The Search for Rasa - Prema Dharma

The highest necessity of every living being.

By Srila Bhakti Raksak Sridhar Dev-Goswami Maharaj

raso vai sah
rasam hy evayam labdhvanandi bhavati
(Taittiriya-upanisad: 2.7)

[“He is rasa, and only by attaining Him does one become joyful.”]

After all, we want pure rasa, ananda. That is our quest, and we are told that is to be found in the service of the rasa Himself. Rasa is a person, the Akhila-rasamrta-murti. Everyone is in quest for rasa. So, the status of rasa is the highest. If we are a person, then we have subjective existence, and rasa has its supersubjective existence. He is a person. He is the Akhila-rasamrta-murti. He is Krishna. Rasa is Krishna. There cannot be rasa in any other place but in Krishna, the highest conception, the source. The fountainhead of all rasas of different type is only in Him. So, by nature of our construction, we are to search for Krishna: Krishnanusandan. That will be the nature of a normal person here.

In the Vedanta-sutra we find Brahma-jijnasa: enquiry into the supreme cause of this world, search for the supreme cause.

yato va imani bhutani jayante
yena jatani jivanti
yat prayanty abhisamvisanti
tad vijijnasasva
tad brahmeti
(Taittiriya-upanisad: 3.1)

[“Seek to know that from which all beings arise, by which the created live, and into which the departed enter. That is Brahma.”]

From where has everyone come? Where are they existing? How is their existence maintained? By whom? And ultimately, where does everyone enter after death? That is Brahma, the most fundamental plane wherefrom everything is springing up, remains, and then enters. Enquire into that prime cause, the all-accommodating, Brahma. Brahma means brhattama, the biggest thing, all-accommodating.

But Mahaprabhu and Srimad Bhagavatam replaced Brahma-jijnasa with Krishnanusandhan. Brahma-jijnasa is a dry thing. It is only an exercise of your thinking faculty, a jugglery of reason. Leave that aside! Begin Krishnanusandhan: quench your heart’s thirst, try to fulfil the thirst of your heart. Krishnanusandhan means rasa-jijnasa. Raso vai sah: He is rasa.

Things acquired by your reason won’t satisfy you. Jnan, knowledge, cannot really quench your thirst. Rasa, anandam, is a separate thing. So, instead of Brahma-jijnasa, accept Krishnanusandhan.

kaha mora prananatha murali-vadana
kaha karo kaha pan vrajendra-nandana
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 2.15)

[“Where is the flute player, the Lord of my heart? What can I do? Where will I find the prince of Vraja?”]

This should be the way of our march, our slogan: “Where is Krishna?”

vrajendra-nandana vina phate mora buka
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 2.16)

[“Without the prince of Vraja, my heart breaks.”]

My real want has been discovered, and it is to get the service of Krishna; it is not Brahma-jijnasa nor Paramatmanusandhan. The yogis try to enter into the details of the minutest part of the world. Anor aniyan (Ku: 1.2.20): what is controlling the whole from within? That is the object of the quest of the yogis. What is controlling everything from within? Paramatma. The jnanis’ search is: from where is everyone and everything coming, and by what is everything maintained, and again where does everything enter? What is that thing? That is Brahma. Devotees ask: what is the demand of my innermost heart? I want to satisfy, to quench, that. I do not care to know where I am and what is controlling everything; really I want to quench my thirst for rasa, for madhurya, sweetness. This is the search for rasa, anandam, beauty, charm, and not calculative knowledge or the Paramatma.

nahe gopi yogisvara pada-kamala tomara
dhyana kari’ paibe santosa
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Madhya-lila, 13.141)

The gopis are saying to Krishna in Kuruksetra: “Anyhow, You want to control us by quoting scripture which is meant for the jnanis and the yogis, but we are not of that type. Please excuse us. You know it fully well that we are not of the type of the jnanis and yogis. We are servants. Service is our life. So, if You kindly manage to come within us and accept our service, then only may we be satisfied. There is no other alternative for us. So, if You would like to save us, then You must come in close connection with us and accept our hearty service to Yourself. That is the remedy. We have no other remedy. Of course, we hear what You are recommending, but that is outer ear exercise, something like that. It is not hitting the target, the real point.” This is kaha Krishna Prananatha [“Where is Krishna, the Lord of my heart?”], the search for rasa, not for knowledge, to know who is the controller of this world.

Krishnanusandhan: we are to search for Krishna and also to teach others to come in the same camp. Don’t be misdirected. The proper direction of the sastra is this. Mahaprabhu and Srimad Bhagavatam have taught us what to beg for, what to pray for, what to want for. They have taught us: “You want this thing. Pray for this. If you beg, beg for this thing, not for any other thing.” Krishnanusandhan: we want nothing but Krishna, nothing but Krishna, even not Narayan.

When the gopis were wandering in search of Krishna, to play a particular mood, Krishna took the shape of Narayan. The gopis offered respect to Narayan: “Oh, He is Narayan. Yes, we respect You. We honour You, Narayan. Please be gracious and grant our prayers that we may get the grace of Krishna. By Your grace, we want the association of Krishna, and not Narayan.” When they found Narayan, the gopis give their namaskaram, outward respect and praise for Him, and requested that He be gracious and grant them the company, association, of Krishna. So, the Vaisnava, the students of Bhagavatam, the followers of Mahaprabhu—their fate is sealed only to go in a particular direction in search of Krishna. They won’t want anything other than Krishna.