“When pranay reaches its maximum height, the lover feels happiness in extreme sorrow ; we call this stage as ‘râg’.” – (U.N.)

Srimat Jiva Goswâmipâd explains – “When a lover sees that if he accepts a sorrowful situation he will get Sri Krishna, he joyously welcomes that state; on the other hand if a happy situation does not result in obtaining Sri Krishna he feel sad. This indicates that the lover has reached the state of râg.”

Sneha, maan, pranay and râg – all have variety. For instance, there are two kinds of sneha –

• Ghrita-sneha¹ (sneha resembling clarified butter)
• Madhu-sneha² (sneha that is akin to honey)

Maan is also of two types –

• Udâtta-maan³
• Lalito-maan⁴

Pranay is of two types –

• Maitra-pranay⁵
• Sakhya-pranay⁶

There are further classifications of these moods. Râg too has various categories.

Srimati Râdhârâni expresses the second of all the above-mentioned qualities. These attributes are higher than the first ones. The first qualities express – “I belong to you” (the sweetheart thinks she belongs to Sri Krishna), while the second qualities show – “You belong to me” or Sri Krishna belongs to me. Chandrâvali displays all the first qualities while Srimati Râdhârâni has the second ones. All the qualities of Srimati Râdhârâni are present in the sakhis belonging to Her group since they are Her expansions.

Sri Krishna’s eternal associates (nitya-siddha) are the embodiments of His swarup shakti. The above-mentioned qualities are present in them since eternity. The devotees who become His associates after attaining success in sâdhanâ gain the necessary qualities only after accomplishment. We call them sâdhan-siddha. When the sâdhak-body breaks up, he is born in the home of a cowherd (âhiri-gop) wherever Sri Krishna is performing His divine pastimes at the moment. There he gains transcendental body. He associates with the eternal associates who are in the same mood as he is in. Their mood transmits into him.

“When a lover is at the height of râg and expresses newer and newer colorful moods and he experiences his beloved in novel manners each moment, we call that stage as ‘anurâg’.” – (U.N.)

This means that anurâg is “deep râg”. When the lover attains the stage of mature râg, his moods become all the more colorful, variegated and gains novel hues. Although he did realize his beloved Sri Krishna’s sweet beauty and excellence earlier too, now he relishes them afresh – as if he had never relished them before. As a result the devotee’s temptation to relish Sri Krishna’s sweetness increases tremendously. Then “the thirst is not satiated, the thirst increases constantly” – (C.C. Aadi.4.149).The devotee reaches such a state. It is true that anurâg makes us realize Sri Krishna Whom we were relishing constantly earlier as if we are seeing Him or hearing about Him for the first time!!

Sri Ujjwal-Neelmani describes the characteristics of anurâg as follows –

“(1) The lovers are subjugated to each other. (2)Their love attains ‘prem-vaichittya’. (3) We extremely crave even to become inanimate objects to relish Sri Krishna’s sweetness and (4) We get His visphurti in viraha.”

Srimat Jiva Goswâmipâd explains the above statement –

“In prem too the lovers are subjugated to each other, yet the subordination is distinct in anurâg; it is newer and newer each moment.”

Srila Vishwanâth Chakravartipâd says – “In prem, clearly the lovers are subordinate to each other. However, the sweetheart maiden is not much subjugated since she feels shy and is reluctant to make any overture. On the other hand, in anurâg, we see that the sweetheart is so thirsty for Sri Krishna that she is rid of all feminine bashfulness and is completely overpowered. Thus the subjugation in anurâg is distinct from that in prem.”

When a devotee reaches the stage of anurâg, he expresses a certain mood called ‘prem-vaichittya’. Srila Rupa Goswâmipâd explains –

“When love surges high, even though the lover is very close to the beloved, she yearns and grieves for him thinking he is far from her – this is ‘prem-vaichittya’.” – (U.N.)

The lover craves for Sri Krishna so much in anurâg, that in spite of lying on His lap she feels the pangs of viraha. This is a remarkable miracle in the Empire of Love.

“rasabati boithi rasikoboro pâsh,

ro-i koho-i dhani biroho hutâsh,

âr ki milobo mohe roshomoy shyâm,

biroho jaladhi koto pourobo ham.

nikotohi nâho nâ hero-i râi,

sahachari koto parabodhai tâ-i.

kânu chamaki tobo râi koru kor,

gobinda dâsa heri bhelo bhor.”

Meaning – “Rasavati⁷ Râdhârâni sat close to Sri Krishna Who is the greatest of all rasiks. And just see what my Precious Darling did – She wept and said sighing heavily writhing in the pangs of separation – ‘Will I ever get Shyâm Who is full of ras?’ Although She was so close to Him She could not see Him. The sakhis were trying their level best to console her and make Her see reason. Kânu was shocked and drew Her onto His lap, and when poet Gobinda dâs saw this he was immersed in joy.”

¹

Ghrita-sneha – This sneha is full of loving care; however ghee tastes well only when you add it with some other ingredient like sugar etc. Similarly this sneha gives Sri Krishna pleasure when the lover also expresses other bhâvs along with sneha – like envy, pride etc.

²

Madhu-sneha – Honey is relishing on its own. It is thick. Hence this sneha is much deeper than the ghrita-sneha.

³

Udâtta-maan – The sweetheart possessing ‘ghrita-sneha’ express this sort of maan. She is generous externally, but adverse internally. E.g. Chandrâvali

⁴

Lalito-maan – The sweetheart possessing ‘madhu-sneha’ express this sort of maan. She has no barrier and expresses vary sweet sarcasm and witty remarks. E.g. Srimati Râdhârâni

⁵

Maitra-pranay – Here the vishrambha is mingles with some degree of hesitation. E.g. When Sri Krishna reappeared in the Râs-leelâ (after His disappearance), a Gopi joyously caught His hand, while another one placed His arm around her shoulder. The One who caught His hand is the one with maitra-pranay, while the second Gopi has asserted more right, so she belongs to ‘sakhya-pranay’ that is absolutely without any respect for Sri Krishna and the sweetheart asserts her freedom completely.

⁶

Sakhya-pranay – Explained above.

⁷

The one who is full of ras.