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- Read on →: viṣṇur eva hi yasyaiṣa devatā vaiṣṇavaḥ smṛtaḥ
viṣṇur eva hi yasyaiṣa devatā vaiṣṇavaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
(Liṅga Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.4)“One whose devatā [i.e., cherished object of worship] is specifically Viṣṇu is known as a Vaiṣṇava [i.e., a bhakta of Viṣṇu].”
- Read on →: Yugala-gītā
Twelve pairs of verses sung by the gopīs in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.35.1–26.
- Read on →: nirupādhi-prīti-parā sadṛśī sukha-duḥkhayoḥ
nirupādhi-prīti-parā sadṛśī sukha-duḥkhayoḥ |
vayasya-bhāvād anyonyaṁ hṛdaya-jñā sakhī bhavet ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 5.157 (121))“One who is endowed with unconditional prīti [for the nāyikā, her yūtheśvarī], is correlated in happiness and sorrow [with her yūtheśvarī], and, because of being a contemporary, has a mutual awareness of heart [with her yūtheśvarī] is a sakhī.”
- Read on →: prema-līlā-vihārāṇāṁ samyag vistārikā sakhī
prema-līlā-vihārāṇāṁ samyag vistārikā sakhī |
viśrambha-ratna-peṭī ca tataḥ suṣṭhu vivicyate ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 8.1)“One who fully expands [i.e., makes known and enhances] the sport, play, and prema [of the nāyikā and nāyaka], and is a casket of the jewel of intimate confidence is [called] a sakhī. Thus, sakhīs will now be aptly described.”
- Read on →: vibhāvair anubhāvaiś ca sāttvikair vyabhicāribhiḥ
vibhāvair anubhāvaiś ca sāttvikair vyabhicāribhiḥ |
svādyatvaṁ hṛdi bhaktānām ānītā śravaṇādibhiḥ |
eṣā kṛṣṇa-ratiḥ sthāyī bhāvo bhakti-raso bhavet ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.5)“This rati for Kṛṣṇa, the sthāyi-bhāva, brought into the state of taste-ability in the heart of bhaktas by vibhāvas, anubhāvas, sāttvikas [i.e., sāttvika-bhāvas], and vyabhicāris [i.e., vyabhicāri-bhāvas] through hearing and so forth, shall become bhakti-rasa.”