Tag: rasa

What is unnatojjvala-rasa?

In this Kali-yuga, may the son of Śacī always manifest within the cave of your heart. Out of His compassion, He has descended to offer that which was never bestowed before, the most exalted, radiant mellow of conjugal love [unnatojjvala-rasāṁ], the beauty of His own devotion. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, now illuminated by the effulgence of golden brilliance.

Rūpa Gosvāmī’s early play Vidagdha Mādhava (The Artful Lord Kṛṣṇa) opens with an unforgettable invocation of Kṛṣṇa. The author expresses to his reader the wish that Kṛṣṇa may shine forth in the heart of everyone. And as if to make that experience possible, he explains in just a few words the purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance among us.

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What is ruci?

ruci [desire, interest, pleasure, relish, taste, wish] 

In the Gaudiya tradition we meet the term ruci in Rūpa Gosvāmī’s famous explanation of the nine stages of Bhakti. 

The process begins with faith (śraddhā). Faith grows through association with other devotees (sādhu-saṅga), and through patient devotional practice (bhajana-kriyā). This then leads to decreasing material attachments (anartha nivṛtti) and increasing steadiness (niṣṭhā). These experiences then awaken taste for bhakti (ruci). By means of this taste we can then increase or attachment to divine sentiments (āsakti), increase our mood of loving, and finally reach pure love of God (prema), the highest stage of Bhakti Yoga. 

In this way ruci corresponds to the moment when our experience of flavour turns from external experience and becomes more internal, more directed toward the heart and toward our feelings. It’s the moment when our basic faith in the truth of Bhakti, and in the value of good association and bhajan open a door to our first experience of the spiritual pleasure of Bhakti. We feel the attraction and the energy of Bhakti through the pleasure it brings to our hearts. 

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