthitiḥ |
yatra sādhāraṇatayā bhāvāḥ sādhu sphuranty amī ||101||
Translation
Since the activities of rasa are by nature non-material, they are difficult to understand. The various ratis and other elements create a complete identity between the emotions of the contemporary devotee with previous devotees depicted in scripture.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Hearing during a recitation of Rāmāyaṇa how Hanumān jumped over the ocean, sometimes a sympathetic devotee, absorbed in that mood, giving up all shyness, jumps up amidst the hearers in order to cross the ocean. Or in a drama, sometimes an actor taking the role of Daśaratha, on hearing that Rāma went to the forest, absorbed in the mood of Daśaratha, also gives up his life.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This type of rati brings about an identity of the present day devotee with the devotees of previous times. By the attainment of this identity with the previous devotees’ bhāvas, the condition of rasa will also be similar. Three verses (101-103) explain this. Bhāvāḥ here indicates the different types of rati and the elements starting with vibhāva.
It is thus said:
vyāpāro ’asti vibhāvader nāmnā sādhāraṇī kṛtiḥ
tat-prabhāvāt parasyāsan pāthodhi-plavanādayaḥ
utsāhadi-samudbodhaḥ sādhāraṇyābhimānataḥ
nṛṇām api samudrādi-laṅghanādau na duṣyati
sadhāraṇyena ratyādir api tadvat pratīyate
parasya na parasyeti mameti na mameti ca
tad āsvāde vibhāvādeḥ paricchedo na vidyate
The actions of the elements such as vibhāva create total identity of the present devotee with the ancient devotee. By that identification, the devotee plunges into the ocean experienced by previous devotees, and there is an awakening of utsāha and other bhāvas with an experience identical to that of the ancient devotees. No man at all is condemned for entering that ocean. Rati and other elements appear identical to those of the previous devotees. In tasting rati, there is no distinction of vibhāva and the other elements of the previous persons and person of the present time. Sāhitya-darpaṇa 11-14
The example of plunging in the ocean is given to show, from the normal perspective, that there should be no fear or shame at accruing for oneself rati and the other elements, and there should be no joy in identifying with others’ material emotions. (There can be no criticism, because of the great achievement.)