There is an important passage in Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.5.128 that deserves to be presented in full. Rather than paraphrasing his position, let us first read what he actually says.

Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī — Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 2.5.128

api ca —

sañcārī syāt samonā vā kṛṣṇa-ratyāḥ suhṛd-ratiḥ |

adhikā puṣyamāṇā ced bhāvollāsā itīryate || 128 ||

“If love for a dear friend is equal to or less than one’s love for Kṛṣṇa, it is a sañcārī-bhāva. But if that love increases and becomes greater than one’s love for Kṛṣṇa, it is called bhāvollāsa-rati.”

Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s Commentary

sañcārī syād ity asyāyam arthaḥ—suhṛdāṁ nijābhīṣṭa-rasāśraye bhakta-viśeṣe śrī-rādhikādau viṣaye sajātīya-bhāva-bhaktānāṁ parasparaṁ ratyā viṣayāśraya-rūpāṇāṁ lalitādīnāṁ sakhī-mukhyānām ekatarāśrayā yā ratiḥ, sā yadi kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā ratyāḥ samā syād ūnā vā syāt tadā kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā rateḥ sañcaryākhya eva bhāvaḥ syāt | tan-mūlatvāt tat-poṣaṇāc ca | evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu sā yadi kvacit kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā api ratyā adhikā, tatrāpi puṣyamāṇā santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā syāt tadā sañcāritve’pi viśiṣṭyāpekṣayā bhāvollāsākhyo bhāva īryate iti | tad idaṁ tv atrānusmṛtya likhitam api sañcāriṇām ante yojanīyam, tatraiva sajātīyatvāt ||128||

A Close Reading of Śrī Jīva’s Words

sañcārī syād ity asyāyam arthaḥ

“The meaning of the words sañcārī syāt is as follows:”

suhṛdāṁ nijābhīṣṭa-rasāśraye bhakta-viśeṣe śrī-rādhikādau viṣaye sajātīya-bhāva-bhaktānāṁ

“With regard to dear friends — devotees of the same type of bhāva — whose object is a particular devotee who is the āśraya of one’s own desired rasa, such as Śrī Rādhikā…”

This is already highly significant. Śrī Jīva does not speak merely of some abstract affection between devotees. He explicitly brings Śrī Rādhikā into the explanation: śrī-rādhikādau viṣaye.

parasparaṁ ratyā viṣayāśraya-rūpāṇāṁ lalitādīnāṁ sakhī-mukhyānām ekatarāśrayā yā ratiḥ

“That rati which takes as its āśraya one among the principal sakhīs such as Lalitā, who mutually assume the positions of viṣaya and āśraya in their affection…”

sā yadi kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā ratyāḥ samā syād ūnā vā syāt tadā kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā rateḥ sañcaryākhya eva bhāvaḥ syāt

“If that rati is equal to the rati whose object is Kṛṣṇa, or if it is less than it, then it is indeed a bhāva called a sañcārī of the rati directed toward Kṛṣṇa.”

tan-mūlatvāt tat-poṣaṇāc ca

“Because it has that [Kṛṣṇa-rati] as its root and because it nourishes it.”

The Crucial Qualification: “Within Madhura-rasa”

Śrī Jīva then introduces the exceptional case with words that are extremely important:

evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu

“But in the rasa called madhura…”

This qualification should not be passed over lightly.

Śrī Jīva explicitly places the phenomenon he is about to describe within madhura-rasa. Bhāvollāsa-rati is therefore not a separate rasa standing outside madhura-rasa, nor does it replace madhura-rasa. The entire extraordinary development takes place within it.

He continues:

sā yadi kvacit kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā api ratyā adhikā

“If, in a particular case, that rati is greater even than the rati whose object is Kṛṣṇa…”

This is an extraordinary statement.

The affection toward the beloved devotee — with Śrī Rādhikā explicitly brought into Śrī Jīva’s explanation — can become greater than the direct rati toward Kṛṣṇa Himself.

Śrī Jīva continues:

tatrāpi puṣyamāṇā santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā syāt

“And if there it is being nourished, becoming increasingly augmented through continuous absorption…”

Then comes his technical conclusion:

tadā sañcāritve’pi viśiṣṭyāpekṣayā bhāvollāsākhyo bhāva īryate iti

“Then, although it has the character of a sañcārī, because of its distinctive excellence it is called the bhāva known as bhāvollāsa.”

The expression sañcāritve’pi is important and should neither be hidden nor explained away. Śrī Jīva is technically precise. He does not simply say here that bhāvollāsa is another ordinary sthāyī-bhāva. He says: “even though it has the character of a sañcārī.”

But neither should the rest of his statement be ignored.

This is a sañcārī of such an extraordinary nature that the rati toward the beloved devotee can surpass direct Kṛṣṇa-rati, become increasingly nourished through continuous absorption, and therefore receive its own special designation:

BHĀVOLLĀSA.

Śrī Jīva’s Technical Placement of Bhāvollāsa

Śrī Jīva concludes:

tad idaṁ tv atrānusmṛtya likhitam api sañcāriṇām ante yojanīyam, tatraiva sajātīyatvāt

“Although this has been written here by way of recollection, it should actually be placed at the end of the discussion of the sañcārīs, because it belongs to that same category.”

This settles one particular technical question very clearly. In this commentary Śrī Jīva places bhāvollāsa in relation to the sañcārī-bhāvas.

We should simply allow him to say that.

But we must equally allow him to say everything else that he says.

Bhāvollāsa Becomes a Permanent Mood — But Only Within Madhura-rasa

There is now a deeper point that must be understood.

Śrī Jīva does not describe bhāvollāsa as something independent of madhura-rasa. His qualification remains decisive:

evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu

“But in the rasa called madhura…”

The extraordinary development called bhāvollāsa takes place within madhura-rasa.

Within that madhura-rasa, the love for the beloved devotee may become greater than direct love for Kṛṣṇa:

sā yadi kvacit kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā api ratyā adhikā

“If, in a particular case, that rati is greater even than the rati whose object is Kṛṣṇa…”

And Śrī Jīva does not describe this merely as a momentary emotional flash. He adds:

puṣyamāṇā santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā

“being nourished and increasingly augmented through continuous absorption.”

Thus we encounter something extraordinary: a love that is technically discussed in relation to sañcārī-bhāva, yet which may become greater than direct Kṛṣṇa-rati and be continuously nourished and intensified.

In the special case of the mañjarīs, this predominance is not incidental. Their devotional identity is permanently centered upon Śrī Rādhā. Their happiness lies in Her happiness, their suffering in Her suffering, and their service culminates in Her service. Even their relation to Kṛṣṇa is inseparable from their devotion to the happiness and service of their Svāminī.

It is in this sense that bhāvollāsa becomes their permanent and predominant mood — while remaining entirely within madhura-rasa.

But How Can Bhāvollāsa-rati Then Function as Sthāyī-bhāva?

At this point an obvious question arises.

If Śrī Jīva explicitly says sañcāritve’pi — “even though it has the character of a sañcārī” — how can bhāvollāsa-rati nevertheless be spoken of as the sthāyī-bhāva of the mañjarīs?

The answer lies in distinguishing technical classification from the permanent governing function that a rati assumes in the particular emotional constitution of the mañjarīs.

A sañcārī-bhāva normally arises in relation to a more fundamental rati, moves through it, nourishes it, and remains subordinate to it. It does not ordinarily become the governing center of the devotee’s emotional identity.

This is precisely why Śrī Jīva initially says:

tan-mūlatvāt tat-poṣaṇāc ca

“Because it has that [Kṛṣṇa-rati] as its root and because it nourishes it.”

As long as the love for the beloved associate is equal to or less than direct love for Kṛṣṇa, it remains subordinate to Kṛṣṇa-rati and therefore functions as its sañcārī.

But Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī then introduces the exceptional condition:

adhikā puṣyamāṇā ced bhāvollāsā itīryate

“But if it becomes greater and is increasingly nourished, it is called bhāvollāsa.”

Śrī Jīva explains this even more explicitly:

sā yadi kvacit kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā api ratyā adhikā

“If, in a particular case, that rati becomes greater even than the rati whose object is Kṛṣṇa…”

And:

puṣyamāṇā santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā

“being nourished and increasingly augmented through continuous absorption.”

This is the crucial development.

A mood that ordinarily remains subordinate to Kṛṣṇa-rati has become adhikā — greater than Kṛṣṇa-rati. Moreover, it is puṣyamāṇā, continually nourished, and santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā, increasingly augmented through continuous absorption.

In the mañjarīs this predominance is not accidental or merely episodic. Their entire emotional existence is centered upon Śrī Rādhā. Their identity, service, longing, happiness and participation in the divine Couple’s līlā are governed by their absolute dedication to Svāminī.

Consequently, bhāvollāsa-rati is no longer merely an occasional supporting emotion in their lived devotional identity. It becomes their permanent governing disposition.

And this is precisely the sense in which it can be spoken of as functioning as their sthāyī-bhāva: not because we should erase Śrī Jīva’s technical words sañcāritve’pi, nor because Śrī Jīva explicitly reclassifies bhāvollāsa as sthāyī-bhāva in this sentence, but because in the mañjarīs its continuous, predominant and identity-defining condition performs the function of a permanent governing rati.

Bhāvollāsa is discussed by Śrī Jīva in relation to the sañcārī category, yet in the mañjarīs it becomes so continuous, predominant and identity-defining that it functions as their permanent governing bhāva — their sthāyī-bhāva.

There is therefore no need to suppress the expression sañcāritve’pi. In fact, it makes the extraordinary character of bhāvollāsa even more striking.

Something that ordinarily serves and nourishes Kṛṣṇa-rati becomes so overwhelmingly intensified that love for Śrī Rādhā actually surpasses direct Kṛṣṇa-rati.

Why This Does Not Create Another Rasa

Here we must once again return to Śrī Jīva’s crucial qualification:

evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu

“But in the rasa called madhura…”

The extraordinary predominance described above does not mean that bhāvollāsa becomes another primary rasa or that the mañjarīs leave madhura-rasa behind.

Quite the opposite.

The permanent predominance of their love for Śrī Rādhā exists inside madhura-rasa.

Their participation in the amorous current of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa remains madhura. What becomes uniquely and permanently predominant within that madhura-rasa is their love for Śrī Rādhā.

Thus two levels must not be confused:

Rasa: madhura-rasa.

Permanent governing orientation within that rasa: bhāvollāsa-rati — the extraordinary predominance of love for Śrī Rādhā over direct love for Kṛṣṇa.

This is why saying that bhāvollāsa-rati functions as the sthāyī-bhāva of the mañjarīs does not mean that their rasa ceases to be madhura-rasa.

Rather, it describes the unique internal structure of their madhura-rasa.

The mañjarīs do not love Śrī Rādhā instead of participating in madhura-rasa. Their overwhelming love for Śrī Rādhā is the very form in which their madhura-rasa finds its unique and permanent expression.

What the Whole Passage Actually Tells Us

When Śrī Jīva’s commentary is read as a whole, several points become unmistakable.

First: he explicitly brings Śrī Rādhikā into the explanation: śrī-rādhikādau viṣaye.

Second: the entire special phenomenon is situated explicitly within madhura-rasa: evaṁ madhurākhye rase tu.

Third: the rati toward the beloved associate can become greater than direct rati toward Kṛṣṇa: kṛṣṇa-viṣayāyā api ratyā adhikā.

Fourth: this love is increasingly nourished through continuous absorption: santatābhiniveśena saṁvardhyamānā.

Fifth: precisely because of its extraordinary character, it receives the special name bhāvollāsa.

Sixth: Śrī Jīva nevertheless retains the expression sañcāritve’pi and associates its technical discussion with the sañcārī-bhāvas.

Seventh: in the particular devotional identity of the mañjarīs, this extraordinary Rādhā-centered rati is not merely incidental but permanent, predominant and identity-defining. In that sense it functions as their sthāyī-bhāva without creating a rasa outside madhura-rasa.

Let Śrī Jīva Speak for Himself

We therefore do not need to force the text into either extreme.

We do not need to pretend that Śrī Jīva never uses the language of sañcārī for bhāvollāsa. He clearly does.

But neither can we reduce bhāvollāsa to an insignificant passing emotion merely by repeating the word sañcārī.

Śrī Jīva himself tells us why it is exceptional.

It occurs within madhura-rasa.

Śrī Rādhikā is explicitly brought into the explanation.

It can exceed direct Kṛṣṇa-rati.

It grows through continuous absorption.

And because of this extraordinary distinction, it receives its own name: bhāvollāsa.

In the mañjarīs, this extraordinary predominance of Rādhā-rati becomes the permanent governing center of their devotional identity. This is why it can function as their sthāyī-bhāva while their rasa itself remains madhura-rasa.

The essential distinction can therefore be expressed very simply:

Bhāvollāsa-rati does not replace madhura-rasa. It is the permanent and overwhelming predominance of love for Śrī Rādhā within madhura-rasa itself. In the mañjarīs, this Rādhā-centered love becomes the governing principle of their entire devotional existence — and therefore functions as their sthāyī-bhāva.