Verse Text
alaukika-vibhāvatvaṁ nītebhyo rati-līlayā |
sad-uktyā ca sukhaṁ tebhyaḥ syāt suvyaktam iti sthitiḥ ||124||
Translation
It is well established by the knowers of rasa that, by the speeches of the devotees and by the nature of rati itself, karuṇa, bhayanaka and bībhatsa will produce happiness, since those rasas have the nature of manifesting vibhāva (Kṛṣṇa) and other elements which produce extraordinary, astonishing bliss.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Having condemned the ignorant and the animalistic people, the author now shows the reason for the conclusion of the knowers of rasa (prājṣa) concerning the production of rasa. Tebhyaḥ, referring to the three rasas, is in the plural, but actually means each one individually will produce happiness in its own way. Karuṇa-rasa becomes outstanding in separation from Kṛṣṇa, in which there are worries about danger to Kṛṣṇa, as in the following example already given in the text:
My heart did not become shattered on seeing Kṛṣṇa, dearer that a thousand lives, bound up by Kāliya. How hard my heart is! BRS 2.5.62
In separation from the Lord, the associates of the Lord experience sorrow filled with worries about danger to Kṛṣṇa, superimposed upon and arising from knowledge of separation. Though this condition exists, there is also the action of rati (rati-līlayā), whose very nature is the highest bliss. For the associates of the Lord (bhāvya-bhaktas) who are praised in poetic works, their rati is filled with hope arising from the possibility of meeting the Lord again as previously and from faith in hundreds of statements of the omniscient Lord. And for the aspiring devotees (bhāvaka-bhaktas) there are statements by devotee speakers (sad-uktyā), statements filled with auspiciousness, fully describing the befitting, original condition of union with the Lord. For the accomplished devotees, by the nature of rati filled with hope, and for the aspiring devotees, by statements of other devotees about the Lord, happiness will manifest in karuṇa-rasa, whose very nature is to manifest astonishing vibhāva and the other elements. This is the definition of rasa (sthitiḥ) given by the knowers of rasa.
Similarly, in bhayānaka-rasa, happiness is produced for the bhāvya-bhaktas by the action of rati which is filled with the certain hope that the Lord will be saved from danger, and for the bhāvaka-bhaktas by the reassuring words of devotees. Even in bībhatsa-rasa, there will be happiness for the bhāvya-bhaktas by rati’s action which produces a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa to crush the disgusting objects which have manifested, and there will be happiness in bībhatsa-rasa for the bhāvaka-bhaktas by reassuring statements about the final outcome.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
An apparently pitiable condition in devotional service may appear distressing to the inexperienced student, but the feelings of the devotee in this pitiable condition are considered to be ecstatic by expert devotees.