BRS 2.5.39

With the completion of the description of the principal ratis, now the secondary ratis are described. Vibhāva here refers to the ālambana (in this case the viṣaya, Kṛṣṇa). Rati is said to become restricted because it allows a different emotional state to appear from time to time. Though the particular emotional state which manifests is called rati, that rati is an honorary title. That is why the word gauṇī (secondary) is used to describe the rati. We say “The shed makes sound” and thereby attribute qualities of a living being to an inanimate object, when actually it is the person in the shed making sound. (In the same way, we call these states rati, because they act similar to rati, though they cannot exist without the presence of the mukhya-ratis, which subdue themselves.) [Note: At the end of the discussion of the secondary ratis (4.7.14) the author says that actually the secondary ratis are vyabhicāri-bhāvas, but have been classed as secondary rati in deference to Bharata Muni and other literary authorities.]