The answer to this question is –

All the divine pastimes of Sri Krishna are eternal. His various ages such as childhood, adolescence, youth – are also timeless. His behavior in these ages is eternal as well. However the devotees have a tremendous desire to behold these pastimes or to see Him in a particular form. Then He uses this as an opportunity to save the world and He manifests these pastimes. When the work is over, that leelâ unmanifests. The leelâ continues to exist, but shrouded from material eye. Similarly ras expresses itself in a devotee’s heart and when the vibhâv etc. disappear, ras too conceals itself.

When material reactants transform into products, the reactant disappears. For example, when sugarcane juice turns into molasses, the juice is no more. Later when it forms sugar, we do not see the jaggery. However transcendental objects are different from material things. They have an inconceivable potency. They get transformed without losing their separate identity. Example – Sri Krishna is eternally a kishor. Yet, His kishor-body becomes a child, adolescent and the adolescent-body becomes all the more beautiful as a kishor. Every stage is eternal. All the bodies – child, adolescent, youthful – are eternal. Similarly, our permanent bhâv (sthâyi-bhâv) is eternal, yet it transforms into ras. Both – sthâyi-bhâv and ras continue to exist separately.

About the formation of ras, Srimat Jiva Goswâmipâd has written in his Priti-Sandarbha –

“The bhâvs that are worthy of becoming ras, become ras.”

Let us understand this statement better. Material vibhâvs – yes, even the vibhâvs pertaining to devatâs are material – are temporary and are lacking in ingredients of ras. So they do not form ras. Transcendental vibhâvs have all the ingredients to form ras. These ingredients have 3 qualifications –

1. The right swarup –
2. The right associate
3. The right recipient

1. The right swarup – The eternal associates have the right swarup, hence they possess sthâyi-bhâv and are always situated in bliss. They reveal Sri Bhagavân to us and constantly please Him with their sevâ. They even criticize the joy of liberation. Such is the sthâyi-bhâv of the dear associates of Sri Krishna. Although we are worldly beings, by the blessing of Sri Krishna and His devotees, this bhâv can arise in our hearts also.

1. The right associate – The vibhâvs of material ras are also mundane. Hence they are naturally disqualified to arouse ras. On the other hand, the eternal loving confidantes of Sri Bhagavân love Him so much that their bhâv spontaneously create ras. Their love is self-manifesting. It also reveals Sri Krishna and everything pertaining to Him. This love appears in the heart of earthly devotees and gives them similar bhâv. So we should hear and meditate constantly on those eternal associates, who are in a mood akin to ours. We should be choosy about the association we keep. We should keep the company of only rasik and sajâtiya devotees who can inculcate ras in us.

1. The right recipient – The devotee (sâdhak) too should have a desire to obtain bhakti for Sri Bhagavân. Then only he is qualified to relish bhakti-ras.

Alankâr-Koustubh has explained these points in detail –

Sri Bhagavân’s eternal associates and the devotees who follow them relish transcendental ras. Thus we see that two types of people relish ras –

1. the eternal associates of Sri Bhagavân Who participate in His divine Leelâs and
2. the devotees who perform sâdhanâ according those leelâs.

Ras forms spontaneously in the eternal associates and they constantly relish ras. On the other hand, the devotees who follow them undergo two types of experiences –

1) They meditate on the eternal associates according to their liking (bhâv) and on their pastimes with Sri Bhagavân, and in this manner ras arises in their heart.

2) They only hear and glorify the sweet Leelâs of Sri Bhagavân, thus they relish ras. When someone sings or enacts such leelâs, or some great soul speaks Hari-kathâ very sweetly, then the devotees who hear or see this can relish ras. On top of this if all the people involved in these activities are in the same bhâv and harbor the same desire, then the devotee can equalize his feelings with the associates depicted in the drama (or Hari-kathâ). This enables him to relish greater ras.

So we can understand that although the eternal associates are present in transcendental realm, and we reside in the material world, we too can relish transcendental ras like they. The only difference is that eternal associates have natural bhâv. They do not need any instruction nor do they need to hear any divine discourse. However we live in the material world, so we need the right sanskâr and it is necessary for us to perform sâdhanâ. These will intensify our desire to relish ras and our passion will blaze forth. We need all these, because we cannot relish ras without a desire for ras and if we are devoid of ras-sanskâr.

(to be continued)