Make The Divine Love, the goal of Your life

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Make the Divine Love, the Goal of Your Life

In Bharata's Nāṭya-śāstra (22.211-217), that of the eight nāyikā avasthās, a cycle of eight states through which the heroine experiences a gamut of emotions in relation to her lover. These are given in the next slide. Of these eight situations, only the seventh is not applicable in the Gita Govinda.

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1-4 stages

1. abhisārikā: the heroine goes to the trysting place to meet her lover; 2. vāsaka-sajjā: she dresses and decorates the bower where they are to meet; 3. utkaṇṭhitā: her anxiety increases as his arrival is delayed; 4. khaṇḍitā: her anger when his infidelity is exposed;

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5-8 stages

5. vipralabdhā: her suffering as the quarrel separates them; 6. kalahāntaritā: remorse and forgiveness; 7. proṣita-bhartṛkā: when the lover is separated and far away, 8. svādhīna-bhartṛkā: when the heroine's lover is totally dependent on her.

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1. Krishna, the Embodiment of the Erotic Rasa

viśveṣām anurañjanena janayann ānandam indīvara- śreṇī-śyāmala-komalair upanayann aṅgair anaṅgotsavam | svacchandaṁ vraja-sundarībhir abhitaḥ praty-aṅgam āliṅgitaḥ śṛṅgāraḥ sakhi mūrtimān iva madhau mugdho hariḥ krīḍati ||

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By his pleasure giving, he brings joy to all the worlds;

With his limbs, as soft and dark as blue lotus flowers, he inaugurates the festival of love. O friend Radhe! Hari frolicks in the spring, like the embodiment of śṛṅgāra-rasa; completely enchanted by the beauties of Braja, who surround him and wantonly embrace his every limb.

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2. Krishna, the Lover of Radha

kaṁsārir api saṁsāra-vāsanā-baddha-śṛṅkhalām | rādhām ādhāya hṛdaye tatyāja vraja-sundarīḥ || ~Krishna, the enemy of Kamsa, took Radha, who is the link that makes all his hopes for happiness possible, into his heart and left aside all the other cowherd beauties. (3.1)

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3. Radharani's māna

viharati vane rādhā sādhāraṇa-praṇaye harau vigalita-nijotkarṣād īrṣyā-vaśena gatā'nyataḥ kvacid api latā-kuñje guñjan-madhu-vrata-maṇḍalī mukhara-śikhare līnā dīnāpy uvāca rahaḥ sakhīm|| ~When Radha saw Hari frolicking in the forest, treating all the women with equal affection,

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Radharani's māna

she felt her own special status had melted away. Envy and anger arose in her, and she went off. Somewhere, in a vine covered bower, where bees buzzed in circles overhead, she hid, and forlorn in her solitude, confided to her friend.

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4. Radha, the Empress of Love

racaya kucayoś citraṁ patraṁ kuruṣva kapolayor ghaṭaya jaghane kāñcīṁ mugdha-srajā kavarī-bharaṁ | kalaya valaya-śreṇīṁ pāṇau pade maṇi-nūpurāv iti nigaditaḥ prītaḥ pitāmbaro’pi tathākarot ||

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Radha, the Empress of Love

Radha said, "Draw pictures on my breasts, decorate my cheeks with dots of musk, tie a sash of bells around my hips, braid my hair with a charming garland. Place bangles on my wrists and jeweled ankle bells on my feet." So being told, the yellow-robed Krishna, being pleased, did so.

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5. Rasa-niṣpatti

vidagdhānāṁ mitho līlā-vilāsena yathā sukham | na tathā samprayogeṇa syād evaṁ rasikā viduḥ || ~Clever lovers find that there is more pleasure in all the varieties of their mutual dealings than there is in sexual union per se. This is the conclusion of the knowers of rasa. (Courtesy: Rupa

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The Gita Govinda verse

pratyūhaḥ pulakāṅkureṇa niviḍāśleṣe nimeṣeṇa ca krīḍākūta-vilokite’dhara-sudhā-pāne kathā-narmabhiḥ ānandādhigamena manmatha-kalā-yuddhe’pi yasminn abhūd udbhūtaḥ sa tayor babhūva suratārambhaḥ priyambhāvukaḥ

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The Rasa-niṣpatti

As the battle of the love arts began, there arose so many obstacles-- When they tried to embrace each other intensely, they became covered in goose bumps; when they tried to look thirstily at each other, their eyes still blinked;

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The Rasa-niṣpatti

As they drank the nectar of each other's lips, they could not stop speaking loving words to one another-- The overwhelming joy that overcame them was the biggest obstacle of all. Thus truly was this beginning of their lovemaking dear to them both. (Courtesy: Jaydeva Goswami, Rupa Goswami & others)

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