Verse Text
kṛṣṇaś ca dāruṇāś ceti tasminn ālambanā dvidhā |
anukampyeṣu sāgassu kṛṣṇas tasya ca bandhuṣu ||2||
dāruṇāḥ snehataḥ śaśvat-tad-aniṣṭhāpti-darśiṣu |
darśanāc chravaṇāc ceti smaraṇāc ca prakīrtitāḥ ||3||
Translation
The viṣayas in bhayānaka-rasa are Kṛṣṇa and the demons. When āśrayas such as dāsas or sons commit offense to Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa becomes the viṣaya of this rasa. Since Kṛṣṇa’s friends always worry out of affection that He will be harassed by the demons, through seeing, hearing and remembering, the demons become the viṣaya of this rasa.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Though Kṛṣṇa and His devotees should be the viṣaya of this rasa, it is said that Kṛṣṇa and the demons are the viṣaya. Mention of the demons is according to those learned in material rasa. However, according to the author, the ālambana as viṣaya is defined as the experience of rati (expressing affection) in relation to a certain person (locative case), not fear from a certain person (ablative case) [Note: Ablative case is used to express the source of fear: I experience fear from the tiger. (Pāṇini 1.25) Locataive case is used in relation to objects of affection, respect or love.] (BRS 2.1.15). That the author is only repeating the ideas of the scholars of material rasa is written later.
hāsyādīnāṁ rasatvaṁ yad gauṇatvenāpi kīrtitam
prācāṁ matānusāreṇa tad vijṣeyaṁ manīṣibhiḥ
That the ratis starting with hāsya are accepted as secondary rasas is understood by the wise to be according to the opinions of ancient scholars such as Bharata Muni. BRS 4.7.13
In the author’s opinion, in the first case (that of the devotee committing offense to the Lord) that devotee is both the viṣaya (fear related to himself committing offenses) and the āśraya experiencing the fear, with Kṛṣṇa as the ultimate cause. In the second case (fear related to demons), Kṛṣṇa is the viṣaya (the devotee’s fear for Kṛṣṇa’s safety), the friends of Kṛṣṇa are the āśraya experiencing the fear, and the demons are the cause.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
In ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in dread, there are two causes of fear: either Kṛṣṇa Himself or some dreadful situation for Kṛṣṇa. When a devotee feels himself to be an offender at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the object of dreadful ecstatic love. And when, out of ecstatic love, friends and well-wishers of Kṛṣṇa apprehend some danger for Him, that situation becomes the object of their dread.