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The Celebration of Emotion: Vallabha's Ontology of Affective ExperienceAuthor(s): Jeffrey R. Timm

Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 41, No. 1, Emotion East and West (Jan., 1991), pp. 59-75Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1399719Accessed: 03/08/2009 00:46

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THE CELEBRATION OF EMOTION: VALLABHA'SONTOLOGY OF AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCE

Western scholars focusing on non-Western philosophy have increasinglyrecognized something that our colleagues in Anthropology have longunderstood. Studying even the abstract, philosophical dimensions ofanother culture will be enhanced, and may even take surprising newturns, when the other culture is experienced at first hand. Testing themerit of this claim I spent a research year in India. Most of my work-studying and translating a text by the philosopher-theologian Vallabha(1479-1531 C.E.)-kept me at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, butfrom time to time I would visit other cultural centers. One such tour tookme to Mathura, and by chance I happened upon an evening serviceat the Vallabhite Dwarakadhis temple, the largest temple in the city. Thatvisit put me face to face with the question of emotion in religiousexperience, and Ibegan to wonder about the place accorded to affectiveexperience within the context of Vallabha's theology of revelation.

Nothing I had studied had really prepared me for that visit. Up a widestone stairway from the street, through a large doorway, was a hugeroom with high ceiling, its walls covered with bright, polychromaticpaintings depicting various Vaisnava scenes, and crowded with hundredsof people. Men and women of all ages stood in the thick, perfumedatmosphere; the din of their collective voices was pierced by the metallictoll of a bell sounding from somewhere in the room. As I made my waythrough the crowd, a curtain which separated the elevated altar from theroom was suddenly removed; immediately the focus of the room turnedtoward the small figure of Krishna,lavishly dressed, decorated, and at-tended. The effervescence of the crowd welled up as people called outto Krishna and made their way with considerable difficulty closer tothe altar. The excitement and collective enthusiasm in this crowded hallwas palpable; I had been in Hindu temples before, but I had neverexperienced anything like this. What might account for this emotionaleffervescence?

This question had been filed somewhere in the back of my mind bythe time I made a second visit to a Vallabha temple a few months later.Iwas invited to a program held at the Gopala temple in Varanasi. Aboutfifty or sixty people, mostly women, came to hear the speaker, a philoso-pher at Banaras Hindu University. After the talk, as most of the audiencedispersed, Iwas introduced to various community leaders including onedevotee who was a retired High Court judge. As we spoke the judgeushered me into a long room divided by a small barrier; he far end of theroom was dark, fully obscured by a curtain. Suddenly the curtain waspulled back and everyone moved as close as the barrier allowed. Not

JeffreyR.Timm

AssistantProfessorof ReligionWheaton College,Norton,MA

PhilosophyEast&WestVolume 41, Number 1January199159-75? 1991by University ofHawaii Press

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emotion concepts across cultures? A brief look at how one anthropol-ogist has approached the study of emotion will help formulate theseissues. Second, the role of emotional renunciation in the Indian contextwill be considered by looking at the medieval debate on the nature ofsamnyasa. How did Vedantic communities like the Advaita and theVisistadvaita understand renunciation? What enabled Vallabha to re-verse this understanding, placing the affective dimension at the verycenter of spiritual life?Third, Vallabha's understanding of emotion willbe explored. To what degree does Vallabha borrow from the rasa theoryof Sanskrit poetics to arrive at his distinctive understanding? How doeshis understanding of emotion affect the forms taken by devotion service(seva)? And fourth, the ontological foundation of his emotion theory willbe examined. How does Vallabha's devaluation of asceticism and hisaffirmation of emotional worship reflect his conclusions about the natureof ultimate reality and the nature of the world?I. Cross-cultural Understanding of EmotionIn the scope of this essay there is no space for a full analysis of theWestern views of emotion, nor is there time to consider the thorny issuesof how, and under what conditions, we can claim to "understand" acrosscultures. And yet, an attempt to understand "emotion" in Hinduism canill afford to ignore the fact that in the West the word "emotion," as wellas emotion words (likeanger, fear, joy, and so on) carry implicit meaningsand buried presuppositions which can complicate cross-cultural under-standing. Luckily,such issues have received attention from a small groupof anthropologists who are challenging a long-standing presumption thatemotion is metacultural.1 Concerned with both theoretical and com-monsense views of emotion which have been dominant in the West,these anthropologists (who identify their approach as social construc-tionism) argue against the Euro-Americantendency to view emotion asnatural, biologically determined, and internal, that is, essentially private,known primarilyby introspection. Instead of presuming a universal set ofprimary emotive states experienced the world over, they claim thatemotion is first and foremost a social construction and hence must beexamined in a cultural context.

Before examining emotion in another culture, however, it must beunderstood as fully as possible in its "Euro-American"guise. This requiresa deconstruction, an unpacking of the so-called Western view. Onesuch unpacking occurs in Catherine Lutz' recent study of emotion inMicronesia, Unnatural Emotions. Lutz begins by pointing out that mostattempts to understand the non-West presuppose the categories ofemotion established in Euro-American culture, so that the non-West isfound either (1)emotionally indistinguishable from the West, or (2)emo-tionally opposite to the West, or (3) emotionally deficient according to JeffreyR.Timm

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Western views of emotional normalcy.2 Lutz wants the Ifaluk,the sub-jects of her study, to reveal their own categories for understandingemotion. So, to clear the decks, she first examines the Western under-standing and evaluation of emotion.Lutz points out that in the West emotion tends to be devalued byplacing it in opposition to and in conflict with rationality.Contrasted withrationality, emotion represents an obstacle and a weakness. This com-monsense view is supported by identifying emotion with socially deva-lued groups like ethnic minorities, women, and children, and associatingrationality with white, male adults. The nonrationality of emotion is fur-ther asserted by describing emotion as subjective, denying it epistemicpotency. Lutzargues that

Thisview of emotion as subjectiveis related to the notion that ideallyonecan and should know the worldbest by achievinga timeless,transcendent,decentered, and unpositionedknowledge.This,the knowledgeof positivescience, is not seen as the only way to know, but it is seen as the mosteffective,the most mature.3

PhilosophyEast&West

Despite the recognition of external triggers or public expressions, mostWestern theories have affirmed the view that emotions are natural,interior, and subjective, and have their locus in the individual experi-encer. Studies begin by asserting, for example, that "[w]emust distinguishan emotion as a kindof temporary state of a person ... from the more orless long term dispositions to various states, including emotional states,and activities."4 In a study which challenges many of these presupposi-tions, philosopher Robert Solomon writes:"[t]hewisdom of reason againstthe treachery and temptations of the passions has been the centraltheme of Western philosophy."5In the Western commonsense view, the devaluation of emotion isthorough, but it does have a limit. Presidential candidates, for example,are not supposed to cry in public, but neither are they expected torespond with cool legalism at questions about the hypothetical rape of afamily member. Thus, emotion in a more valued guise forms a secondpolarity over against estrangement. The person lacking emotion is "cold-blooded," lacks empathy, and hence, like Mr. Spock, is less than fullyhuman. Unable to enter into emotional bonds with individuals or groups,such a person is viewed with suspicion at least, and perhaps as a po-tential threat.

Despite the ambiguity of contrasting emotion with both rationalityand estrangement, Western emotion concepts have typically under-stood emotions as singular events situated within the individual ratherthan the product of a social context. Our reactions to emotion, ourthinking about emotion, may be the product of socialization, but emo-tions themselves are natural. The social constructionism view is a direct

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challange to this understanding: emotions are not feelings as opposed tothoughts, they are

... thoughts somehow "felt" n flushes, pulses, "movements"of our livers,minds,hearts,stomaches,skin.Theyareembodiedthoughts, houghts seepedwiththe apprehension hat"Iam involved".... Feelingsare not substancestobe discoveredin our blood but in social practices organized by stories thatwe both enact and tell.6

This insight is central to the social constructionism of anthropologists inthe latter part of the twentieth century; and, as Ihope to make clear in amoment, it resonates with Vallabha's fifteenth-century understanding, aswell. Emotion is about relationship not inwardness, about process notstates. As Lutzsays,... emotion words are everywhereused to talk about the relationshipbe-tween the self and the world. What is culturallyvariablehowever, is theextent to whichthe focus in emotion concepts is on the self or on the worldwhich creates emotion, and on how autonomouslythat self is defined. Theportrait f anomicemotion,arisingwithin he individual .. and endingthere,may or may not characterizeemotional life in twentieth century America.It serves poorly, however as a model for socioemotional relations in allcultures.7

Lutz'stheoretical reflections on the cross-cultural study of emotion helpclear the ground by exposing the sometimes unconsciously held, cultur-ally determined presuppositions about emotion. Turning now to thecontext which produced Vallabha, we will consider the medieval debateon the nature and status of renunciation and find that in some ways itpresages the modern Western debate on the value and locus of emotion.II.Medieval Debate on Renunciation

One dimension of the medieval Indian debate on renunciation, welldocumented by recent translation work, illustrates the controversy be-tween Sam.kara'sAdvaita Vedanta and Ramanuja's Visistadvaita.8Muchof this debate concerns orthopraxis:what is and is not ritually requiredof a person who enters into the fourth asrama or stage of life calledsamnyasa. Sastric authority texts went into great detail defining the re-quirements of samnyasa, the ascetic lifestyle, and prescribingthe mannerin which these requirements could be met. The debate focused on thethree traditional marks of the ascetic: the staff, the sacrificialthread, andthe topknot (a tuft of hair left uncut when the head was rituallyshaved).Reviewing all the details of this debate is not relevant to our presentconcern, but it is necessary to consider at least the basic contours of theAdvaita/Visistadvaita controversy to understand the radical shift madeby Vallabha's renunciation of renunciation.The crux of the samnyasa debate was this: Advaitins argued for a fifth JeffreyR.Timm

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asrama or stage of life which was trans-dharmic. In other words, thesamnyasa described in the Sastric literature was not the highest stage atall; therefore, ascetics who followed forms of behavior prescribed bysastra were distant from the goal of enlightenment. Slaves to "proper"ritual and ethical behavior, they remained trapped in the duality ofsamsara. Samkara, in his commentary on Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 3.5.1,states that

One shouldknow, moreover, hat the self does not possess qualities uch ashunger,and therefore is different rom instrumentand result.... The resultand the instruments f rites have ignoranceas theirsphereand are differentfrom the self that transcendssamsaricqualities uch as hunger,according ohundredsof statementssuch as:

Forwherethere is dualityas if it were.... [BaU .4.1.4.](Whoeverworshipsanotherdivinity),hinking:"He s one and Ianother,"he knows not. [BaU .4.10]Butthey who know otherwisethat this.... [ChU7.25.2]

Like ightand darkness, urthermore,knowledgeand ignorancecannot co-exist in the same person, because they cancel each other. Thereforeoneshould not considerritualqualification,whose sphere s ignorance,andwhichis distinguishedn terms of rite, instrument,and result,as belongingto onewho possesses the knowledgeof the self.9Any behavior following prescribed rites like the ritualmarking entry intosamnyasa, any concern for prescribed instruments like triple staff, cord,and topknot, and any thought of result like freedom from samsara in-dicates an absence of genuine self-knowledge, an estrangement fromultimate reality, an ego trapped in the endless cycles of samsara. Likeritualaction, worship of any sort is a sure sign of ignorance as it neces-sarily involves a dualism between one who worships and the object ofthat worship.This radical, antinomian asceticism of Advaita was not acceptable toVisistadvaita proponents. While happy to affirm the renunciation ofemotional life and material attachments, the Advaita claim of a trans-dharmic state of affairs,a fifth asrama, went too far. In the Pancamasra-mavidhana, a Visistadvaita objection is formulated like this:

[OPPONENT]urely,for the sake of the world's welfare one should notabandonthe staff and the likebecause of the smrtistatement:"Even fyouconsideronly the welfareof the world,you shouldwork." BhG .20)10In other words, the ascetic who abandons the traditional marks flies inthe face of social order and sends the wrong message to other membersof society. Some Advaitins, following their "fifthasrama" view to its logi-

PhilosophyEast& West cal conclusion, affirmed a thoroughgoing antinomianism and libertinism

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(svaira). But, as their response to the Visistadvaita opponent shows, thislibertinismfollowed directly from Advaita's ontological position.[AUTHOR]he welfareof the world(has relevance)only to those who con-siderthe world as real.What does the world'swelfare mean to those whoregardthe world as unreal? t is of no concern to one whose self is pureconsciousness.11

The Visistadvaitins were not satisfied by the Advaita formulation of theproblem, and they certainly did not accept the Advaita asceticism hier-archy culminating in a fifth, trans-dharmic asrama. They were, however,in full agreement that the life of the ascetic involved both material andemotional renunciation. This is clear in their description of the "silentsage" from the Satyayaniyopanisat:

Now, let learned Brahmins,untouched by desire, turn their minds to thehighest and eternal Brahman.He indeed who is calm, controlled,tranquil,patient,devoted to learning,and possessing equanimity,comes to know it.On knowing it, without desires and free from doubt, he may live in anyasramawhatsoever as a silentsage.Then, he enters the final asrama, taking as appropriatethe five articles.Havingascertainedthat the entire universehas the natureof Brahman,ethimwanderon earthunnoticed,bearing he emblem of Visnu.'2

Here, then, is the ontological key to the Visistadvaita side of the debate:"the entire universe has the nature of Brahman."Accordingly, the Ad-vaita position is warped because it fails to recognize the true nature ofthe universe as Brahman. The erroneous assertion that the world is unrealleads Advaita to faulty conclusions about the nature and necessity ofauthentic samnyasa.Like the Visistadvaitin, Vallabha was a staunch critic of Advaita. Andeven though he affirmed the authenticity of samnyasa for those whowished to follow the path which he called maryadamarga, the path ofritualobservance, he claimed knowledge of a superior way, a way bettersuited to the present age of decreased spiritual capacity, a way revealedby Krishnahimself which he called pustimarga, the path of grace. Quitesimply, this path displaces and supercedes sastric prescriptions of re-nunciation with the requirement to experience and to enjoy life given byand, most importantly, dedicated to Lord Krishna,the ultimate reality.Because this path is pusti, attained only by the grace of God, sastricdebate about proper ritual means, religious rites, and ascetic practiceswas viewed as largely irrelevant. There was nothing one could do todeserve this grace, so knowledge about proper ritual acts and obser-vances was simply not helpful. Furthermore, asceticism, which arises outof contempt for the world, is based on a fundamental epistemologicalerror.According to Vallabha, JeffreyR.Timm

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In he heartsof those who knowBrahmaneelingsof contempt[for he world]neverarise.... Suchfeelingsariseonlywiththe perceptionof separateness.13In a sense, Vallabha seems to confirm the Advaitin view that a renun-ciate who is goal-oriented, rituallyencumbered, and trapped in dualisticconsciousness will necessarily fail to achieve supreme consciousness.And even though he recognizes the possibility of such consciousness,Vallabha does not value it in the same way. He says:

One who is liberated,havinggivenup the composite[ofbody,senses,and soon]eitherdissolves nto Brahman r achieves the Brahman tate. Hisessenceis bliss,or by his nature he experiencesbliss.Butthe free devotees, likethegopis et cetera, experienceblissthroughall their senses, their mental pro-cesses, and by theiressence. Therefore omparedto the liberatedsoul, thehouseholder tage of the devotee bestowed withthe graceof Bhagavan, rulyexcels.14So, according to Vallabha, the fullest expression of bliss and enlighten-ment occurs not in some rarefied context of pure consciousness or asthe result of ritual acts of renunciation, but instead during the house-holder stage while one is married, raising children, and earning a living.No one could be expected to renounce the emotional dimension of lifeduring the householder asrama. Thus, making this stage the locus ofsupreme religious experience is an explicit denunciation of asceticismand an affirmation of passion's salvific efficacy; not ordinary worldlypassions, to be sure, but passion divinized, a celebration of emotionwhich fulfills the devotee's desire for intimacy with God.15Ill.Bhava on the Path of GraceRather than a dimension of human experience to be denied, Vallabhaembraces emotion as the preferred medium for experiencing God. Emo-tional life, devalued by other Vedantic schools in their affirmation ofsamnyasa, is transformed by Krishna'sgrace, according to Vallabha, andbecomes the means and the fulfillment of devotional longing. Emotion(bhava) is thus a means and an expression of transcendental (alaukika)experience.16With Krishna as a locus, the full range of human emotions, disposi-tions, attitudes, and qualities becomes the means for spiritualfulfillment,liberation from samsara, and eternal life with Krishna.Vallabha developsthis view of emotion by adapting the rasa theory of aesthetic apprecia-tion which has its roots in the N.tya Sastra,'7and was systematized byAbhinavagupta (tenth century c.E.).18Two central concepts in the theory are bhava and rasa. Both aresometimes translated as "emotion," but the difference between them isimportant. Bhava may be understood as any intense personal emotion;the Natya Sastragives a listof eight primaryemotions (sthayibhava):love,

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humor, pathos, violence, heroism, fear, loathsomeness, and wonder. Aninth bhava, santa or quietude, does not appear in all recensions of thetext, but from the eighth century C.E.t is consideredpreeminent.'9Throughthe enjoymentof poetryor drama, orexample,bhava can be transformed ntoan impersonalaesthetic emotion called rasa, which literallymeans juice oressence. Theprocessworks like this:... watching a play or readinga poem for the sensitive reader(sahrdaya)entails a loss of the sense of presenttime and space. Allworldlyconsidera-tions for the time being cease.... We are not directlyand personallyin-volved, so the usual medley of desires and anxieties dissolve. Our heartsrespond sympathetically hrdayasamvada) ut not selfishly.Finally,he re-sponse becomes total, all-engrossing,and we identify with the situation

depicted (tanmayTbhavana).heego is transcended,and for the durationofthe aesthetic experience, he normalwaking"I" s suspended.20Thus Sanskrit poetics describes the aesthetic process whereby bhava (asintense personal emotion) is transformed into rasa (impersonal aestheticemotion) and the individual sense of self is momentarily transcended.Vallabha gives this process something of a twist. In the context of theseva of congregational worship, rasa must be present, enlivening worshipwith devotional sentiment. Vallabha says:

Inthe absence of love, worshipby its own nature would not take the shapeof an aim of life due to the absence of the manifestationof devotionalsentiment(rasabhivyakta).2'

The movement from bhava to rasa, from personal emotion to detachedaesthetic experience described by traditional aesthetic theory, is shiftedto a new key. It could be said that for Vallabha rasa (aesthetic andimpersonal) provides an occasion for extraordinary bhava: an intenselypersonal experience of emotional relationship with Krishna.22Says Val-labha, "passion (ratih) having the divine as its object is called bhava."23The devotee's sense of individual self is not transcended; it is insteaddivinized in the experience of intimacy with Krishna.24This intimacy can take a number of forms, but the best-known followa stylized pattern of four types of emotional relationships with Krishnawhich appear again and again in the worship, music, art, and literature ofNorth Indian bhakti communities. These included dasya bhava, the emo-tion/relationship of servant to master characterized by feelings of fear,awe, and humility; sakya bhava, the emotion/relationship of friend tofriend characterized by feeling at ease, solidarity, affection, and play-fulness; vatsalya bhava, the emotion/relationship of parent to child char-acterized by feelings of parental concern, love, and joy; and madhurabhava, the emotion/relationship of lover to beloved characterized byfeelings of passionate love, pleasure in union (sambogha), longing, and JeffreyR.Timm

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pain of separation (viraha). These four bhava can be further analyzedinto their constitutive qualities so that the entire gamut of human emo-tional life is included.25 In this manner, Vallabha situates devotion toKrishna in basic human relationships, occasioning the strongest emo-tional experiences, both positive and negative.Evan a "negative" emotion such as anger or fear may provide thecontext for Krishna'sgrace. Many stories told in the Bhagavata Puranaillustratethis theme. Krishna'sevil uncle, Kamsa,who plots to kill Krishnabut is eventually killed by Krishna,attains identity with Visnu becauseout of hatred, with a mind agitated by fright,he constantly visualized theLord.26And the demoness Putana, who sought to killthe baby Krishna,achieves liberation when killed by him, despite her evil intent.27This is

possible, according to Vallabha, because Krishna'snature makes him"one whose deeds are wonderful." He transforms attitudes and disposi-tions which would typically promote ignorance into the means of real-ization.28If fear and anger can function in this way, how much moresalvific efficacy must follow from approaching Krishnawith love? Whatcould be more attractive and satisfying than enjoying the full range ofplay, delight, and positive emotional coloration available through servingKrishna.So Vallabha points out that "by devotional service (seva) toKrishnathe senses become divine."29Thus, by means of seva or devo-tional service fashioned after one of the four bhaktibhava, ordinary (lau-kika) human emotions are transformed into something extraordinary(alaukika).30

Although Vallabha himself seems to have preferred vatsalya bhava,serving Krishnaas a parent cares for a child, the literatureof the Vallabhacommunity explores and develops all four bhaktibhava. One of the moststriking bhava themes, and certainly the best-known in the West, isexpressed in the rasa ITa,or love dance of Krishna.3'In this story theadolescent Krishna ures the gopis, the young milkmaids,from their maleguardians to enjoy nights of passion in the sylvan glades of Vrindavana.Told and retold in Vaisnava art, poetry, music, and literature,this story ofseduction, intimacy, and emotion contains themes central to Vallabha'stheology. Because of their adolescent arrogance, Krishnadecides to teachthe gopis a lesson, and he suddenly disappears from their midst. Theirsubsequent longing for Krishna,their search for him, and their expres-sions of suffering and melancholy at his absence provide a central motif,viraha,which occurs again and again in Vaisnava thought.32Bhaktibhavais not complete without the experience of both union and separation, sothat separation always holds the potential for reunion, and union main-tains within itself the potential for separation. Thus, bhaktibhava homolo-gizes the ebb and flow marking ordinary emotional life. The range ofemotion and feeling is maintained; only the object of one's emotional lifehas shifted.

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With Krishna as the final locus, emotion elevates worship to a newlevel. Because the spiritual efficacy of autonomous practice has beenseverely curtailed in this present age,33 Krishnaprovides a new avenuefor liberation, pustimarga, and a new practice, devotional service char-acterized by love. Such a path is available to all, regardless of caste orstage of life.Thus, pustimarga challenges elitist liberation by asserting a supremespiritual experience which is outside the domain of brahmanical re-nunciates. Advaita, of course, argues to relativize the value of devotionby associating the "otherness" required by devotion with ignorance. Butthis characterization is itself the product of ignorance, according toVallabha, because it fails to distinguish seva from autonomous, goal-oriented practice. On this Vallabha says:

Worship (upasanah) s explained ... for the sake of attainingknowledge.Some claim that it is a way of purifyinghe mind,but the correct view isthat through love [Krishna] emonstrates his greatness by rewardinghisdevotees.34

Vallabharejects the either/or logic of Advaita's distinction between meansand end, which, in the final analysis, stations all paths in vyavaharikaandhence in the sphere of the less-than-really real. Seva embodies bothmeans and end, so that devotional sentiment, not the promise of lib-eration or the hope for any other goal, charges service with great attrac-tiveness. Inthe absence of love, devotional service would become sterile,a burden, a duty performed without delight with an eye to what couldbe gained; alternately, love requires service, the concrete expression ofdevotion and care. Thus seva is a bodily affair,35eading the devotee intogreater and greater intimacy with Krishna.Says Vallabha: "The goal isachieved only when Bhagavan is revealed. For the sake of such reveal-ment devotional service with love (premasevam) is described."36IV.The Ontological Basis of Affective ExperienceIn religion, as in every human endeavor, ideal and application some-times fail to correspond. As the Vallabha community grew in size andin wealth, the extravagance and opulence surrounding seva increased.It is not surprising that excess and impropriety sometimes occurred.Mahatma Gandhi, born into a Vallabhite family, did not like the "pompand glitter"of the congregational worship and, hearing rumors of immor-ality, "loss all interest in it."37Associating the range of human emotionalrelationships with worship and devotional expression is not without itsdangers.38 European missionaries of the nineteenth century, however,saw only immorality and idolatry. Scholarship has come a long way sincethose days, but the danger of misunderstanding remains if Vallabha'sdistinctive view of emotion is not understood in its ontological context. JeffreyR.Timm

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Vallabha claims that bhava is the preeminent abode of Krishna,whois none other than ultimate reality.39 n his Anubhasya he calls the stateof divinity "bhagavad-bhava."40Connecting God with emotion makessense when we recognize that Vallabha presents us with a process viewof reality. Being, one and absolute, enters into the process of becoming.The multitude of apparently independent and individual entities, forms,qualities, and emotions are nothing in and of themselves. In reality theyare partialmanifestations of the ultimate, a simultaneous revealment andconcealment (avirbhavatirobhava)of God's innumerable and contradic-tory qualities. Thus, according to Vallabha, the world is not samsara butprapanica,a real though partial manifestation out of the fullness of ulti-mate reality, Krishnarevealing himself through self-imposed limitations.

Bridging he gulf that separates the world from ultimate reality (a gulfaffirmed by Advaita Vedanta) secures the soteriological potency of reve-lation in the form of scripture, teacher, and path. Everything n the world,insofar as it relates to the ultimate, becomes an occasion for acknowl-edging God. In his Nirodhalaksana,Vallabha says:... Krishna'sorm is to be meditatedupon continuouslywith fullconviction;thus,whileactingand moving[inthe worldthe devotee is] n realitycontinu-ously seeing and touching[the Lord].41

As an expression of loving delight the devotee participates in seva, at firstperhaps only through external participation in congregational darsan ofthe svabhava, the form of Krishna at the center of worship. Eventuallyseva becomes all-inclusive because nothing in human experience, in-cluding emotion-perhaps one should say especially emotion-lies out-side the path of grace revealed by Krishna.The soteriological efficacy of bhava is based on an ontology whichaffirms the realityof God, of the world, and of the relation between them.This is the suddhadvaita, the pure nondualism of Vallabha's theology; inthe context of bhava it leads to a very interesting result. At the height ofrealization, the tension between distinction (required for diversity anddevotion) and unity (the primordial nature of the absolute) is not obli-terated in the silence of a qualitiless absolute; instead it leads to analternation of identity between the devotee and God. This is hinted at inthe Bhagavad CGai .11 when Krishnasays "As they seek refuge in me, Idevote myself to them,"42and in the poetry of Kabirwho writes:

Before he Unconditioned,he conditioned dances: "Thouand Iare one."...The Gurucomes, and bows down before the disciple:This s the greatestofwonders.43In the Vallabhite context, the best expression of this "wonder" occursthrough sakya bhava, the emotion relationship in which the devotee is

PhilosophyEast&West identified as a friend and close companion of Krishna.This bhava, avail-

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able only to the most advanced devotee, finds literary xpression n theCaurasi Vaisnava ki Varta. One instance occurs in the story of thefamous blindpoet Suradasa.Sur was left alone in the temple when his servant,Gopala,went forsome cow dung before filling he water pot. Gopalabecame distractedand forgotabout the water. MeanwhileSutrbegan to eat his lunch,andwhile he was eating a morsel stuck in his throat.Unableto callout, andin a panic,he gropedfor the absent waterpot. Seeingthe distressof hisdevotee, SrTNathajT, rishna,uddenlyappeared,placinghis own pitchernear Sur, and Sur drank. When Vallabhalearned of the incident, hequestioned SrTNathajT, ho replied:"When Suradasabecomes excited,then Iget excited too. Whoever is my BhagavadTyaone who belongstoBhagavan) s my svarupa(object of devotion)."44n another story, SrTNathajTxpresses viraha, he pain of being separatedfromthe beloved,duringthe absence of a devotee.45Thus,for Vallabha,a relationshipoffullreciprocity an arise between the devotee and the Lord,and, in mo-ments of emotional intensity, he sense of which is which may becomeblurred.It is clearby now why Vallabhacelebrates the life of emotion,viewingit not as an obstacle to be overcome, but as the very center of spirituallife. What is not clear is why manyWestern thinkersconsiderthe emo-tional renunciationof Advaitaor Visistadvaitamore reasonable,at leastat firstglance. Could it be that Western sensibilitiescorrespondmoreclosely with these views?Advaita'selevation of knowledge over devo-tion, and Visistadvaita's"silentsage," described as one who is "calm,controlled, ranquil,patient,and devoted to learning"-these views re-sonate with the Western characterizationand evaluation of emotion.Vallabhachallenges this characterization.Like a social-constructionistanthropologist,Vallabhaunderstands motion,not as a subjectiveentityburied within the individualhuman psyche, but as an expressionofdynamic relationship.Vallabha, f course,goes one step further hanthecontemporaryanthropologist.Hisontological insightinto the natureofGod,the natureof the world,and the relationbetween the two, affirmsthe divinityof relationship nd providesa foundation or the celebrationof emotion.

NOTES

1 - These studies include: The Social Construction of Emotion, edited byRom Harre(Oxford:BasilBlackwell, 1986); Culture Theory: Essays onMind,Self,and Emotion, dited by RichardA.Shwederand RobertA. Jeffrey .Timm

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LeVine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984); CatherineLutz, Unnatural Emotions: Everyday Sentiments on a MicronesianAtoll and Their Challenge to Western Theory (Chicago: The Uni-versity of Chicago Press, 1988);and Divine Passions: The Social Con-struction of Emotion in India,edited by Owen M. Lynch and PaulineKolenda (forthcoming).2 - Lutz, UnnaturalEmotions, p. 218.

3 -Ibid., p. 71.4- William P. Allston, "Emotion and Feeling," The Encyclopedia of Phi-

losophy (New York:Macmillan, 1967), vol. 2, p. 479.5 - Robert C. Solomon, The Passions: The Myth and Nature of HumanEmotions (New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976), p. 11.6 - Michelle Z. Rosaldo, "Toward an Anthropology of Self and Feeling,"in Culture Theory:Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1984), p. 143.7 - Lutz, UnnaturalEmotions, p. 223.8 - Patrick Olivelle, Renunciation in Hinduism: A Medieval Debate, 2vols. (Vienna: Publications of the De Nobili Research Library,1986,1987).9 - Olivelle, Renunciation in Hinduism,vol. 1, pp. 86-87.

10- Ibid.,p. 151.11 - Ibid.,p. 152.12 - Olivelle, Renunciation in Hinduism,vol. 2, p. 28.13 - kutsitatvam na kvacidapi brahmavidam hrdaye bhasate.... prthag-bhana eva tatha pratTteh TVD,pp. 258-259).

Note: unless otherwise indicated, translations from Sanskritare mine.TVD s the TattvarthadTpanibandha,dited by K. N. Mishra(Varanasi:Anand PrakashanSansthan, 1971).14 - yo hi mucyate, sa sanghatam parityajya brahmani ITyate,brahma-bhavam va prapnoti. tasya svarupanandah svarupena va ananda-

nubhavah svatantrabhaktanamrtu gopikaditulyanam sarvendriyaihtatha'ntahkaranaih svarupena ca nanandanubhavah.ato bhaktanamrjlvanmuktyayeksaya bhagavatkrpasahitagrhasrama eva visi.yate(TVD,pp. 154-155).

15 - Lutz makes a point that seems timely in this regard. Speaking of theWestern opposition of emotion and rationality, she writes: "Whenthe emotions are valued, what was their irrationalitybecomes theirPhilosophyEast&West mystery. The mystery of love and other emotions is then not frustrat-

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ing because unfathomably irrational, but romantic confirmation ofthe value of emotion in combating an overly prosaic and rationalizedworld" (UnnaturalEmotions, p. 61). One might argue that Vallabha'saffirmation of emotion in the face of the Advaita and the Visistadvai-ta denial embodies a similarmove.

16 - Thisvaluation of emotion is not unique to Vallabha, but he gives it asystematic, ontological basis. For example, consider the verse ofKabirwhich says:"O Sadhu he simpleunion is best.Sincethe day when Imet with my Lord,here has been no end tothe sportof our love.Ishut not my eyes, Iclose not my ears,Ido not mortifymy body;Isee witheyes open and smile,and beholdHisbeauty everywhere;IutterHisname,and whateverIsee, it remindsme of Him;whateverIdo becomes Hisworship.

(Songs of Kabir,trans. R. Tagore [New York: Samuel Weiser, 1977]pp. 88-89)17 - The Natya Sastra is attributed to the sage Bharataand is thought tohave been composed sometime between the second century B.C.E.and the second century C.E.18 - Foran explication of the rasa theory see Wm. Theodore de Bary,ed.,Sources of Indian Tradition(New York: Columbia University Press),

pp. 261-275.19 - Ibid.,p. 268.20 - J. L. Masson and M. V. Patwardhan, Santarasa and Abhinavagupta's

Philosophy of Aesthetics (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research In-stitute, 1969), p. vii.

21 - tatha prema api angam, tadabhave bhajanam svata.hpurusartharu-pam na bhavet rasabhivyaktyabhavat (TVD,p. 317).

22 - However, it should be noted that in Anubhasya 111.3.10,Vallabhasays: "sarvarasatmakatvam brahmano nirmntam,".e., Brahman is as-certained as forming the nature of all rasas (cited in Chinmayi Chat-terjee's Studies in the Evolution of Bhakti Cult (Calcutta: JadavpurUniversity SanskritSeries, 1976), p. 123, n. 2).

23 - ratirdevadivisayin?bhava ityabhidhlyate (TVD,p. 124).24 - The importance of proper bhava in the Vaisnava context should notbe underestimated. Entwistle points out that recent studies on atti-tudes towards Western Vaisnavas (members of ISKCON)n Vrinda-

van indicate that local residents may admire the American andEuropeandevotees "for their endorsement of pure "Vedic"values ... JeffreyR.Timm

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"but there are many who doubt whether they really have the properbhav" (Braj:Center of KrishnaPilgrimage(Groningen:EgbertForsten,1987), pp. 224-225).

25 - This understanding of bhava is also found in BengaliVaisnavism. SeeEdward C. Dimock, Jr., The Place of the Hidden Moon (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1966), pp. 20-25. However, in additionto the four bhava found in Vallabha literature, the Bengali viewincludes a fifth bhava, santi, translated as peacefulness or quietude.Thus, it is a "negation of emotion," or the "emotion" of emotionalemptiness. Be that as it may, Vallabha does not seem interested in itas an emotion-relationship category, and its dismissal can probablyhelp account for the lack of a Vallabhite samnyasa community. Suchan ascetic group is associated with BengaliVaisnavism.

26 - Bhagavata PuranaX.45.39.27 - Bhagavata Purana X.6.35.28 - bhagavato'dbhutakarmatvamagre vyutpadyam, asadhanam sadha-nam karotityadi (TVD,p. 6).29- asanyasya harervapi sevaya devabhavatah. indriyanam ... (TVD,p. 109).30 - RichardBarz,The BhaktiSect of Vallabhacarya(India:Thomson Press,

1976), p. 92.31 - See James D. Redington, Vallabhacarya on the Love Games of Krsna(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,1983), and R. S. McGregor, Nanddas: TheRound Dance of Krishnaand Uddhav's Message (London: Luzac &

Company, 1973), for a fuller account of how the Vallabha com-munity has incorporated the rasa ITIaheme.

32 - Thus viraha,the pain of separation, is an "emotion concept" in Lutz'sense. She says that "... discrete emotion concepts, like all concepts,have nested within them a cluster of images or propositions. Werecognize the existence of an emotion by the occurrence of a cer-tain limited number of events that those images or propositionsdepict.... In each cultural community there will be one or more"scenes" identified as prototypic or classic or best examples of par-ticular emotions" (Lutz,Unnatural Emotions, p. 211). In the Vallabhacommunity the rasa ITlarepresents one such scene.

33 - According to traditional cosmic chronology, the present age, kali-yuga, is the fourth and final in the great cycle of time (mahayuga).Assuch it represents a period of decadence and diminished spiritualcapacity.

PhilosophyEast& West 34 - brahmakanide nanasiddhyartham upasanah nirupyante. taccittasud-

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