The utsav of Rama Navmi is celebrated with a special fervour in Pushtimarg. Tilak, panchamrat, badhais of ‘Shri Raghunath palne jhoole…’ (Shri Rama is resting in the cradle…) are sung sanmukh of Shri Thakurji.

Let us understand why the utsav of Maryada Purushottam Shri Rama is so eagerly celebrated by vraj-bhakta vaishnavs for whom centre of all attraction is Nandanandan Shri Krishna.

Shri Harirai Mahaprabhu has gracefully revealed the bhav of the gopis in celebrating the utsav. He states,

“As a manifestation of Purna Purushottam Shri Krishna, it was Shri Rama who granted the boon of madhurya bhav to the rishis in Dandak-aranya (Dandak forest). So He has the status of Guru for the gopis. So they celebrate it with an enthusiasm equivalent to Janmashatami.”

To understand this revelation of Shri Hariraiji we must first be acquainted with what He has referred to by the mention of the boon of Dandak-aranya.

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In Pushtimarg, the days of Holi Khel which begin from Basant Panchami and culminate on Dol-Utsav are organized in a definite sequence to systematically guide the bhakta in achieving Sakha-bhav. It’s a deliberate process and must not be misunderstood as a casual arrangement of days.

Bhav means an intense emotion. Since emotions fall into intangible territory it is natural for a lay appreciator of Bhagvad Seva to suppose that even the “process of conceiving bhav – Seva”, must be quite vague too. Bhav and the subsequent ‘Ras’ may be spontaneous; but for the Vaishnav Vrajbhaktas however, the distinct pranalika of seva followed to achieve the bhav – that is certainly not of the hit or miss variety.

To stress the precise nature of Bhagvad seva, Shri Hariraiji Mahaprabhu has beautifully explained the bhav behind the forty one days of khel according to the principles of ‘Ras’. He begins by telling us that out of the forty days, the first ten are for the Udipan vibhav and the rest are for the Alamban vibhav. (I can just hear everybody saying, wow! That went clear over our heads.) So let us first tackle the theory part.

‘Ras or Rasa’ (pronunciation: rhymes with fuss!) is an oft repeated word in Pushtimarg which has been utilized in multiple ways. A simple explanation of the word would be ‘that which gives Anand’. Additional details can be found by reading about the Natya-Shastra, but here we shall discuss only those parts that are relevant to our understanding.

Each Ras has a Sthayi bhav. For example the full development of the bhav of Rati (Love) concludes in Shringar Ras. So Shringar is the Ras and Rati (Love) is the Sthayi bhav.

Further, each Sthayi bhav has Vibhavs. Vibhav means the cause of the bhav. These vibhavs are classified into Udipan vibhav and Alamban vibhav. Udipan basically means the factors due to which the bhav is generated; e.g. beautiful surroundings, season, physical features, attire etc. Alamban is what the factors of Udipan affect; e.g. the persons involved.

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