Chapter Four
Śrī Śrī Rūpānuga-bhajana-darpaṇa – Song Six
(A Mirror Reflecting the Worship Which Follows Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī)

(1)
rūpānuga tattwa-sāra bujhite akaṅkha jāṅra
rasa-jñāna tāṅra prayojana
cinmoya ānanda-rasa sarba-tattwa jāṅra baśa
akhaṇḍa parama tattwa-dhana

1) Whoever has a longing to understand the essential truth of the reality of rūpānuga, then for him it is necessary to have some basic knowledge of transcendental mellows. And such spiritually blissful conscious mellows influence and control all other subordinate truths, for they are the hidden treasure of the supreme, absolutely undividable Truth of all Truths.

(2)
jāṅra bhāṇe jñāni jana brahmāloya-anweṣaṇa
kore nāhi bujhi’ beda-marma
jāṅra chāyā-mātra bore jogī-jana joga kore
jāra chale karmi kore karma

2) In pursuit of this same spiritual mellow, the philosophical speculators search for fusing themselves with the impersonal Brahman effulgence, not understanding the real import of the Vedic conclusion. And all the desired boons of the yogis are simply shadow reflections of this rasa. On the plea of this taste, the karmīs execute all their fruitive activities.

(3)
bibhāba anubhāba āra sāttwika sañcārī cāra
sthāyī bhābe milana śundara
sthāyī bhābe rasa hoya nitya cid-ānanda-moya
parama āswādya nirantara

3) The permanent basis of ecstatic mellow is called sthāyī-bhāva, and is abounding in eternal, conscious bliss. It becomes the topmost relishable euphoria when it mixes into a beautifully delicious combination with these four elements: 1) Vibhāva (specific stimulants and supporting characters) 2) Anubhāva (thirteen resultant ecstatic symptoms) 3) Sāttvika (eight especially disruptive ecstatic symptoms) 4) Sañcarī (thirty-three transitory accompanying emotions).

(4)
je rasa prapañca-gata joḍa-kābye prokāśita
parama rasera asan-mūrti
asan-mūrti nitya hoya ādarśera chāyā hoya
jena marīcikā jala-sphūrti

4) When rasa is expressed in the material world, it is praised throughout the materialistic literature of the world, but that is only a perverted reflection of this supreme mellow. It is temporary and is just like an imitation copy of the real thing, similar to a mirage which appears to be water in a desert.