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  • Cāṭu-puṣpāñjaliḥ

    A flower-offering of pleasing words

    By Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda

    Read on →: Cāṭu-puṣpāñjaliḥ

  • namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase |
    rādhādhara-sudhā-sindhau namo nitya-vihāriṇe ||
    rādhāṁ kṛṣṇa-svarūpāṁ vai kṛṣṇaṁ rādhā-svarūpiṇaṁ |
    kalātmānaṁ nikuñjasthaṁ guru-rūpaṁ sadā bhaje ||
    (Mahāvāṇī: Sakhī-rūpācārya-nāma-ratnāvalī-stava, 1–2)

    “Obeisance unto him,
    Bhagavān,
    Kṛṣṇa,
    He of unblunted brilliance.
    Obeisance unto the constant Frolicker
    In the ocean of the nectar
    Of Rādhā’s lips.
    Forever I worship
    Rādhā,
    She whose essence is Kṛṣṇa
    [Alt., she who is the essential nature of Kṛṣṇa],
    And Kṛṣṇa,
    He whose essence is Rādhā,
    [Alt., he who is the essential nature of Rādhā]—
    They whose spirit is the arts
    [Alt., they who are the essence of expertise, or, they who are the constitution of the seed syllable klīṁ]
    And the form of the guru situated in the bower.”

    Read on →: namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase

  • mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān
    gopānāṁ sva-jano’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ |
    mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ
    vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.43.17)

    “Being perceived as
    A lighting bolt by the wrestlers,
    The best of men by the menfolk,
    Kāmadeva embodied by women,
    A kinsmen by the cowherds,
    A punisher by the kings,
    A child by his parents,
    Death by the ruler of the Bhogas [viz., Kaṁsa],
    A [mere, ordinary human] kṣatriya by the ignorant,
    The Supreme Reality by the yogīs,
    And the Supreme Devatā by the Vṛṣṇis,
    He entered the area
    Along with his elder brother.”

    Read on →: mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān

  • govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān
    karṇa-sphuran-maṇi-śilopari saṅkṣuvānā |
    kā bhrū-dhanur-dhuvana-sūcita-luñcaneyaṁ
    vyagrīkaroty ahaha mām api sambhrameṇa ||
    (Dāna-keli-kaumudī: 30; cited in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.3)

    “Reaching Govardhana Hill
    And sharpening the arrows of her side-long glances
    Atop the sparkling jewel-slabs on her ears,
    Who is this
    By whom thievery is intimated
    By the quivering of the bows of her brows,
    That, ahaha,
    Makes even me restless with excitement?”

    Read on →: govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān

  • sthāyi-bhāvo’tra śṛṅgāre kathyate madhurā ratiḥ ||
    (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.1)

    “In the case of śṛṅgāra [i.e., the rasa of amorous passion], the permanent disposition (sthāyi-bhāva) is called madhurā-rati.”

    Read on →: sthāyi-bhāvo’tra śṛṅgāre kathyate madhurā ratiḥ

  • śṛṅgaṁ hi manmathodbhedas tad-āgamana-hetukaḥ |
    uttama-prakṛti-prāyo rasaḥ śṛṅgāra iṣyate ||
    (Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 3.183; cited in the Locana-rocanī-ṭīkā on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 1.21)

    “Since [the word] śṛṅga [lit., ‘peak’] refers to the emergence of amorous passion [lit., ‘the Mind-churner’] (Manmatha) [viz., Kāmadeva], the rasa the cause of which is the arising of that [i.e., of the emergence of amorous passion] and the basis of which primarily is the exalted [i.e., a nāyaka and nāyikā of exalted character] is called śṛṅgāra.”

    Read on →: śṛṅgaṁ hi manmathodbhedas tad-āgamana-hetukaḥ

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