labdha-kṛṣṇa-rater eva suṣṭhu pūtaṁ manaḥ sadā |
kṣubhyaty ahṛdya-leśe’pi tato’syāṁ raty-anugrahaḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.7.12)
“Specifically because of having attained rati for Kṛṣṇa, a deeply and continuously purified mind is disturbed in the presence of even a trace of something disagreeable. Thus, there is support from rati in this [i.e., thus a bhakta’s primary rati—sthāyī-bhāva—supports the secondary rati of jugupsā (disgust).”
naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā |
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī ||
tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye |
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati ||
evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ |
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ mukta-saṅgasya jāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.18–20)
“When [all] ills are nearly destroyed by service to Bhāgavatas [alt., to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] continually, bhakti to Bhagavān, he of highest praise, becomes fixed. Then, the mind, situated in sattva and unassailed by states of rajas and tamas—desire, greed, and so forth—becomes satisfied. Realized knowledge [i.e., direct experience] of the essential nature of Bhagavān arises for one who in this way is of satisfied mind and [thus] freed from attachment as a result of the practice of bhakti to Bhagavān.”
tasmād asad-abhidhyānaṁ yathā svapna-manoratham |
hitvā mayi samādhatsva mano mad-bhāva-bhāvitam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.28)
“Therefore, one should reject desire for [alt., meditation upon] the asat, which is like the illusion in a dream, and upon me fully fix the mind imbued with bhāva by way of contemplation of me.”
mādhuryādy-āśrayatvena kṛṣṇādīṁs tanute ratiḥ |
tathānubhūyamānās te vistīrṇāṁ kurvate ratim ||
atas tasya vibhāvādi-catuṣkasya rater api |
atra sāhāyakaṁ vyaktaṁ mitho’jasram avekṣyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.98–99)
“Rati reveals Kṛṣṇa and so forth [i.e., his companions, paraphernalia, abode, etc.] as vessels of [the qualities of] sweetness (mādhurya) and so forth. Being [then] experienced as such, they expand rati. Therefore, continuous mutual assistance of rati and the quad of the vibhāvas and so forth [i.e., the four primary ingredients of rasa other than the sthāyi-bhāva (rati), namely, the vibhāvas, anubhāvas, sāttvika-bhāvas, and sañcarī-bhāvas] is clearly seen here [i.e., in this aforementioned process of rasa manifesting].”
viyoge tv adbhutānanda-vivartatvaṁ dadhaty api |
tanoty eṣā pragāḍhārti-bharābhāsatvam ūrjitā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.109)
“In separation [i.e., when a dear one of Kṛṣṇa is separated from him], however, although retaining the nature of being a transformation of astonishing bliss, this powerful [rati] produces the state of a semblance of an abundance of intense distress.”
alaukikī tv iyaṁ kṛṣṇa-ratiḥ sarvādbhutādbhutā |
yoge rasa-viśeṣatvaṁ gacchanty eva hari-priye ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.108)
“This otherworldly rati for Kṛṣṇa, an astonishment beyond all [other] astonishments, however, certainly in union [i.e., when a meeting with Kṛṣṇa occurs] reaches the distinctive state of rasa in a dear one of Hari.”
lokottara-padārthānāṁ prabhāvaḥ ko’py anargalaḥ |
ratiṁ tad-viṣayaṁ cāsau bhāsayet tūrṇam ekadā ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.16)
“Otherworldly objects have extraordinary unchecked potency, and one [such object] can immediately at once manifest rati [for Śrī Kṛṣṇa] and the object thereof [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself, the object of rati].”
vimuktākhila-tarṣair yā muktir api vimṛgyate |
yā kṛṣṇenātigopyāśu bhajadbhyo’pi na dīyate ||
sā bhukti-mukti-kāmatvāc chuddhāṁ bhaktim akurvatām |
hṛdaye sambhavaty eṣāṁ kathaṁ bhāgavatī ratiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.42–43)
“That which is sought even by the liberated who are completely free from all [extraneous] desires, which is highly confidential and [which is] not given by Kṛṣṇa quickly even to worshippers [of himself]—how can [that] rati for Bhagavān appear in the heart of those who do not perform pure bhakti on account of being possessed of desire for enjoyment or liberation?”
ratir aniśa-nisargoṣṇa-prabalatarānanda-pūra-rūpaiva |
uṣmāṇam api vamantī sudhāṁśu-koṭer api svādvī ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.61)
“Verily of the nature of a flood of bliss that is very strong and hot as a result of [its] incessant nature, rati, although [thus] emitting heat, is relishable more so than even a crore of nectar-rayed moons.”
vighnākulatve’pi mano-rati-paratā | …
yasya kṛcchra-gatasyāpi keśave ramate manaḥ |
na vicyutā ca bhaktir vai sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
āpad-gatasya yasyeha bhakir avyabhicāriṇī |
nānyatra ramate cittaṁ sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.67–68)
“[A third degree of one-pointedness (ekāntitā) upon Śrī Bhagavān is described:] Being devoted with rati in the mind even while being disturbed by obstructions [is described in Skanda Purāṇa]: ‘A person whose mind rejoices in Keśava and whose bhakti does not digress even when one is beset with hardship is verily a Bhāgavata. A person beset with adversity here [in this world] whose bhakti is unwavering and whose mind does not rejoice elsewhere [i.e., apart from in Śrī Bhagavān] is verily a Bhāgavata.”
