Srila Prahlada Maharaj is given as an ideal example of the first stage of suddha bhakti, santa-rasa. Iam wondering what then are the disguishing charecteristics between santa and dasya bhakti?
What distinguishes his devotion from Hunumans, that his devotion is considered santa rasa and not dasya?
Is it just that Hunuman engaged in more active services; fighting, building a bridge,etc?
That dosent seem right because a babji may not even get up from his kutir but still be engaged in dasya bhakti, or another rasa.
In his book The Philophy and Religion of Sri Caitanya Srila Prabhupada's Godbrother Adi Kesava dasa (Dr. O.B.L. Kapoor) writes: "The distinguishing feature of santa-rasa is relinquishment of all worldly desires (trsna-tyaga) and faith in Krsna (Krsna-nistha) (Cc Madhya 19.176-77). The santa-bhakta knows Krsna as Brahman or Paramatma and in his case the question of conceiving of a personal relationship with him does not arise. Daysa-rasa implies personal relationship as between a master and servant. The only desire that animates the devotee who has the ego of a servant is the desire to give comfort to Krsna and contribute, in whatever way possible, to his happiness. But his devotional attitude is characterized by a feeling of respect toward the master, which prevents him from coming too close to him." (Cc. Adi 3.14; 4.17)
That dosent seem right because a babji may not even get up from his kutir but still be engaged in dasya bhakti, or another rasa.
Just as a further point, the relationship that one is engaged in with Krsna (santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhurya) takes place within the context of the lila. Thus we see in this world that often those engaged in such lila seva (e.g. private bhajan as in the case of a babaji) may appear almost inactive to our vision.
The santa bhakta, like Sri Prahlad, is not actively engaged in seva to Bhagavan and may simply sit in meditation on him. Guru maharaja has mentioned that there are devotees like this in Vaikuntha.
A dasya bhakta engages in seva but with the conceit that "He is my master, I am his servant" as mentioned in the previous post.
daso 'smi
Dayal Govinda dasa
The santa-bhakta knows Krsna as Brahman or Paramatma and in his case the question of conceiving of a personal relationship with him does not arise.
If by 'personal' you mean 'face-to-face', I understand the second part of this sentence, but I don't understand the first part at all. It suggests that Prahlada is in the same class as a jnani or a yogi. I would appreciate your elaboration on this.
In the Bhagavatam it's mentioned that Prahlada's ista-devata was Krsna, and as mentioned in my original post one of the characteristics of a santa-bhakta is Krsna-nistha (fixity on Krsna). Although jnanis and yogis may be free of material desire they are not necessarily fixed on Krsna--they may not even have faith in Krsna at all--which puts them in a different category altogether from Prahlada Maharaja, for although we find he did not serve Bhagavan directly he was entirely surrendered to him and was able to pacify the anger of Narasinghadeva when others--including Brahma and Siva--could not.
In the Bhagavatam it's mentioned that Prahlada's ista-devata was Krsna, and as mentioned in my original post one of the characteristics of a santa-bhakta is Krsna-nistha (fixity on Krsna).
That is my understanding as well, and I'm having difficulty reconciling the sentiment of Prahlada with Dr. Kapoor's statement, "The santa-bhakta knows Krsna as Brahman or Paramatma...." Indeed, that statement seems meaningless on close inspection; it seems to me that if one "knows Krsna" then by definition he's beyond the Brahman and Paramatma conceptions. Otherwise we could just as well say that a jnani "knows Krsna" since he knows Brahman, and Krsna is the source of Brahman. Ditto for yogis and Paramatma. If bhakti in santa rasa is to be meaningfully distinguished from jnana and other forms of yoga, then I think Dr. Kapoor's statement above is misleading at best (although I have great respect for him in general). Perhaps, as santa rasa is not at all emphasized in our sampradaya, our acharyas have not thought as deeply or written as carefully about it as about the other rasas.
The answer to this is found in the Bhagavatam (10.43.17) where it is described how the different people in the wrestling arena in Mathura saw Krsna as he entered there.
The verse says: "The various groups of people in the arena regarded Krsna in different ways when he entered it with his elder brother. The wrestlers saw Krsna as a lightning bolt, the men of Mathura as the best of males, the women as Cupid in person, the cowherd men as their relative, the impious rulers as a chastiser, his parents as their child, the king of the Bhojas (Kamsa) as death, the unintelligent as the universal form, the yogis as the absolute truth (tattvam param yoginam), and the Vrsnis as their supreme worshipable Deity."
Here we see that according to one's inner vision Krsna will appear differently to everyone. Even though the yogis were seeing the two-handed Krsna they saw him as the supreme truth, not as their friend or child. So Prahlada for example could have Krsna as his ista-devata but relate to him in a totally different way than, say, mother Yasoda will.
Perhaps, as santa rasa is not at all emphasized in our sampradaya, our acharyas have not thought as deeply or written as carefully about it as about the other rasas.
It is definitely not emphasized by our acaryas, since Mahaprabhu came to give four rasas (dasya, sakhya, vatsalya, madhurya). There is however a pretty in-depth description of santa-rasa in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu. Check out the "Rasa-tattva Overview" thread for more on this as well as (soon to be posted) the other rasas.
Sri Krsna is both rasa and a rasika. That is, he is the emporium of rasa in realtion to whom devotees taste rasa and he tastes rasa himself as well. Regarding santa rasa, he tastes this in Vrndavana in relation to Giri Govardhana while lifting it. He also tasted all the other rasas at that time in relation to other devotees. See Brs.4.8.85 for evidence. Some argue that there is not santa rasa in Vrndavana, but here we have an example of Sri Krsna relishing it in Vraja Dhama.