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Chapter 38: Śṛṅgāra-rasa-vicāra: Mukhya-sambhoga · Page 1/31

Chapter 38: Śṛṅgāra-rasa-vicāra: Mukhya-sambhoga

& a ṣṭa-kālīya-līlā

Vijaya Kumāra, with folded hands, inquired from his Gurudeva about sambhoga - rasa. He replied affectionately. Gosvāmī: There are two types of kṛṣṇa-līlā: prakaṭa (manifest) and a prakaṭa (unmanifest). The states of separation (viraha)

in vipralambha-rasa that I have already described correspond

to prakaṭa - līlā. However, in a prakaṭa Vṛndāvana, there is no

separation of the vraja-devīs from Śrī Hari, who is eternally engaged in His variegated, blissful līlā such as the rāsa - līlā. It is

written in the Mathurā-mahātmya: “Kṛṣṇa plays eternally with

the gopas and gopīs there.” Since the verb ‘plays’ (krīḍ) is in the present tense, it is to be understood that Kṛṣṇa’s līlās are eternal.

Therefore, in the a prakaṭa - līlā of Goloka or Vṛndāvana, there

is no separation caused by Kṛṣṇa’s making His residence in a distant place (dūra-pravāsa). Love in union (sambhoga) exists

eternally there.

The nāyaka and nāyikās are respectively the viṣaya (object)

and āśraya (abode) of love, and the term sambhoga refers to the wonderful bhāva that arises from the rapture of their loving

dealings – such as seeing each other, talking together, and

touching each other – the object of which is solely to give pleasure to each other. There are two types of sambhoga: mukhya and