alpāṁśa and sarvāṁśa

After reading Anādi Dās’ interpretation [link now expired] of the last sentence of Paragraph 338 of Jīva Gosvāmī’s Bhakti Sandarbha, I consulted my friend Kṛṣṇa Dās on it.

Dear Kṛṣṇadas,
Rādhe Rādhe
I have here two translations of Jiva Gosvami’s Bhakti Sandarbha 338’s last sentence:

rahasyatvaṁ ca tasyāḥ kvacid alpāṁśena kvacit tu sarvāṁśeneti jñeyam.

(note: Bhakti Sandarbha 338 contains the quotation of the last verse of the Rāsa līlā in the Bhāgavata, promising readers of the Rāsa-līlā they will be freed from lust. After that, however, Jīva Gosvāmī cautions that one should not study or meditate on this if one gets male transformations – puruṣa vikāra. The Sanskrit sentence quoted above follows that warning)

Translation of Kuśakratha Dās:

“In one sense, some parts of these pastimes are especially confidential. In another sense, all of these pastimes are very confidential.”

Translation of Anādi Dās, Germany:

“They misuse the meaning of the word intimate or confidential – rahasya, and they forbid any devotee which is not at least on the level of niṣṭhā from hearing any of the pastimes of the Lord with the gopis. In the quoted Bhakti Sandarbha (338) these words kvacid alpāṁśena kvacit tu sarvāṁśeneti jeyam, you didn`t translate, are also important, because they convey the meaning given by Jīva Gosvāmī to the word rahasya in connection to the gopī līlā, and they say that in this connection confidentiality refers to the fact: in which extent (complete- all, sarvāṁśeneti or less, alpāṁśena) the limbs of the hero and heroin touch. The meaning is that if līlā contains descriptions of touching of all the limbs, than it is confidential.”

I think both are wrong, especially the second one. My Gauḍīya Maṭh Bengali translation says that ‘in some places the pastimes are partially (alpāṁśa) rahasya (confidential) and in other parts completely (sarvāṁśa).” I feel that is the right one. I guess that the siddhānta here is that distinction must be made between adhikāra for hearing/reading partially intimate and fully intimate pastimes. What is your opinion?
advaitadas

Kṛṣṇadās replied:

Dear Advaita,
"I agree with you that neither Kuśakratha's or Anādi's translation are accurate. Kuśakratha evidently mistranslates the word kvacit and Anādi reads things into the sentence that aren't there. The Gauḍīya Maṭh translation makes sense to me. And it seems probable that Jīva Goswāmī wants to say, as you wrote, that a distinction must be made between adhikāra for hearing/reading partially intimate and fully intimate pastimes. The word nopāsya used in the previous sentence indicates adhikāra."
kd

Advaitadas: “What is actually the conclusion of this alpāṁśa and sarvāṁśa? That some stories can be read even with puruṣa vikāra as long as they are alpāṁśa rahasya? Seems hard to draw the line here... Any clues?

Kṛṣṇadās:
"As far as I have understood, it can happen that if people who have material nature (bhāva), ie. they consider the material body as their self and oneself as the enjoyer, and consequently do not see themselves as servants of Kṛṣṇa, if they read the descriptions of rahasya-līlā, their material bhāva gets excited. This is obviously something that should be avoided. However, it is natural for bhaktas to taste the rasa of bhakti in such descriptions. Those who have material bhāva will experience only their own material saṁskāras. They miss the whole point of the lila. Therefore, it is better if they don't read about rahasya-līlā. Sexual bhāva is dominant in man and requires very little to be stimulated. Nevertheless, nowadays, after the sexual revolution, it seems to me that the descriptions of rahasya-līlā are quite innocent in comparison to what can be found in contemporary literature (which, of course, is mostly devoid of rasa).

As we were talking back then in Vrindaban, previously, people had to learn vyākaraṇa and Sāhitya śāstra to be able to read all the wonderful books about Kṛṣṇa-līlā. At present, when there are translations it has become very easy for anybody to read them without proper training. Thus, it can also happen very easily that they become misunderstood. Therefore, proper education is very important. The problem which I see as quite important in relation to reading Kṛṣṇa-līlā is that devotees lack the understanding of the poetics that underlies the līlā-descriptions. The main purpose of those descriptions is rasa but very few know what rasa is and look for something else. They read books about Kṛṣṇa-līlā but are hardly able to read them over and over again. And even if so, they are, so to say, looking for information (details of the transcendental world or whatever) in the books and not for rasa. They are excited about them, no doubt, but I am not sure if they read them for the feeling of devotion they enable one to experience which is their purpose. The Upaniṣad teaches raso vai saḥ. The experience of rasa is for us the actual sākṣākāra of Kṛṣṇa who is beyond mind and speech. That is why, we, as Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas, make such a big fuss about rasa. I hope this answers the question,

kd

Advaitadas: “Yes I agree with the general point you made there about adhikāra but it doesn't answer my particular question about the alpāṁśa and sarvāṁśa. This is what intrigues me in the last sentence of Bhakti Sandarbha 338. Problem is that Jīva and Rūpa often scribble down sūtras and leave us to realize these things for ourselves, to fluff them out so to say. And there is no ṭīkā to the Sandarbhas..... So what is your opinion on alpāṁśa and sarvāṁśa? You think that partially erotic pastimes would be allowed to persons with puruṣa vikāras and fully erotic ones wouldn't be?"

Kṛṣṇadas: "I think my general point answered the question. If one gets puruṣa-bikāra it means that one is just exciting his material bhāva. Such reading of Kṛṣṇa-līlā is not encouraged, regardless of alpāṁśa or sarvāṁśa. If sarvāṁśa (fully erotic pastimes) is too much for somebody, he should read just alpāṁśa (partially or slightly erotic pastimes). If one is so obsessed with sex that even this is too much for him, he should completely give up reading about Kṛṣṇa's erotic pastimes. The bhāva that should be excited is bhakti. If this does not happen when reading about the pastimes, something is wrong with the person. The conclusion is that there is no license for reading about Kṛṣṇa's rahasya-līlā when one has puruṣa vikāra. It goes against the general principle. The vikrīḍitam verse (the final verse of the Rāsa līlā) says that those who listen to or describe the pastimes of Viṣṇu with the gopīs will get rid of kāma. This is not possible if one is exciting one's sexual nature. It is rather likely that the opposite will happen. One can even become more lusty. The verse says that one must be śraddhānvitaḥ. Puruṣa-vikāra, exciting one's sexual bhāva, or whatever we call it, occurs because of lack of śraddhā.