Śrī Śrī Rūpānuga-bhajana-darpaṇa – Song Seven – ‘rasera ādhāra jini’

(1)
rasera ādhāra jini   tāṅra citte rasa-khani
sei cittera abasthā biśeṣe
śraddhā-niṣṭhā-rucy-āsakti krame hoya bhāba-byakti
rati-nāme tāṅhāra nirdeśe

1) The heart of one who is a receptacle for rasa is just like a holding tank which is filled with this liquid mellow. The specific symptoms of such a rasa laden heart is that it fosters the gradual manifestation of ecstatic emotion, which evolves gradually from the beginning as śraddhā (faith), then niṣṭhā (steadiness), then ruci (taste), then finally bhāva (firm attachment to Kṛṣṇa). This is the definition of what is known as rati, or affection within the scope of the transcendental loving mellow.

(2)
biruddhābiruddha-bhāba    sarbopari swa-prabhāba
prokāśiyā loya nija-baśe
sakalera ādi-pati    haya śobhā pāya ati
sthāyī bhāba nāma pāya rase

2) The constantly flowing undercurrent and cause of all mellows is called sthāyī-bhāva or basic permanent ecstasy. It is the primary root origin of all mellows, and it eternally exists in great beauty and splendor. As the fountainhead of rasa, it fuses all subordinate mellows and subjugates them all under its own control. Thus, it exhibits the topmost manifestation of its own supreme power, which contains all inconceivable, simultaneously favorable and opposing ecstasies.

(3)
mukhya-gauṇa-bhede tāra       paricoya dwi-prakāra
mukhya pañca gauṇa sapta-bidha
śānta dāsya sakhya āra        bātsalya madhura sāra
ei pañca rati mukhyābhidha

 3) In considering the differences in the various ecstatic loving moods of this permanent ecstasy (sthāyī-bhāva), we see that there are two divisions of subjects which fall into: 1) five direct or primary mellows, and 2) seven indirect or secondary mellows. The five principle types of affection are called śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and madhura, or neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affection and conjugal love, respectively.

(4)
hāsyādbhuta bīra āra     koruṇa o raudrākara
bhayānaka-bībhatsa-bibhede
rati sapta gauṇī hoya     saba kṛṣṇa-bhakti-moya
śobhā pāya rasera prabhede

4) The seven indirect affections are known as: 1) hāsya (devotional laughing attachment), 2) adbhūta (devotional attachment fixed in wonder and astonishment), 3) vīra (chivalrous attachment with charitable and merciful tendencies), 4) kāruṇa (attachment in compassion with lamentation), 5) raudra (devotion mixed with anger), 6) bhayānaka (devotion mixed with fear), and 7) bībhatsa (attachment enjoyed by the devotee which develops in an abominable way). All of these mellows are found in great abundance within the realm of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, and all these different types of attachments exist eternally as beautiful decorations of the all-consistent sthāyī-bhāva.