We know that one cannot feel sweet or conjugal passion for Sri Bhagavân without the desire to make love with Him. However, this ‘desire to make love’ can be due to our wish to please Him, or because we want sense-gratification. How much pure is the passion? Well, to the extent it is meant to satisfy Sri Krishna. The passion that seeks self-pleasure cannot control Him much. The Vraja-beauties’ prem is self-independenet. It lacks the merest scent of self-happiness; therefore it subjugates Sri Krishna to the maximum degree. After all, we must remember that He is a Servant of Love. Depending on the ratio of ‘Sri Krishna’s pleasure’ to ‘self-pleasure’ in the passion, the authors of Ras-science classify conjugal passion into –

1. sâdhârani (ordinary)
2. samanjasâ (balanced)
3. samarthâ (self-independednt)

Let us study each one in detail.

1. Sâdhârani passion– This passion is very much adulterated by the desire for sensual pleasure. One may experience this after getting Sri Krishna’s actual darshan, or by hearing about Him. Sexual desire is the only cause for this passion; such madhurâ-rati (sweet passion) is called ‘ordinary’. For example – as soon as Kubjâ saw Sri Krishna, she felt, ‘I wish I could have the pleasure of having a physical relation with such a gorgeous handsome man.’ This denotes her desire for sense gratification. The next moment she felt, ‘He has made me so happy by giving me darshan; I wish in return I could please Him, by at least serving Him with my body for a while.’ It is clear that this passion s caused due to her initial desire for sense-gratification; therefore in this case, as the sensual desire diminishes, the passion too decreases. Some preceptors are of the opinion that some women of Mathurâ, Dwârakâ and heavenly realms too possess such ordinary passion.
2. Samanjasâ passion– This passion arises in a devotee who identifies herself as Sri Bhagavân’s wife. It mostly arises when she hears about His excellences. At times, it is also caused by the desire for sexual union. In that case, this desire becomes an impurity. For example, when Rukmini and some other queens heard about Sri Krishna from Nârad Muni, after they had reached puberty, they felt a natural passion for Him. Also lust arose in them and they desired a physical union with Him. When these two feelings come together, it results in ‘samanjasâ rati’. The former (natural passion for Sri Krishna) is more than their desire for sense gratification. The queens of Dwârakâ posess this samanjasâ rati. Sometimes they show a separate desire for sense gratification; then how much ever they may try to seduce Him, they cannot. We should realize that they can make Him behave according to their wish to the degree of love they possess, in addition to their desire for self-pleasure. Let us understand this better. Suppose a queen feels that since the Gopis have greater bhâv than I do, and they manage to control Sri Krishna, I too shall display similar bhâvs externally and thus seduce Him, then she is wrong. She will never succeed, since she does not possess the prem of the Gopis. In this case, all her actions are simply a drama. However, we should also note that Sri Krishna loves love. He cannot reject any devotee entirely. As a result, He reciprocates in proportion to the amount of purity present in her love – not by her seductive charms.
3. Samarthâ passion– This type of rati or passion is exceptional as compared to the previous two types. This passion is natural and spontaneous – it does not depend on shravanam etc. A Gopi craves for Sri Krishna from the beginning; it does not ‘arise’. Even the sheer hint of this fragrant passion makes them naturally forget family-honor, all righteousness, self-control and shame. It is the deepest form of passion and nothing can change it. This is why we call it ‘self-independent’.

Sâdharani passion is entirely adulterated by the desire for self-pleasure while samanjasâ rati is too sometimes contaminated. Thus we see that both these passions have some impurity, though it may be to a small degree. On the other hand, samarthâ rati is so strong that forget contaminating – the desire for sense gratification can never come within miles of its existence.

Wy do we call it samarthâ (self-independent and all-capable)? This is because the beloveds who posses this passion are all-capable of controlling Sri Krishna, Who seeks pleasure in them. This passion is all-capable of making the Vraja-beauties forget their honor, darma and shame. It is all-capable to make the devotee relish entirely Sri Krishna’s sweet beauty, excellences and pastimes. Not only all these, but a devotee who has this sort of passion is also all-capable of giving Sri Krishna the marvelous relish of her own sweet love. This samarthâ-rati alone can graduate to the stage of mahâbhâv. Consequently Sri Krishna Whom only love can control is most subjugated by the Vraja-beauties.

Upon hearing that Sri Krishna is in the control of the Vrajadevis, Satyabhamâ did mân—this is ridiculous, since there can be no comparison between the Vraja-beauties who are the proud possessors of samarthâ-rati, and Satyabhâmâ who has samanjasâ rati, that is far inferior. This is why Sri Krishna said, “If I can please the Gopis by abandoning all of you, I can do this even now.)

Sri Krishna continued – “Brahma has thus glorified me—‘O Krishna! Although You are God almighty, You are incapable of returning the favor of the Brijwâsis’. This is verily the truth, since I am most indebted to the Brijwâsis. You may ask—‘Why don’t You go and live in Brijdhâm? For then You will not only be able to repay their debt, but also make them happy.’ To this I reply that, “If I go to Vrindâban or even if I live there, their health will neither be restored nor will they recover from the fire of viraha. Although they are always suffering from the pangs of my separation, if I do go there and sport sweetly with them, their sorrow will increase. The Brijwâsis are constantly burning in the fire of viraha. If, all of a sudden, I meet them, it will be like putting ice on a freshly burnt area. Their blazing hearts will be set aflame all the more. When someone is burnt badly by fire, we have to provide warmth, and not ice. The Brijwâsis are entirely scorched by separation that is why I am providing them with the warmth of viraha, and thus keeping them alive. I don’t see any other way out of this predicament.

You may also ask, ‘The Brijwâsis are such great premiks—what do You mean by tormenting them so much?’ I beg to reply that, ‘The Brijwâsis have such intense bhâv, that even when they see me, they are so overwhelmed and bewitched that they forget everything – including their body and body-related matters. They are so supremely engrossed in me that they lose all external sense. Even during milan, they are actually so much paranoid of the future viraha, that they become miserable. I am truly incapable of keeping them happy whether in milan, or viraha.”

(Commentary – Viraha alone has heightened the status of the Vraja-prem. The prem that arises due to Sri Krishna-viraha is special. It is supremely glorious and pleasurable. And only the Brijwâsis can enjoy this prem. In fact, divine prem arises only from the feeling that ‘I am separated from the divine Being’. Consequently, this viraha has some inherent inexpressible joy concealed in it. When we are unable to obtain Him, all of us sense viraha; however other devotees lack the prem of the Brijwâsis. Hence they do not feel the longing of viraha so much as the Brijwâsis. As a result, they do not reach the ultimate peak of joy either .)

(contd…….)