There are so many rasas: śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, sākhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa, mādhurya-rasa, in so many. Those rasas, or mellows, are represented here in the material world in a temporary way. Here we have got the same rasa: I love my son. I love my friend. I love my husband. There is love, but this is all temporary. But if you transfer this love to Kṛṣṇa either as your master or the Supreme or as friend or as your son or as your lover or husband, it will never be destroyed. That is permanent settlement. This is to be understood. But the Māyāvādīs, they cannot understand. They think that in the spiritual world there is no more such relationship as master, friend, or father and son, or beloved and the lover. There is no such thing.
But here in the śāstra we see that that is real life. This is not real life. It is shadow. In the Bhagavad-gītā in the Fifteenth Chapter it has been described as shadow. Ūrdhva-mūlam adhah-śākham aśvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam (BG 15.1). Aśvattham. We have got experience of banyan tree. It is very durable. It stands for many, many hundreds of years. Therefore this material world has been compared with the aśvattham, aśvattham tree, very durable and very expansive. It goes on increasing, increasing. That is very nicely described in the Fifteenth Chapter. So it is called ūrdhva-mūlam. Ūrdhva-mūlam means... Here we have got experience: the tree has got its roots underneath, down. But this material world, which is compared with the aśvattha tree, the root is upside and the branches downside. That means it is shadow. We can experience of this tree, ūrdhva-mūlam. The root upside and the branches downside, we have got experience. Where it is? In the shadow. If you stand on the bank of a river or reservoir of water and if there is any tree by the side of that reservoir of water, you will find the shadow, ūrdhva-mūlam. The root upside and the branches downside. Exactly the same tree, but it is shadow. It has no fact; it is simply shadow. Many places it has been compared with the mirage, mirage in the desert. Just like in bright sunshine in the desert you will find that there is water. So the thirsty animal, they think there is water. They jump over it, and the animal runs after the water, and the water also goes away, goes away, goes away. Sometimes we have got also experience. In bright sunshine on the street we find exactly a shadow of water, but there is no water. Tejo-vāri-mṛt, amṛṣā. In the Bhāgavata it is stated: tejo-vāri-mṛt, amṛsā. Sometimes in the water we see land, and on land we can see water. This is called marīcikā, or mirage.