Gītā-mālā

(1)
rūpānuga-tattva-sāra, bujhite ākāṅkṣā yāṅra
rasa-jñāna tāṅra prayojana
cinmaya ānanda-rasa, sarva-tattva yāṅra vaśa
akhaṇḍa parama tattva-dhana

For one who desires to understand the essential truth of the Rūpānugas, knowledge of rasa is essential. The spiritual, conscious bliss of rasa governs all subordinate principles, for it is the undivided supreme wealth of ultimate reality.

(2)
yāṅra bhāve jñānī-jana, brahma-laya-anveṣaṇa
kare nāhi bujhi’ veda-marma
yāṅra chāyā-mātra bhoge, yogī-jana yoga kare
yāra chale karmī kare karma

Seeking this same spiritual joy, the speculative philosophers pursue absorption into Brahman without understanding the true purport of the Vedas. Even the yogīs’ desired attainments are but a shadow of this rasa, and the karmīs perform their actions only under its indirect influence.

(3)
vibhāva anubhāva āra, sāttvika sañcārī cāra
sthāyī-bhāve milana sundara
sthāyī-bhāve rasa haya, nitya cid-ānanda-maya
parama āsvādya nirantara

When the permanent emotion (sthāyī-bhāva) combines beautifully with vibhāva (stimuli), anubhāva (external expressions), sāttvika-bhāva (involuntary ecstatic symptoms), and sañcārī-bhāva (transitory emotions), it becomes rasa—eternally composed of consciousness and bliss and continuously relishable.

(4)
ye rasa prapañca-gata, jaḍa-kāvye prakāśita
parama rasera asaṁ-mūrti
asaṁ-mūrti nitya haya, ādarśera chāyā haya
yena marīcikā-jala-sphūrti

When rasa is reflected within the material world and expressed in mundane poetry, it becomes only a distorted, unreal form of the supreme rasa. It is temporary and unreal, like a mirage appearing as water in the desert.