Analytical Study of Love

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By

108 Sri Srimad Ananta dsBbji Mahrj

(Mahant and Pandit of Sri Radhakund)

Translated from Bengali to English by Madhumati dasi

Edited by Sangita Sangai


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What isprem?

Prem ordinarily means love. We find this word overused in the materialworld. But what is really meant byprem or love?

hldinir sr prem

Meaning - "Love is the essence ofHldinishakti. (C.C.)

Love is the topmost manifestation ofHldiniShakti. Hldiniis pure goodnessand love is its characteristic. When we perform bhajan and we get SriBhagavns blessing then our heart becomes clean. It is now ready to receivepure goodness. Then Sri Krishna flings Hldini Shaktiinto our heart. When weput an iron rod in fire, it gains the property of the fire that is it becomesred in color and hot to touch. Similarly our heart becomes one with puregoodness and gets its characteristics. Now pure goodness starts expressing itsqualities through our mind. Its main quality is a desire to please Sri Krishnassenses. This is love.

krishnendriya-priti-ichchh dhore prem nm.

Meaning - "Love is the desire to please Sri Krishnas senses. (C.C.)

Sri Krishnas eternal associates always express the desire to please Hissenses. This means love is eternally present in them. When the sdhaks heartis cleansed by hearing, chanting etc. then the same love flows into thismaterial world like the river Mandkini. It rushes down through the channel ofdevotees and manifests in our hearts.

We can never get the everlasting love for Sri Krishna that His eternalassociates possess by means of any spiritual practice. When our heartbecomes clean due to hearing etc. it manifests itself. (C.C.)

Now we can understand that although love does express itself in this world itis never worldly. Love is the characteristic of the transcendental inherentpotency of Sri Bhagavn Hldini Shakti. Therefore when we call worldlyaffection as love such as brotherly love, love for the society, love for thenation, love between men and women we are inflicting a grievous insult onthe word love we can easily understand this.

In fact -


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inprem it becomes extremely passionate. What isprem made of? The natureofprem is that it is the essence ofsamvitand samvitis the essence ofHldiniShakti. We have already mentioned it.

We can recognize something by its action. Prem has two secondarycharacteristics it is spotlessly clean and it gives us a sense of possessiveness.When we gain intense passion that is we gain prem our chitta becomescompletely clean and melts. Our desires regarding Sri Krishna increases. Weexpress external symptoms such as tears, goose flesh etc. when we gainprem.

If the heart does not melt, how come there is goose flesh? Without gooseflesh how come there are tears of joy? Without tears of joy how is it possiblethat our chitta is cleansed? (S.B.11.14.23)

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has written in Priti-Sandarbha (69th chapters)

So we see that love results in melting of the heart which leads to goose fleshetc. Although our heart may melt somewhat and we may express some signsof ecstasy such as goose flesh and joy - yet if our chitta does not becomeclean, we should realize that Sri Krishna-prem has not manifested itselfcompletely.

These statements prove that when we perform sdhan, our heart becomespure. Then bhakti appears in our heart. When bhakti appears in our heartthen we become exceedingly eager for Sri Bhagavns darshan. It is like ablazing fire while the sdhaks heart is like gold. The fire (bhakti) melts theespecially pure gold (heart)

darshanotkanthgnidrutikritachittajmbunadah(Srimat Jiva Goswmipd) in this manner whenprem arises, the chitta melts completely and thepremikcries, sings and dances in ecstasy.

Srimad-Bhgavatam says (11.3.31 32)

When love for Sri Bhagavn appears in the devotees hearts, he remembersSri Hari Who destroys all sins. The devotees also remind each other of SriHari. Their sdhan-bhakti ultimately results in prem-bhaktiand they expressgoose flesh. They rememberAchyuta Sri Bhagavn and sometimes they laughand at other times they cry. Every now and then they speak of things that areout-of-this-world and at other times they dance and sing. By following in thepath of Sri Bhagavn Who is without birth, they become supremely blissfuland remain silent.

Sri Krishna-prem has another secondary characteristic - intense

possessiveness about Sri Krishna. Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has explained inPriti-Sandarbha (84th chapter)

Love results in extreme possessiveness. Although numerous circumstancesarise that threaten to destroy love, it does not diminish and there is nodecrease in loving behavior. Love is rich with possessiveness. We can see it inother scriptures as well. Mrkandeya Purn says We feel so sad when a cat


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eats up our hen, since the hen belongs to us, whereas if a chatak1 devours amouse, we do not grieve, since it does not belong to us. Thereforepossessiveness is the sign of love. Nrad-Panchartra says We can say wehave bhaktiwhen we feel that nothing belongs to us other than Lord Vishnu.

A discussion about the characteristics of love

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has discussed the characteristics of love in Priti-Sandarbha, 78th chapter. He has written

Now let us discuss the characteristics of love and what we conclude fromthem. Love for Sri Bhagavn is like a full moon that radiates the moon rays ofall supreme bliss, it is the essence of all good fortune in the creation and is

the source of all goodness in the material world. It is full of ecstasy thatconstantly arises out of transcendental especially pure goodness. It hasinsurmountable pleasure. Sri Bhagavn is so sweet one can neither equalnor surpass His sweetness. Yet love can madden Him completely and makeHim dizzy with happiness. Circumstances cannot diminish Divine love and itcannot bear any change in the relation. It is a characteristic of condensedHldini. Love only wants what is favorable for Sri Krishna and desires onlyHim. Love resides in the heart of such a devotee. Love is more ras-full thancondensed Amritam and conceals its excellences from everyone, except thedevotees. It is decorated with the pearl like tears2 and contains all goodqualities. Every single goal of life how much ever precious or important itmay be is reduced to nothing in front of divine love. In fact when weaccomplish love, nothing else remains to be attained. Love is entirelyabsorbed in serving Sri Bhagavn like a chaste wife. Its only job is to steal Hisheart. Love is the sovereign ruler because it serves Sri Bhagavn to the fullestextent.

Let us scrutinize Srimat Jiva Goswmipds description. It reveals the primaryas well as secondary characteristics of love. We have already mentioned thatprimary characteristic comprises character and nature. They indicate what thissubstance is actually.

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd says that loves character is bhagavad-nukulytmak-tad-anugata-tat-

sprihdimay-gyna-visheshkr. It means that loveis knowledge. What sort of knowledge? We should

have the knowledge of what is favorable for Sri Bhagavn that is what

pleases Him and we should also know what sev we should perform so as tomake Him happy. He has further clarified this point withtdrishabhaktamanovrittivisheshadeh this means when a devotee gainslove he strongly yearns to please Sri Bhagavn and love is made up of suchextreme longing.

1 Name of a bird2 When a devotee has divine love, he sheds tears of love. These tears arise from extremelypure feelings and hence they are compared to pearls.

Character of love


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Love is hldinisravrittivishesharup acharacteristic of condensed Hldini shakti.

Now Srimat Jiva Goswmipd is describing the secondary characteristics oflove krjyadwr gyn ei tatasth lakshan we learn the secondarycharacteristics of anything from the way it acts. Following are the activities of

love.

1. anapekshitavidhih Love for Sri Bhagavn (Divine love) does not dependon whether or not the scriptures instruct us to do so. Love is self-manifested.2. swarasata eva samullasanti Divine love is pleasurable due to i ts own ras.It is sweet on its own and does not require any external sweetener. This isbecause it is a characteristic ofHldini.3. vishayntarairanavachchhedy Divine love desires only to please SriBhagavn nothing can deter it the temptation for heaven, liberation or anyother attraction.4. ttparyntaramasahamn A devotee who has love always stays awayfrom all desires other than Sri Bhagavns sev.5. peeyusha-puratopi sarasena swenaiva swadeham sarasayanti It issweeter than a sweet with Amritam-filling; this means sweetness is at itszenith in Divine love. Also it keeps its sweetness intact on its own. It is blissfulby itself. A loving devotee enjoys its taste and so this characteristic too issecondary.6. bhakta-krittma-rahasya-sangopana-gunamaya-rasan, vshpamuktdi-vyakta-parishkr - This statement mentions a few ornaments of Divine love.A loving devotee always tries to conceal himself he never reveals to anyonethe fact that he has gained love. This excellent quality is like preciousnecklace dazzling around his neck. Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has compared thetears of love shed by a loving devotee as gems and pearls. These ornamentsmake Divine love all the more attractive. Love makes the devotee want toconceal himself and makes him shed tears. This is a secondary characteristicof love.7. sarva-gunaika-nidhna-swabhv Divine love is naturally a repository ofexcellent qualities. Srimad-Bhgavatam (5.18.12) says - When Divine lovemanifests in a devotees heart, he gains all good qualities.8. dsi-kritshesha-purushrtha-sampattik Even the most important goalsof life seem like maidservants of love the topmost achievable goal andthey wish to serve love.9. bhagavat-ptivratya-vrata-vary-parykul A chaste wife always longsto please her husband by her sev. Similarly when Divine love manifests insomeone he constantly strives to perform sev and please Sri Bhagavn.10.bhagavn-manoharanaikopyahrirup Divine love has only one function to steal Sri Bhagavns heart.

If we only know the course of divine love we will be able to realize howremarkable love is. This is why Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has written nikhila

paramnanda-chnadrik-chandram and ananta-vilasamay-myika-vishuddha-sattvnavaratollasd-asamorddha-madhure bhagavati SriBhagavn is the only Object of love. Love is like a moon that scatters supremebliss like the moon rays. In fact love is the source of all that is joyous. Love isa rumbling ocean of incomparable sweetness.

Nature of love


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Srila Vishwanth Chakravartipd has described the symptoms of love in hisMdhurya-Kdambini (8th shower of nectar1). Let us discuss in brief.

When we perform sdhan we are attached to body, home and wealth. Loveeasily breaks these bonds and converts our material tendencies intotranscendental. Thus love fixes our heart in the sweet name, beauty andexcellences. Love is like a dazzling sun while all the goals of life are like the

twinkling stars. When love rises suddenly it forces other goals to disappear.Love verily intoxicates the devotee. Then he becomes dynamic like a valorouswarrior. He forgets himself like an extremely greedy dacoit who is all set toplunder. Then the devotee just keeps on relishing, and the more he relishesthe greedier he becomes. His thirst is ever-increasing. The more he drinks thisnectar the more thirsty he becomes. Love and divine sweetness enhance eachother extremely. Love takes the heart of the devotee in a realm ofimmeasurable relish.

Love creates an extraordinary strong agitation in thepremiks heart, while healso experiences the peace of sweetness. The two feelings are contrary toeach other. The devotee who wishes to meet Sri Bhagavn his heart is tornapart due to these simultaneous opposite feelings. Then he is no more

satisfied with Sri Bhagavns beauty and sweet pastimes. Then his relativesseem like dry and dark well, his home appears like a thorny forest and littlefood as a good beating. Even if a good person praises such a devotee (whichmeans it is true and not flattery) it stings him like a snake, he performs hisdaily duties like death, he carries his body like a burden. When his friendsconsole him it stings him like poison. When he is awake he is immersed in anocean of repentance and sleep like it is tearing his life apart. He thinks he isalive because Sri Bhagavn has no mercy on him. He feels his life likerepeatedly fried grains. Whats more, earlier when he was a sdhakhe usedto wish dearly to meditate on Sri Bhagavn and now he finds that samemeditation suicidal.

After this, love draws Sri Krishna like a magnet and reveals Himself to thepremik. Sri Bhagavn too divulges His beauty, fragrance, sweet voice,handsome youth, sweet ras, magnanimity, munificence and all otherauspicious qualities to His devotee. His excellences are extremely nectarine.When the devotee relishes these excellences he feels a great longing thatincreases every moment and ultimately such a colossal bliss appears in hisheart that no poet can describe it.2

Sriman-Mahprabhu has stated briefly the original form and activity of love invery simple terms

Love is a precious wealth and it is the fifth purushrtha3. It enables us torelish Sri Krishnas sweet ras. Love subjugates Him to His devotee and lovegives us the pleasure of serving Sri Krishna. (C.C.)

Love is the fifth purushrtha the crest-jewel of all purushrthas. It is thegreatest treasure. When we have a treasure we enjoy similarly whether apremikexperiences viraha or milan he uninterruptedly relishes sweetness.Love is the essence of Hldini or the Blissful Potency, hence it is mostdelicious. Love alone enables us to relish Sri Krishnas beauty, excellences,and sweet pastimes since we can relish Sri Krishnas sweetness only if we

1 chapter2 We can study this topic in detail in Mdhurya-Kdambini3 Goal of a living entity


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have love (Srimat Jiva Goswmipd). Sri Krishna becomes subordinate toHis devotee because of love. Just as a chaste wife subjugates a faithfulhusband, although Sri Bhagavn is independent, He becomes subordinate tohis devotee on His Own. To become love-subjugated is His greatest quality.We can enjoy serving Sri Krishna when we love Him. In fact love is the onlyway we can gain His service. Love is the best ingredient of Sri Krishna-sev.Love appears in our heart in two ways By the mercy of Sri Bhagavn and the devotees By practicing sdhan.Love through mercy is very rare; it is better we perform sdhan to gain thistreasure.

Different types of devotional practice leads todifferent types of love

Depending on what type ofsdhan we perform we can get two types oflove Love that contains the knowledge that Sri Bhagavn is almighty Simply loveSrila Rupa Goswmipd states the same in B.R.S.

mhtmya-gyna-yuktashcha kevalashcheti s dwidh

Devotional practice is of two types

1. Vaidhi2. Rgnug

When a sdhakfollows the vaidhipath hehas a strong feeling that Sri Bhagavn is

majestic. Therefore when he gains love, itis mixed with a sensation of glory. When asdhak practices the path of vidhi (or

vaidhipath) then he gains love, however this love results in either slokya,srshti, srupya or smipya. These are four types of liberation or muktithat adevotee can get. Then he goes to Vaikuntha.

aishwarya-gyne bidhi-marge bhajan koriy,boikunthete jy chaturbidha mukti piy

Meaning - "When we practice bhajan in the path ofvidhiby considering SriBhagavn as majestic, we attain liberation and go to Vaikuntha.

(C.C.di.3.17.)

The Rgnug devotee worships SriKrishna as the Son of Vrajendra (King ofVrajadhm, that is, Nanda Mahrj). It isdevoid of a sense of majesty. Hence such

a devotee gains simply love (keval prem). The devotional practice inRgnug path is without a hint of opulence or aishwarya-gyn. Srila RupaGoswmipd states this in B.R.S.

rgnugshritnncha pryashah kevalo bhavet

Love gained by following

the vaidhi path

Love gained by followingRgnug


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Meaning - "The devotees who practice Rgnug almost always (pryashah)gain keval prem.

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has explained the word pryashah (almost always)as Although a devotee may follow Rgnug if his devotion is tainted withvaidhi bhaktithen he will not attain simply love.

This means that not necessary that all Rgnug devotees will attain kevalprem. However we should note that we can taste the pure sweetness ofVraja-ras only when we possess keval prem.

Love is extremely difficult to comprehend

The devotee who gains the new-found love is indeed blessed. Even the Vedicscholars are unable to comprehend his speech and actions. (B.R.S.)

The devotee who has achieved love even the wise cannot understand hisspeech and actions. (C.C.Madhya.23.21.)

Ordinary people feel joy and sorrow related with their body and materialconditions. Although a premik devotee too expresses such feelings, it isentirely different from those expressed by materialistic people. A devotee whohas gained love is absorbed in bliss all day and night. His joy and sorrowdepends on whether he has attained Sri Bhagavn or is in viraha from Him.These are divine joy and sorrow. They are realizations that are always ras-fulland supremely sweet. We can never compare these realizations with anyhappiness or suffering of this world. The loving devotee rides on the waves oftranscendental pleasure and pain that whatever feelings he may expressexternally forget ordinary mortals even Vedic scholars who may beinexperienced in the mysteries of love are incapable of understanding. Whenthey see the premik laughing, weeping, singing and dancing, they simplythink he is a lunatic. Of course those who know the mysteries of love canunderstand such a devotee.

Love depends on your relation with SriBhagavn

We already know what is love when we feel that only Sri Krishna belongs tome and I posssess nothing else. Now, this possessiveness depends on ourrelation with Him. It is possible for us to feel like this only when we haveestablished some sort of bonding with Him, for instance, that of a servant,friend, parent or sweetheart. Therefore love is of four types depending onthe bond namely

Dsya-prem love in servitude Sakhya-prem friendly love Vtsalya-prem parental love Madhur prem conjugal loveThe shnta devotees are happy just to get His darshan. They never feel Hebelongs to them. Their idea is Sri Krishna is tmrm and ptakm; He doesnot require any sev. Therefore a shnta devotee does not wish to perform


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1. minute2. relatively little more than minute,3. great,4. extremely greatA sdhakhas minute love and he is able to subjugate Sri Krishna to a minutedegree. Sages such as Nrad and Vys have little more love than this and

they subordinate Sri Krishna proportionally. The Vrajavsis have great lovewhile Srimati Rdhrni has extremely great love. Thus Srimati Rdhrnibinds Him the most.

Conjugal Love and its height

When a young couple are bound to each other by a feeling that is notdestroyed in spite of immense threat (unfavorable conditions) we call it

love, (U.N. Sthyi-63)

Example Srimati Rdhrni is infinitely greater than Chandrvali in all

respects beauty, qualities, sweetness, expertise, charm etc. Chandrvali iswell aware of this fact and Sri Krishna too knows it. She also knows that Hehas extreme anurg for Srimati Rdhrni. Yet the bond ofbhvbetween SriKrishna and Chandrvali never fades.

Here, Srimati Rdhrnis extreme beauty and excellences and Sri Krishnastremendous love for Her are the causes that can sever Chandrvalis love forSri Krishna; yet their love does not die. This is the true nature of love. Why?Because both the lovers are completely without any desire for sensegratification.

This sort of love is of three types

1. manda (feeble)2. madhya (intermediate)3. proudha (mature )

Mature love is the one in which the lovers cannot bear separation (U.N.)

When the lovers tolerate separation with great sorrow we call it intermediatelove (U.N.)

When the lovers may forget each other sometimes, it is feeble love. (U.N.)

Leel-shakti creates such differenttypes of love to enhance the ras oflove and make it variegated. Of

course, we should realize that SriKrishnas love is proportional to thetype of love that the sweetheart feelsfor Him.

Love increases gradually fromsneha, mn, pranay, rg, anurg,bhv and mahbhv. Just as thetaste is increasingly sweet from the


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second ones. All the qualities of Srimati Rdhrni are present in the sakhisbelonging to Her group since they are Her expansions.

Sri Krishnas eternal associates (nitya-siddha) are the embodiments of Hisswarup shakti. The above-mentioned qualities are present in them sinceeternity. The devotees who become His associates after attaining success insdhan gain the necessary qualities only after accomplishment. We call them

sdhan-siddha. When the sdhak-body breaks up, he is born in the home of acowherd (hiri-gop) wherever Sri Krishna is performing His divine pastimes atthe moment. There he gains transcendental body. He associates with theeternal associates who are in the same mood as he is in. Their moodtransmits into him.

When a lover is at the height of rg and expresses newer andnewer colorful moods and he experiences his beloved in novelmanners each moment, we call that stage as anurg. (U.N.)

This means that anurg is deep rg. When the lover attains thestage of mature rg, his moods become all the more colorful,

variegated and gains novel hues. Although he did realize his beloved Sri

Krishnas sweet beauty and excellence earlier too, now he relishes themafresh as if he had never relished them before. As a result the devoteestemptation to relish Sri Krishnas sweetness increases tremendously. Then

the thirst is not satiated, the thirst increases constantly (C.C.Aadi.4.149).The devotee reaches such a state. It is true that anurg makes usrealize Sri Krishna Whom we were relishing constantly earlier as if we areseeing Him or hearing about Him for the first time!!

Sri Ujjwal-Neelmani describes the characteristics ofanurg as follows

(1) The lovers are subjugated to each other. (2)Their love attains prem-vaichittya. (3) We extremely crave even to become inanimate objects torelish Sri Krishnas sweetness and (4) We get His visphurtiin viraha.

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd explains the abovestatement

In prem too the lovers are subjugated to eachother, yet the subordination is distinct in anurg; itis newer and newer each moment.

Srila Vishwanth Chakravartipd says In prem, clearly the lovers aresubordinate to each other. However, the sweetheart maiden is not muchsubjugated since she feels shy and is reluctant to make any overture. On theother hand, in anurg, we see that the sweetheart is so thirsty for Sri Krishnathat she is rid of all feminine bashfulness and is completely overpowered.Thus the subjugation in anurg is distinct from that inprem.

When a devotee reaches the stage of anurg, heexpresses a certain mood called prem-vaichittya.Srila Rupa Goswmipd explains

When love surges high, even though the lover isvery close to the beloved, she yearns and grieves for

him thinking he is far from her this is prem-vaichittya. (U.N.)

(1) The lovers aresubjugated to each

other

Anurg

(2)Their loveattains prem-vaichittya.


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When the lovers anurg reaches its height and attains aspecial state, we call it mahbhv. To understand mahbhvwe first need to learn a few facts about anurg. SrilaVishwanth Chakravartipd has written in his nanda-

Chandrik purport

Anurg has 3 aspects bhv karan (instrument) karma (action)Bhv - When a lover reaches the height of anurg, she loses herselfcompletely in relishing Sri Krishnas sweetness so much so that she failsto distinguish between Sri Krishna and herself. All she experiences is relish.This is the bhvof the lover in anurg.

Karan Karan means instrument an object by which we can do somework. A lover can relish Sri Krishnas sweetness with the help of anurg.Hence anurg is an instrument. When the lover reaches the zenith ofanurg,

he relishes Sri Krishnas sweetness of the highest degree. Thus we see thatmaximum anurg causes maximum relish.

Karma It means action.Anurg performs an action it makes us relish SriKrishnas sweetness. When we reach the height of anurg, we relish thegreatest sweetness and when we relish maximum sweetness, we experienceanurg in its most brilliant form. Therefore in this case, relishing is the actionand anurg performs this action.

When the lover reaches the highest point ofanurg, she expresses it to theutmost level.Anurg reveals maximum bhv, becomes the best instrument torelish Sri Krishnas sweetness and makes her relish the sweetness to thehighest degree. When she experiences these aspects ofanurg, she feels themost complete bliss. We call this state of anurg as swa-samvedya-dash.

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has stated in Lochan-Rochani purport

When a lover experiences anurg, she expresses ecstasy. There are eightsymptoms of ecstasy. When the lover reaches the height ofanurg, she mayexpress five, six or all the symptoms simultaneously and that also in to thegreatest extent. Then we call such anurg as prakshitoor expressive.

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd has also stated in the same purport

When anurg increases the loverexpresses her love to the greatest

degree. After all love is when sheconsiders immense pain as pleasure ifit makes Sri Krishna happy. So wededuce that her love has reached thezenith when she considers the greatestpain as the highest pleasure. When thelover attains this stage of anurg, wecall such anurg as yvad-shraya-vritti.

Mahbhv


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they forget everything including themselves. This is a remarkablecharacteristic ofrudha-bhv. It happens because the gopis are entirely lost inSri Krishnas beauty and excellences.

The gopis suffer the pangs of viraha so much that even one moment ofseparation from Sri Krishna seems like one kalpa to them. It is the

characteristic of rudha-bhv that the lover

feels one kalpa equal to one moment whenshe unites with Sri Krishna and one momentas one kalpa when she is separated fromHim.

Now let us discuss adhirudha-mahbhv.

Adhirudha-mahbhv

Adhirudha-bhvis a state of love in which the lover has all the characters ofrudha-bhv, but expresses inconceivable symptoms of ecstasy. (U.N.)

We have already mentioned that when a lover reaches rudha-bhv, sheexpresses five, six or all the eight symptoms of ecstasy simultaneously.

In adhirudha-mahbhvthe lover expresses all the symptoms of ecstasy andthey are much more beautiful. However her expressions do not shine sobrilliantly as they do in another higher stage of love called mohan. (Aananda-Chandrik purport)

Later on we shall discuss mohan. Now let us learn the classification ofadhirudha-mahbhv.

Adhirudha-mahbhvis of two types Modan Mdan (U.N.)

Srimat Jiva Goswmipd says Modan and mdanarise during conjugation only. Modan comes from

the root mud. It means joy. Hence modan indicates the bliss of union.Mad is the root for mdan. It means intoxication. Thus mdan signifiesthe intoxication caused by exquisite hone-wine. Here mdan refers to theblissful intoxication caused by meeting Sri Krishna.

When Sri Krishna and Sri Rdh meet one another, They expressbrilliant ecstasy that is very beautiful. Then we call such a bhvasmodan. (U.N.)

In the stage of rudha-bhv too the lover expresses ecstasy; however weshould remember that the symptoms of ecstasy are inconceivably special inadhirudha-mahbhv. When both Sri Krishna and Srimati Rdhrni expressthese symptoms as they are extraordinarily beautiful, then we can say it ismodan. Sri Ujjwal-Neelmani says

Modan is a supremely rich bhv. It is present only in the gopis of SrimatiRdhrnis group. It does not exist elsewhere. Modan is the topmostcharacter or function ofhldini shakti. It is extremely sweet and lovable. It is

They consider amoment as long as a

kalpa

Classification of

adhirudha-mahbhv

Modan


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Mallik1 flowers. Sometimes He would be stupefied and the next moment Hewould be rolling on the earth; at other times He would lie like a stiff dry log.He would fall on the earth and lie without breathing seeing this devoteewould nearly die. (C.C.Madhya.102-108)

The signs ofmohan as glorified by the wise are asfollows

1. Sri Krishna faints in spite of being embracedby His consorts.2. The lover bears intense pain and still desires only Sri Krishnas happiness.3. It agitates the entire universe.4. Even the animals weep.5. The lover is ready to accept death and wants to quench her thirst for SriKrishna with the remnants of Her bodily elements.6. Divine lunacy. (U.N.)We shall now discuss these points in detail.

1. Sri Krishna faints in spite of being embraced by His consorts

When Srimati Rdhrni Who is in Vraja, feels mohan-bhv, Sri Krishna Whois in Dwrak, faints in spite of being embraced by His queens such asRukmini and Satyabhm. (Aananda-Chandrik purport)

This shows the impact of mohan on the object of love (in this case, SriKrishna).

2. The lover bears intense pain and still desires only Sri Krishnashappiness

In spite of suffering from unbearable pain the lover wishes to please SriKrishna. When Sri Uddhav asked Srimati Rdhrni before departing fromVrajadhm Dear Radhe, what message shall I gift Sri Krishna on Yourbehalf? Then Srimati Rdhrni replied O Uddhav, if Mukunda would havecome to this cattle-field, we would be extremely happy it is true. However ifthis causes even the slightest loss to Him, then He should never come.

3. It agitates the entire universeMohan bhv has such a powerful impact on the material and divine worldsthat Sri Ujjwal-Neelmani describes

When Srimati Rdhrni Who was in mohan-bhvprem-exhaled, the love-smoke pervaded the universe and humankind yelled in pain, the Ngas(celestial serpents) are agitated, the heavenly beings perspire profusely andeven Kamal devi in Vaikuntha, shed abundant tears. In this manner, all

universes, although joyous, was extremely miserable.

4. Even the animals weep

1

Symptoms of mohan


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is in illusion, however divine lunacy has an aura of delusion, yet it is thesupreme truth, since the lover has only one person in Her sub-consciousness and He is none other than Sri Krishna Who is satyamshivamsundaram1.Srimad-Bhgavatam (11.2.40) describes divine lunacy as follows

evam vratah swapriya-nma-kirty jtnurgo drutachitta uchchaih,hasatyatha roditi routi gytyunmdavannarityati lokabhyah.

Meaning and explanation - When one gains anurg, sometimes he laughsloudly like a madman2, and at other times he weeps. He screams, sings anddances. Although this devotee appears to be crazy like a material lunatic, heis far from it. An ordinary madman suffers from a miserable illness, while ananurgi devotee is verily liberated from the dreadful disease of materialdesires and is wandering in the transcendental empire of ras! A mentallyretarded person is immersed in the darkest hallucinations, whileprem-crazydevotee is advancing towards the transcendental abode called Golok-dhm the divine place of eternal bliss! One is ignorant while the other is intoxicatedwith divine joy!

However divine lunacy is far above the description in Srimad-Bhgavatam. Inthis stage the lover constantly relishes revelations of Sri Krishna andincessantly wanders in the realm ofras. She sees Vrindvan everywhere andbeholds Sri Krishnas divine pastimes wherever she gazes.

We see that the mesmerizing flute forces the maidens of Vraja to forsake self-control, righteousness and bashfulness they ramble through the woods ofVrindvan like ones possessed. They ask the trees, creepers and shrubs aboutSri Krishna. Undoubtedly, a colossal maddening-shakti is working onthem, yet their madness is nothing as compared to divine lunacy. It isnot all that special. Srimati Rdhrni alone has the monopoly over thispriceless gem called divine lunacy. And we are fortunate that we belong tothis Kaliyug, when Sri Goursundar has relished the sweet ras of this divinelunacy. Srila Krishnads Kavirj Goswmi has written

During the last twelve years of His divine pastimes, Lord Goursundarconstantly expressed sphurtiin Sri Krishnas viraha. He manifested the samesymptoms as Srimati Rdhrni did when She met Uddhav. The Lordincessantly displayed divine lunacy in Sri Krishnas viraha. He manifested suchecstatic symptoms all day and night. It was as if He was in illusion and Heonly lamented. Blood oozed form His pores and His teeth rattled. At onemoment He would become thin and the very next moment His body wouldbloat up. He did not sleep a wink in Gambhir. He would rub his face and headon the walls and get wounded. The house had three gates, yet the Lord wouldgo out! Sometimes He fell near the Lion-gate and at other times, in the sea.

Sometimes He would mistake the Chatak hill as Govardhan and rush towardsit wailing piteously. When He saw a garden He would think it was Vrindvan.He would go there and start singing and dancing. The next moment He wouldfaint. The Lord expressed such symptoms ofbhvthat no one has even heardbefore. The joints of His hands and legs would come loose; the bones wouldseparate from each other, although the skin remained in place.

1 Truth, Pure and Beauty Personified2 Please note that Srimad-Bhgavatam has called a devotee who has gained anurg aslike a madman and not mad.


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Let us analysis the word mdan for some further relish. It stems from the rootmad. Although the root word mad indicates joy, it is generally used tomean intoxicate.

mdayati harshena unmdtiti mdanah

Meaning - "We call this bhv as mdan because it has the same effect of

exquisite honey-wine it exhilarates the lover with intoxicating joy.

Symptoms ofmdan

When a lover has the bhv mdan She feels extremely jealous of something that does not warrantresentment at all. Example When Srimati Rdhrni saw the garland of wildflowers oscillating on Sri Krishnas bosom, She was jealous, although thegarland is lifeless and is surely no competing with Her.

Also, although She is always united with Sri Krishna, She pays obeisanceto anything that simply carries His perfume. (U.N.) Example Once the

saffron from Her bosom had got transferred onto Sri Krishnas feet. When Hehad walked away from there, the saffron smeared the grass. While collectingwoods from the forest, a tribal lass had been attracted by the sweet fragranceof that saffron; she had taken it and dabbed it on her face and bosom. SrimatiRdhrni and copiously praised that tribal girl and had sung a hymn untoher. We see this in Srimad-Bhgavatam (10.21.17) in the verse purnh

pulindya.

Sri Ujjwal-Neelmani describes the extraordinary specialty ofmdan-bhvas

Only during milan, this mdan-bhv arises. Its impact is strangelyinconceivable. It assists in the eternal pastimes in thousands of artistic ways.Mdan is very much Sri Krishna Himself. Just as He is the transcendentalyouthful Love-God, and you cannot comprehend Him, similarly the ways ofmdan too are impossible to understand. This is why, neither Srila BharatMuni nor Sripd Shuka Muni (the descriptor of rs-leel in Srimad-Bhgavatam) have succeeded in describing clearly the characteristics ofmdan.

Srila Vishwanth Chakravartipd has explained this statement in his Aananda-Chandrik purport as follows

Mdan bhvarises in Srimati Rdhrni only when She is in milan with SriKrishna, and never during viraha. Although mdan is ever-existent in SrimatiRdhrni, it is expressed in milan and remains concealed in viraha.

Now we have a question Do you remember the example of the symptoms

ofmdan, when we spoke about the tribal girl? Well, when Srimati Rdhrnifelt mdan and spoke that verse, She was nowhere near Sri Krishna. Thenhow does the tribal-girl-example fit in, since mdan occurs only duringmilan?

The reply is When mdan expresses itself, the lover experiences kissingand embracing (or conjugal bliss) and within this experience she also realizesthe pangs ofviraha. She undergoes two experiences ofmilan and viraha inone situation itself. In fact this is the strange specialty ofmdan.


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Analytical Study of Love

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