The Divine Secrets of Maharaas
Ordinary people cannot understand Maharaas. Even in God realized saint one in millions is able to understand it. However, many still try to describe it, which leads to a lot of misunderstanding. Here are some points to clarify what Maharaas truly is.
What is Maharaas?
अङ्गनामङ्गनामन्तरे माधवो माधवं माधवं चान्तरेणाङ्गना ।
इत्थमाकल्पिते मण्डले मध्यगः सञ्जगौ वेणुना देवकीनन्दनः ॥
2.35
aṅganāmaṅganāmantare mādhavo mādhavaṃ mādhavaṃ cāntareṇāṅganā ।
itthamākalpite maṇḍale madhyagaḥ sañjagau veṇunā devakīnandanaḥ ॥
2.35
The root word for raas (Devanagari: रास ISO15919: rāsa) is ras (Devanagari: रस ISO15919: rasa) which means the bliss (anand) of divine love.
By definition Anand means the bliss which is is infinite in quantity, is ever increasing and is ever new.
Then who can describe the superlative form of bliss. This is bliss of samartha rati experienced by those devotees, who love Shri Krishna as their Supreme beloved and Shri Radha as their Supreme Ladyship without any desire of self-happiness [1].
रसो वै स:
raso vai saḥ
is an epithet of Lord Krishna which means “bliss of love.” There are many levels of this bliss. That is why, the Vedas again depict Him as
रसानां रसतमः परमः
rasānāṃ rasatamaḥ paramaḥ
"The Supreme Bliss”. Bliss could be attained even by the gyanis the ones who worship formless God. But the devotees of samartha rati attain the highest level of ever-increasing love-bliss of Shri Radha Krishna.
Who is Eligible to attain Maharaas?
Out of all the God-realized saints ONLY 2 categories can attain Maharaas (see the graphic below for details).
- Tattatbhavicchhamayi Kamatmika Ragatmika Samartha Rati Bhakti
- Tattatbhavicchhamayi Kamanuga Raganuga Samartha Rati Bhakti
Can human beings attain Maharaas?
A. Sure. Any human being, who practices Madhurya Bhav bhakti under the guidance of a Rasik saint of madhurya bhav can attain it. They live by the philosophy
तत्सुखसुखित्वम्
tatsukhasukhitvam
"Find pleasure in the pleasure of the beloved”. In other words, under the guidance of a saint of Gopi Prem one has to exclusively love Radha Krishna - The Divine Couple. All actions and thoughts ought to be targeted to please Shri Radha Krishna.
Q. Are ‘Maharaas’ and “Premanand’ synonymous words?
A. No. Maharaas is the highest level of premanand. There are many levels of bliss starting from Brahmanand or the bliss of Impersonal form of God which is attained by those who follow the path of gyan, who realize formless God and attain ineffable, infinite and divine bliss. Then the levels of those devotees start, who love a personal form (SAKAAR) of God. Their bliss is called premanand. These levels, in ascending order, are
- Dasya Bhav - to adore God as a master,
- Sakhya Bhav - to adore God as a friend,
- Vatsalya bhav - to adore God as son and
- Madhurya Bhav - to adore God as beloved. Madhurya bhav has three levels:
- Sadharani Rati - to adore God as beloved for self-happiness,
- Samanjasa Rati - to adore God as beloved for His happiness but rarely a slight feeling of self-happiness also occurs in this state,
- samartha rati - Completely unselfish adoration of Shri Krishna as beloved and Shri Radha as Swamini or governess. There is not even a trace self-happiness in any situation. They have the singleton desire to serve the divine couple to please Them. There is nothing beyond it. And, only the devotees of this level of love attain the bliss of Maharaas. They are rarest of rare amongst billions. Even Rukmini Ji, the principal queen of Shri Krishna, could not attain Maharaas since sometimes a trivial feeling of self-happiness manifested in Her heart. The Bhagavat also asserts the same in Canto 10, chapter 47, verse 60
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[1] Nishkamata