Madhura-rasa-vicāra: Vātsalya & Madhura
One day, Vijaya and Vrajanātha, after honoring bhagavat-prasāda went to take darśana of Śrī Haridāsa Ṭhākura’s samādhi and Śrī Gopīnātha at Śrī Gopīnātha-ṭoṭā. They then proceeded to the Śrī Rādhā-Kānta Maṭha. After offering their
praṇāma at Śrī Guru Gosvāmī’s lotus feet, they sat down and
began to discuss a variety of subjects with Śrī Dhyānacandra
Gosvāmī. In the meantime, Śrī Guru Gosvāmī after honoring mahā-prasāda, gracefully came out and sat on his āsana.
Vrajanātha then humbly inquired about vātsalya-bhakti-rasa,
and Śrī Guru Gosvāmī replied, “In vātsalya-rasa, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is viṣaya-ālambana and His elders (guru-jana) are āśraya-ālambana.
Kṛṣṇa is beautiful with His dark-complexioned limbs. He is
endowed with all auspicious symptoms, His behavior is mild, His speech is sweet, and He is simple and bashful. He is modest, He
is respectful towards His elders, and He is charitable. Among His
elders, Vrajeśvarī Yaśodā and Vrajeśvara Nanda Mahārāja are
the most prominent. Others are Rohiṇī and the other elderly gopīs who are Kṛṣṇa’s worshipable superiors; also Devakī, Kuntī,
Vasudeva, Sāndīpanī, and so on. In this rasa, the uddīpanas
are Kṛṣṇa’s ages, such as kaumāra, His beauty, His dress, His childhood, His restlessness, His sweet words and laughter, and