Are sakhyam from nine items of devotional service and sakhya from the five rasas related?
To become stones Question what is the relationship between Sākhyam as one of the nine limbs of devotional service and Sākhyam as one of the five rasas answer the words are same but there is no direct relationship between the two when we talk about the nine limbs of devotional service there it is a mode of activity whereas when we talk about the rasas five rasas there it is more of the mood of the relationship so although the examples may also overlap Sākhyam in both case the example that is given is of Arjuna but still if we look at the five rasas they are stable flavors or moods in that relationship and Arjuna is defining rasa is the fraternal rasa with Krishna is the friendly rasa with Krishna and it is in that rasa that he eternally serves Krishna whereas now we may not have the Sākhya rasa but we can also perform bhakti in Sākhyam just as we can do through Sākhyam that means just as we can do Shravanam we can do Kirtanam we can do we can do Smaranam so like that we can have Sākhyam also we can share our heart with Krishna just as we may share our heart with our friend so we can treat Krishna as a friend and Krishna himself says that he is our friend he is our most intimate well-wishing friend who is right in our heart with us Bhagavad Gita 15.15 Krishna states that so Sākhyam as one of the nine limbs of devotional service is one of the ways in which we can practice bhakti and that is a way that is accessible to all of us so it is more of a mode in which we render devotional service whereas the Sākhyam as one of the five rasas is the mood or the flavor of the eternal constitutional basis of the relationship between some devotee and Krishna so we may or may not be in Sākhyam but we will still have we can still perform bhakti we may not have Sākhyarasa relationship with Krishna but we can perform bhakti through the Sākhyam through the Sākhyam as one of the vidhas of bhakti as one of the modes of bhakti similarly we can treat Krishna as a master we can serve Krishna through the mode of Dasya so we cannot prematurely imagine ourselves to be in Madhurya and that’s why Madhurya is not considered to be is not included here as one of the limbs of devotional service and further Shantam Shantam is passive whereas these nine are more of modes of more of ways in which you can perform practical bhakti and Vatsalya also is not appropriate for us because we may not be in that rasa but we can have a natural relationship with the lord as a master or as a friend and those relationships that can also be a mode in which we perform bhakti so those are the two different things and when we understand the difference then we understand that the mode of performing bhakti is something which is accessible to others in Sākhyam or Dasya whereas the eternal mood of the flavour of the relationship that is something which will depend on what Vatsalya is. Thank you.