Ebook: The Bhaktirasamritasindhu of Rupa Gosvamin

Bhakti of devotional love is the way of directly encountering the rasa in human experience. The aesthetic experience of rasa which is available to human beings was somehow not fully manifested and established from the 'intellectual' point of view. A glimpse of the rasa accomplished is available in the encounter of Uddhava and Gopies. Humans by nature are rational and logical beings. They prefer logical conclusions which have universal applicability. To logically establish the path of rasa was the endeavour of the seekers and thinkers of Vrindavan, which emerged as the 16th century intellectual, cultural and spiritual center of the Vraja region. Sri Rupa Gosvamin, a direct disciple of Sri Caitanya, was a shining member of the team of six Gosvamins. For him the emotionally experienced bhakti-prema-rasa is equally knowable and communicable. The human consciousness could reach the ocean of rasa through Sri Rupa Gosvamin's unique work, Sri Bhaktirasamrtasindhu. If there is an experience, it can be expressed and for an expression to be meaningful it has to be guided by a 'grammar' or a sastra. The famous trilogy of Bhaktirasamrtasindhu, Ujjvalanilamani and Natakacandrika of Sri Rupa Gosvamin provided for the first time a total sastra of bhaktirasa.

It is felt that the Bhaktirasamrtasindhu be made available to the English-knowing world as well. Dr. David Haberman has fulfilled this need by undertaking the stupendous task of translating this definitive text on bhaktirasa into English. The present edition includes the original Sanskrit in Devanagari, Dr. Haberman's translation and exegetical notes explaining all the intricate points of the text. An exhaustive table of contents and elaborate introduction, glossary and bibliography have greatly enhanced the value of the edition.

In the Bhaktirasamrtasindhu, the bhaktirasa is totally uncovered and consecrated in its own right. The human intellect drank to its hearts content this pure, unadulterated rasathrough this text. This comprehension gets manifested in the rich poetic, musical, dramatic, ritualistic and architectural traditions of the 16th century Vraja. IGNCA has covered some of these manifestations in the following Vraja Nathadwara Prakalpa studies: Evening Blossoms - The Temple Tradition of Sanjhi in Vrndavana (1996); Govindadeva - A Dialogue in Stone (1996); In Favour of Govindadevji - Historical documents relating to a deity of Vrndavana and Eastern Rajasthan (1999).

In the Vraja Prakalpa it is a major commitment to make available this wisdom of rasa tradition, the tradition of Srimad Bhagavata and the Natyasastra of Bharat culminating in the text of Bhaktirasamrtasindhu by Sri Rupa Gosvamin. The late Dr. Premlata Sharma, an esteemed scholars of rasa-sastra, undertook the responsibility of translating this famous rasa trilogy into Hindi. Her Hindi translation of the Bhaktirasamrtasindhu is being published. The English translation of the same text has been undertaken by Dr. David Haberman.