Rasika

kiṁ bahunā sarvatraiva sahṛdayaiḥ sarva evāvagantavyaḥ

kiṁ bahunā, sarvatraiva sahṛdayaiḥ sarva evāvagantavyaḥ |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 158)

“What is the use of more [illustrations of the excellence of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s manifestations and līlās in Śrī Vṛndāvana]? Verily in all cases, everything is to be [alt., can be] understood by sahṛdayas [i.e., rasikas, lit., ‘those with heart’].”

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nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ

nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ
śuka-mukhād amṛta-drava-saṁyutam |
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)

“O relishers of rasa! O aesthetes! Drink continuously and [even] beyond [the attainment of] liberation the rasa of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the fruit of the wish-fulfilling tree of the Vedas, which has fallen from the mouth of Śuka [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī] and is constituted of liquid nectar.”

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rasānubhavino hy atra dvividhāḥ—pibatety upadeśyāḥ

rasānubhavino hy atra dvividhāḥ—pibatety upadeśyāḥ, svatas tad-anubhavi-līlā-parikarāś ca | tatra līlā-parikarā eva rasa-sāram anubhavanti antaraṅgatvāt; pare tu yat kiñcid eva bahiraṅgatvāt | yadyapy evaṁ, tathāpi tad-anubhava-maya-rasa-sāraṁ svānubhava-mayena rasenaikatayā vibhāvya pibata; yatas tādṛśatayā tādṛśa-śuka-mukhād vigalitaṁ pravāha-rūpeṇa vahantam ity arthaḥ | 
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)

“Experiencers of rasa here are of two types: (1) those who are to be instructed, ‘drink (pibata) [that Bhāgavata-rasa],’ and (2) līlā-companions (parikaras) who naturally experience that [i.e., Bhāgavata-rasa, by virtue of their being direct participants in Bhagavān’s līlā]. In this regard, only līlā-companions experience the essence of rasa, on account of their being intimate, whereas the others [i.e., sādhakas who have reached the level of bhāva-bhakti, experience] only something [i.e., a small amount of that rasa], on account of their being peripheral [i.e., their still being sādhakas and situated within physical bodies in saṁsāra rather in the immediate midst of Bhagavān’s līlā]. Although this is such, still [i.e., the intention of the phrase ‘pibata Bhāgavatam rasam’ is as follows,] considering the essence of rasa within their [i.e., the līlā-companions’] experience to be one with the rasa within one’s own experience, drink [Bhāgavata-rasa], since, on account of uniformity [i.e., the ‘oneness’ of rasa that comes about through identification with the experience of rasa of a līlā-parikara], that [i.e., Bhāgavata-rasa] flowed out, that is, flowed forth in the form of a stream, from the mouth of Śuka, who was [in this way also] uniform [i.e., Śukadeva in this way identified his experience with the experience companions of Bhagavān in the līlās he described and this facilitated rasa flowing through him to the listeners of the Bhāgavatam, so if listeners also identify with the experience of rasa of līlā-companions, then they too will experience this flowing stream of Bhāgavata-rasa].”

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prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ

prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ
viccheda-dāvānala-vegato’ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-
veśena gāḍhaṁ bhavatīva duḥkham ||
tathāpi sambhoga-sukhād api stutaḥ
sa ko’py anirvācya-tamo mano-ramaḥ |
pramoda-rāśiḥ pariṇāmato dhruvaṁ
tatra sphuret tad-rasikaika-vedyaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.125–126)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Although at first it is as if there occurs intense sorrow, created by prema, arising from absorption in endless grief produced by anguish within as a result of the onslaught of the forest fire of separation from those who are dear, still, this [sorrow] ultimately and certainly manifests some most ineffable heart-satisfying abundance of bliss which is praised more so than the joy of union and knowable only by rasikas.”

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