3.5 The reason why bhavollasa-rati is a separate sthayi-bhava

In the commentary on the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu verse that defines bhavollasa, it is said that this particular devotional mood was added by Rupa Gosvamin as an after-thought and should actually be thought of as belonging to the sancari-bhavas.

The affection of the dearest girlfriends (parama- preshtha-sakhi) of Srimati Radharani such as Lalita is also included in the sancaris for madhura-rati. There are thrity-three of these sancaris described in the appropriate section of the Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu; of these, all but two (augrya "nastiness" and alasya "laziness") are considered to be suitable to the erotic mood of sacred rapture. Along with these thirty-one sancaris comes this additional feeling: "Love for friends of a similar temperament of feeling for Krishna are also known as sancari." 160

Along with friends are messengers and any other objects or persons that serve as go-betweens for the lover and beloved, including also Krishna's male friends.
An example of Radha's affection for a friend is given in Ujjvala-nilamani:

One day on Govardhana hill, Sri Rupa Manjari observed Radharani displaying extreme affection to Lalita during the course of her dalliances with Krishna. She said to one of Lalita's friends in praise of her great fortune: "O friend, just see how Radharani is cleaning the perspiration and rearranging the hair from Lalita's face even though she is simultaneously playing with Krishna." 161

The idea is that Radha's strong show of affection to Lalita by wiping the perspiration arising in the course of their activities with the Lord does not take precedence over her feelings to Krishna, but serves to feed the fire of that love even more. Therefore, it is not a sthayi-bhava or dominant mood, but a sancari or transitory feeling. 162

On the other hand, in his Tika to the above verse, Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada cites Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu 2.5.128 and concludes that bhavollasa, the feelings that Mani Manjari and the other nitya- sakhis have for Radharani, feelings that are stronger than those they harbour for Krishna, are of a different type.

Because the predominating feelings or sthayi-bhavas have been defined as exclusively those which deal directly with Krishna, the Supreme Lord and one object of all the different types of devotion, it can hardly be called a sthayi-bhava as its predominant object is Srimati Radharani.
But as these feelings are not temporary, fleeting moods, they cannot be called sancari-bhavas either.163

In view of this paradox, Rupa Gosvamin has explained Radha's feelings toward the sakhis as a new sancari-bhava and the feelings of the manjaris to Radha as a new type of sthayi-bhava as a subdivision of madhura-rati.

Sri Sri Radha and Krishna,
In either birth or death, my only goal Lord and lady of my life and soul.

Here the word prana-pati ("lord of my life") is generally used to refer to one's lover, but in the above line by Narottam Das, it is referring to the amorous unit of both Radha and Krishna. It is definitely something novel and has no precedent in Vaishnava theology.
Such an attitude cannot function other than towards Radha. The greatest of the tasters of sacred rapture, Srila Rupa Gosvamin has thus made another lasting contribution to the science of sacred rapture by coining the term bhavollasa.