Shri Krishna: Your Master, Friend, Child, and Beloved
In general, we may worship Shri Krishna with any devotional sentiment (bhāv). However, from the standpoint of divine bliss, the rasik saints have described four primary devotional sentiments:
- Dāsya bhāv - He is my Master, my Swami. It is a relationship of loving servitude and reverence, with a certain distance.
- Sakhya bhāv - He is my Sakha, my friend. This is a closer and more intimate relationship.
- Vātsalya bhāv - He is my child. This relationship is more intimate still. A mother may even lovingly tie up Shri Krishna's hands and feet, as Mother Yashoda did.
- Mādhurya bhāv - He is my Priyatam, my beloved. This is the sweetest, most intimate, and most exalted devotional sentiment.
In the material world, such relationships are mutually exclusive. Someone cannot, for example, be both our child and our husband. But our relationship with God is not bound by such limitations. He is our Master, our Friend, our Child, and our Beloved. In other words, He alone is our everything.
A devotee who worships Shri Krishna in Dāsya bhāv, the sentiment of servitude, does not have the same freedom of intimacy as one who worships Him in Sakhya bhāv, the sentiment of friendship. A servant would not ordinarily place his arm around his master's shoulder while speaking to him. He approaches with reverence, bows at his feet, and maintains a certain distance. A friend, however, enjoys greater intimacy. He may put his arm around Krishna and even say, "Hey, why didn't you come to see me yesterday?"
Similarly, a devotee established in Sakhya bhāv does not have the intimacy of Vātsalya bhāv, in which the devotee loves Krishna as a parent loves a child. And one established in Vātsalya bhāv does not have the intimacy of Mādhurya bhāv, in which Krishna is loved as the Beloved.
However, one who worships Shri Krishna in Mādhurya bhāv has access to all the other devotional sentiments as well. This is why Mādhurya bhāv is considered the sweetest and most exalted form of devotion.
According to our devotional inclination and the particular leela we are contemplating, we may call out, "O my Beloved!" or lovingly say, "Come here, my child!" God has graciously given us the freedom to experience this depth of intimacy with Him.
We should therefore make full use of this grace. When a kirtan describing Shri Krishna's childhood pastimes is being sung, we may immerse ourselves in the corresponding sentiment of Vātsalya bhāv. When a song expresses the sentiment of loving servitude, we may shape our feelings according to Dāsya bhāv. At other times, we may relate to Him as our closest Friend or our dearest Beloved.
Thus, within Mādhurya bhāv, the devotee has complete access to all the devotional sentiments and can experience Shri Krishna as truly one's everything.
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