Question: Ramacandra is the presiding deity of Karuna Rasa. How do the two terms “compassion” and “sorrow” evolve from the same Karuna Rasa?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
From Sanskrit dictionaries, we get to know that the word karuna means both compassion and pathos (a deep feeling of sadness). Compassion and sadness are deeply linked, transcendentally. We will delve into it from the perspective of a pastime from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta. Many devotees from Indian background are used to understanding karuna as only compassion and not sadness. To dispel this, we get to know from Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu 4.4.7, “When rati transforms into lamentation in the heart by one’s perception of another person attaining misfortune, it is called çoka-rati. This çoka-rati is the sthäyi-bhäva of karuëa-rasa.”
Firstly, within the context of Ramayana we come across Karuna Rasa – the mellow of pathos/tragedy/lamentation.
1. Bala Kanda – When Viswamitra asked Dasaratha for taking Räma to kill demons, Dasaratha experienced the tragedy of separation from Rama
2. Ayodhya Kanda – Lamentation of Dasratha, the residents of Ayodhya and Sumantra upon Räma’s banishment
3. Aranya Kanda – Separation of Sétä from Räma
4. Kishkinda Kanda – Separation of Sugriva from his wife, Lamentation of Vali & Lamentation of Räma in separation from Sétä
5. Sundara Kanda – Hanumän’s lamentation on not finding Sétä
6. Yuddha Kanda – Sétä’s further lamentation during the war
7. Uttara Kanda – Separation of Sétä from Räma twice (before the birth of Luv & Kush and while disappearing finally into Mother Earth)
The transcendental link between compassion and sadness can be understood from Sri Caitanya Caritamrta (excerpt from a recent article by H. H. Dhanurdhara Maharaja from his website www.wavesofdevotion.com – the content below is a slightly edited version)
The beginning of Chapter 19 of Antya Lila of Sri Caitanya Caritamrta tells the story of Śrī Caitanya receiving a cryptic message in sonnet form from Advaita Ācārya, the head of the Vaiṣṇavas in Bengal. It was his sincere prayer that had been the cause of the Lord’s appearance, “Please inform Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is acting like a madman, that everyone here has become mad like Him. Inform Him also that in the marketplace rice is no longer in demand. Further tell Him that those now mad in ecstatic love are no longer interested in the material world. Also tell Him that one who has also become a madman in ecstatic love [Advaita Acarya] has spoken these words.” Antya-līlā 19.20 and 21
Everyone hearing the message was left flummoxed. What in the world was he talking about? Even Śrī Caitanya feigned ignorance of its meaning, although He indirectly expressed that He understood it. This is what He surmised: There were two basic reasons for His appearance; the external cause (why He came for the benefit of others) and the internal cause (why He came for himself). For others, He came to spread the holy name and infuse spontaneous devotion into the world. For Himself, He came to experience the feelings of love felt by His topmost devotee, Śrī Radha, at the height of Her love. When Advaita therefore wrote that there was no demand for rice in the market, he was hinting that Śrī Caitanya’s external mission was successful. The world was flooded with pure devotion. People therefore no longer had demand for what they had already received by His mercy. The proof of this idea is confirmed in the next stanza, “[…] those mad with ecstatic love were all liberated and had no interest in the world.”
In simple terms, it was Śrī Advaita who petitioned Him to come and save the world. As that external mission has been successfully completed, it was now Advaita indirectly calling Him back. Since He no longer had to be concerned with the external reason for His appearance, He could now singularly focus on His internal mission, to taste the love of His topmost devotee, Śrī Radha, at the height Her love, Her separation from Krishna. And He did: “From that day on, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s emotional state changed markedly; His feelings of separation from Kṛṣṇa doubled in intensity.” Antya-līlā 19.30. The remainder of Chapter 19 describes the intensity of Śrī Caitanya’s internal pursuit after receiving Śrī Advaita’s message and order: “As His feelings of separation in the ecstasy of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī increased at every moment, the Lord’s activities, both day and night, were now wild, insane performances.” Antya-līlā 19.31
Chapter 20 of Antya Lila, gives us a bird’s eye view of Śrī Caitanya in the Gambhīra (His cave-like room) where He did his bhajan, His deep spiritual practice. He spends day and night overwhelmed in ecstasy tasting the verses and songs of Śrī Radha’s deep feelings of separation. And please note that He remains absorbed in the holy name in that mood. He is totally lost in Śrī Radha’s intense feelings of separation. Then, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami writes, “In great jubilation, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said, ‘My dear Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya, know from Me that chanting the holy names is the most feasible means of salvation in this Age of Kali.” Śrī Caitanya had completed His preaching mission and was now totally absorbed in the most intense experience in the mood of Śrī Radha. Why now, deep in the fulfilment of His internal mission, was He again involved in His external mission? Hadn’t Śrī Advaita indicated that this part of His life was now finished?
Sri Caitanya in the mood of Sri Radha was experiencing the sorrow of separation (which is intensely blissful – details in the following section). A person deep in sorrow can understand the pain of others also in similar sorrow. The conditioned living entities of the material world are also in sorrow in separation from the lord, but due to their own forgetfulness. Srimati Radharani (and consequently Sri Caitanya) feels the pain of the conditioned living entities in this world. Unlike the conditioned living entities, She is not in forgetfulness of Krsna. In Her highest state of devotion also called mohanākhya-mahābhāva, Srimati Radharan’s sadness (Karuna rasa) results in compassion (karuna) also termed as brahmāṇḍa-kṣobha-kāritvaṁ (seeing the entire universe in a state of agitation). This is described in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 14.181-182. She (or more precisely Śrī Caitanya in that mood) saw only one solution for the souls of Kali-yuga, and that is hari-nāma-saṅkīrtana. She (Śrī Caitanya in that mood) thus became joyous and hopeful for the jīvas of this age & recited the verse in Antya-līlā 20.8 mentioned above. Therefore, Jiva Goswai writes in Priti Sandarbha, “When the devotees, who dearly love Lord Kåñëa, feel compassion and lament for the non-devotees who have not yet attained Lord Kåñëa’s mercy, that is also karuëa-rasa… If a devotee finds a person devoid of Kåñëa’s mercy to be lamentable, then there will be karuëa, with affection for the Lord.”
For most conditioned living entities, sadness doesn’t lead to compassion because we are too focused on ourselves and our mind, not on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Some jivas who do step a little out of the bubble of “me” and “my mind’s sorrow” express compassion in the form of altruistic activities (hospitals, fundraising for Cancer, save the environment etc.). Srila Prabhupada used to criticize altruistic activities devoid of addressing the root cause of such unhappiness which is connecting to Krsna through Hari-nama.
Transcendental Sorrow (Karuna Rasa) is Intensely Blissful:
In Priti Sandarbha Anuccheda 111, we find, “Even material poets who know the material rasas say that happiness can arise out of sorrow. We also say that spiritual bliss can arise even out of separation from the Lord. Externally the devotee separated from the Lord may seem to be sorrowful. However, during the anguish of separation the supremely blissful Lord is always manifest in the devotee’s thoughts. Therefore the devotee is also filled with intense spiritual bliss. In such a situation it is not possible for the devotee to avoid those two emotions of anguish and bliss. These two emotions don’t contradict each other. Rather they are like sweetened hot milk placed before a hungry person. The two features of sweetness and heat do not negate each other. Rather they compliment each other. In this way the anguish of separation from the Lord is actually the cause of intense spiritual bliss, just as the shining of the moon and stars is a source of pleasure. Because it is nourished by the memory of the bliss of directly associating with the Supreme Lord, the anguish of separation brings bliss with it. In that state of separation the karuëa-rasa (the rasa of a pitiable condition) is manifest. At that time the devotee yearns to be with the Lord.”
From Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu 2.5.126-127: “If karuëa-rasa did not give rise to happiness, then Rämäyaëa would be a cause of grief for the bhävaka-bhaktas, since that and other works reveal karuëa-rasa throughout. If Rämäyaëa is a cause of grief, why should Hanumän, who is an ocean filled with the waves of Räma’s lotus feet, continually hear Rämäyaëa with pleasure?”
