Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s personal qualities that excite prema for Him

Śrī Rūpa Goswami’s rasa theory in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu includes vibhāva, which is of two types, ālambana- and uddīpana-vibhāva. ālambana-vibhāva is the objective support of prema, while the uddīpana-vibhāva is the excitant of prema. In the Prīti Sandarbha, Śrī Jīva performs a very extensive analysis of these concepts. In this article, I examine the personal qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, which act as the uddīpana-vibhāva, or excitants of prema in His devotees for Himself; these are presented in Anuccheda 150 of the Prīti Sandarbha.

The four types of heroic natures

In Sanskrit poetry, four distinct types of heroes are accepted, which correspond to distinct qualities. I present these in the table below:

Name	Meaning	Standard example (taken from Śrī Babaji’s commentary)
dhīrodātta	the noble hero	Rāmacandra
dhīra-lalita	the charming hero	Kāmadeva
dhīra-praśānta	the calm hero	Yudhiṣṭhira
dhīroddhata	the haughty hero	Bhīmasena

These qualities are ordinarily mutually exclusive; they are opposed to each other. For example, if someone is dhīrodātta, he cannot also be dhīroddhata. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, however, can act as each of these heroes in accord with particular situations.

Definitions of the four types of heroes
Śrī Jīva reproduces definitions from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of these four types of heroes as follows (Śrī Babaji’s translations):

gambhīro vinayī kṣantā karuṇaḥ sudṛḍha-vrataḥ
akatthano gūḍha-garvo dhīrodāttaḥ su-sattva-bhṛt
The person of unfathomable intent, who is modest, forgiving, compassionate, resolute in vow, unboastful, who thwarts the pride of heroic fighters, and is endowed with extraordinary physical power is known as a noble hero (dhirodātta). (brs 2.1.226)

vidagdho nava-tāruṇyaḥ parihāsa-viśāradaḥ
niścinto dhīra-lalitaḥ syāt prāyaḥ preyasī-vaśaḥ
The person who is highly skilled in the romantic arts, ever endowed with newly blooming youth, expert in joking, care- free, and generally under the control of his sweetheart is known as a charming hero (dhīra-lalita). (brs 2.1.230)

śama-prakṛtikaḥ kleśa-sahanaś ca vivecakaḥ
vinayādi-guṇopeto dhīra-śānta udīryate
The person who is calm by nature, forbearing in the face of pain, acutely discerning, and endowed with attributes such as gentleness and humility is known as a calm hero (dhīra-śānta). (brs 2.1.233)

mātsaryavān ahaṅkārī māyāvī roṣaṇaś calaḥ
vikatthanaś ca vidvadbhir dhīroddhata udāhṛtaḥ
The person who is jealous, proud, skilled in deception, ill-tempered, restless, and boastful is specified by learned authorities as a haughty hero (dhīroddhata). (brs 2.1.236)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifests the four types of heroic natures in distinct situations

Śrī Jīva Goswami notes that the four types of natures above, which are generally opposed to each other, are manifest in the one Śrī Kṛṣṇa at different occasions. In his commentary on this Anuccheda, Babaji cites a statement by Śrī Rūpa Goswami in BRS to support this, which goes as follows:

bahu-vidha-guṇa-kriyāṇām āspada-bhūtasya padmanābhasya
tat-tal-līlā-bhedād virudhyate na hi catur-vidhāḥ
The lotus-navelled Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the ground and refuge of innumerable divine virtues and deeds. Consequently, although the four types of heroes are implicit in Him, there is no contradic tion between them because they are each manifested in accordance with the respective differences of the līlās being enacted. (brs 2.1.225)

Based on Śrī Jīva Goswami’s commentary, I present the table above again, but this time, in the context of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlās.

Name	Meaning	Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlā
dhīrodātta	the noble hero	These qualities were manifested by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the Govardhana-līlā, beginning from the lifting of the hill and culminating in His conversation with Indra
dhīra-lalita	the charming hero	These qualities are explicitly manifested by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in His līlās with the Vraja-devīs.
dhīra-praśānta	the calm hero	These qualities were exhibited by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the company of Yudhiṣṭhira and others of identical disposition [i.e., dhīra-śānta] in His līlās of offering protection to them.
dhīroddhata	the haughty hero	These qualities are sometimes manifested by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the presence of the asuras who are also of the same disposition. They are counted as virtues because they are instrumental in punishing the asuras.

Summary

Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s personal qualities excite prema for Him and are called uddīpana-vibhāvas.

His personal qualities can be classified as belonging to four types of heroes: dhīrodātta: the noble hero; dhīra-lalita: the charming hero; dhīra-praśānta: the calm hero; dhīroddhata: the haughty hero

These qualities are generally opposed to each other, but are all present in Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Śrī Kṛṣṇa manifests the four distinct natures in accord with particular situations.