Madhurya, the Rasa of Sweetness: Introduction

 

Introduction: Summary

From the Book Madhurya, the Rasa of Sweetness

Madhurya Rasa is the most intimate rasa to establish a close relationship with Supreme Being Krishna where the Lord and His associates taste Rasa of conjugal bliss. This rasa is the life of Krishna's consorts in Vraja and Dwarika.

Deep love exists between Krishna and His queens but the way Shri Radha deals with His love in groves of Vrindavan is unparalleled. Shri Radha is the embodiment of Madhur Rasa, the pleasure potency of the Lord who resides in Lila of His love and conjugal attraction. She is the power that Krishna resorts to whenever He feels the desire to keep company in a madhurya mood. She is present in all of Krishna's conjugal relationships whether the consort’s name is Rukmini, Satyabhama, Chandravali or Meera.

All of Krishna's consorts are Shri Radha's way of being and some are expansion of Her conscience. They exist concurrently in Shri Radha. She is not different from Lakshmi, Rukmini, Sita. Shri Radha recognizes Krishna as Her own life and loves Him in a way impossible to translate for liner mind.

Multiplicity in Krishna's is an expression of Divine Couple everlasting love which forms numerous configurations, but Their love is always the same as seen from completeness of vision which exists only in Divine Couple. From this vision They see the parts that make up the whole that is Shri Radha.

Shri Radha expresses Herself to the Lord in all of His intimate relationships.

Works which describe Leelas of Radhe Shyam are seen from one viewpoint of soul and it depends on the soul's nature and the way it looked at those Leelas. Those who do not have complete vision cannot see what only Divine Couple can see.

This work is from a consort's angle, and it intends to make us understand our divine relationship with Krishna. Krishna forms different relationships with His associates. Where there is Rati or strong attachment towards Krishna there is a possibility of Rasa to form. Krishna reciprocates according to suitable rasa- Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhurya.

This book is about Madhurya Rasa and is developed around previous writings which explains principles and comments on Radhe Shyam Leelas. This writing analyses and interelates them and is divided into 2 sections

1. Madhur Leelas when Krishna was present on Earth

2. Madhur Leela when Krishna was not present in Earth

This concludes on a synthetic view; all expressions have unity which connects us to Krishna. This book clarifies about the source of Love that exists in Radhe Shyam

This source reflected here creates an impulse that makes the soul search for conjugal relationship 

 

Questions/Answers

Dialogue between V d and Guru Ma Shri

1. What is the difference between these two that some consorts are Shri Radha's way of being and some are expansions of Her conscience?

The consorts who embody different parts of Radharani's consciousness are expansions of Shri Radha's consciousness. They, in the whole of Shri Radhe, exist in a condition of unity with their source. These different self-realized parts realize their situation of unity with Radhika and, at the same time, experience the sat-cit-ananda of being themselves. Such awareness makes them love Krishna's eternal consort as the origin and end of their love for Him. But there are also consorts who are modes of being (or different moods) of Shri Radhe, such as Rukmini, Sita, Lakshmi and, from an angle of vision that perceives Krishna in Harihara, Parvati herself, the Shakti, in short. This is the same Person, the Divine Mother, the Adi-Shakti in different garments. In this way, the personified expansions of consciousness are plenary portions of Her, which experience unity and non-unity with Radharani. In contrast, the modes of being are always the same Supreme Consort of Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva (of Harihara).

2. What exactly is the relationship between Shri Hari's other consorts (souls) and Shri Radha/Rukmini/Sita/Lakshmi?

They are self-realized as personifications of aspects of the Supreme Consort's consciousness, experiencing a situation of unity with Her. At the same time, these other consorts have their own conjugal experiences with Shri Hari. However, they love Radha/Rukmini/Sita/Lakshmi as their origin and their end, their super soul in relationship with Bhagavan.

 

3. Why is the conjugal love of the Divine Couple extended to souls? Shakti could have multiplied Herself in various ways as Lord does and each form would be complete then why through a soul Shakti loves the Lord in Conjugal Mood?

This is how the most perfect love that exists spreads, like ocean waves, which is Radhe Shyam. Because of this divine and sacred love, souls search for completeness, seeking it through religion or other forms of spirituality. Even though there is the extension of conjugal love to souls, the Shakti multiplies in various ways too, in its different modes of being, as explained in the answer to question 1.

 

4. Anyone who is not complete cannot see what only Divine Couple can see, other consorts are parts of Shri Radha/Rukmini who is the whole so is it that vision of Krishna's other consorts remains incomplete? 

Their vision does not remain incomplete, due to their situation of unity in the consciousness of Shri Radha/Rukmini. When they are self-realized, the other consorts live moments of unity with their source, experiencing what only the Divine Couple can see, because they are part of the feminine aspect of that Couple.

 

5. All consorts of the Lord are Shri Radha's ways of being or Her manifestations, conditioned souls who aspire to love the Lord in a conjugal mood and get successful in freeing themselves do they also become one of Shri Radha's manifestations?

No one becomes a manifestation of Shri Radha by freeing him/herself from material entanglement, because Her manifestations exist eternally in the divine consciousness of the transcendental lila. What can happen is that one of the parts of Radharani's consciousness has a conditioned experience because she has to perform some tasks for the Divine Couple on the linear planes. Once the tasks have been accomplished, she gradually returns to her original eternal consciousness, returning to her relationship with Shri Radha and, from that relationship, interacting with Krishna in conjugal attraction.