389 The Nectar of Devotion
of conjugal union and fraternity are incompatible.

The above analysis is a sample of the study of rasdbhdsa or incom-
patible mixing of rasas. This transcendental science of rasabhasa can
thoroughly explain the humors in ecstatic love which are compatible
and incompatible with one another. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
was residing in Jagannatha Puri, many poets and devotees used to
come to Him and offer their different kinds of poetry, but the regu-
lation was that Lord Caitanya’s secretary, Svaripa Damodara, first
examined all of these writings scrutinizingly, and then if he would
find that there were no incompatibilities in the rasas, or transcenden-
tal mellows, he would then allow the poet to approach Lord Caitanya
and recite his poetry.

The topic of incompatibility is a very important one, and those
who are pure devotees always expect to find perfect compatibility in
descriptions of the different relationships with the Personality of
Godhead. The study of compatibility and incompatibility sometimes
becomes very involved, and a hint of why this is so is given as fol-
lows: When a friend meets another friend, the mellow produced out
of that meeting is generally taken as very palatable. But actually with
such meetings between two friends, there are so many feelings in-
volved that it is difficult to ascertain when these feelings are actually
becoming compatible and when they are becoming incompatible.

Expert literary scholars have analyzed the rasas which are compati-
ble with one another by contrasting the various rasas in a particular
mixture under the names “whole” and “part.” According to this
method, the prominent feeling is called the “whole,” and the sub-
ordinate feeling is called the “‘part.”

The following statement elucidates the subject of part and whole:
“All living entities are just like sparks from the supreme fire, and as
such, I do not know if I, a tiny spark, shall be able to engage myself
in the transcendental loving service of this supreme fire, Lord Krsna.”
In this statement, the feelings of neutral love are taken as the whole,
whereas the desire to serve the Lord is taken as the part. Actually, in
the Brahman effulgence there is no chance for reciprocation of loving
ecstasy between the Lord and the devotee.

There is another quotation by a devotee who laments as follows:
