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  • jayati taraṇi-putrī dharma-rāja-svasā yā
    kalayati mathurāyāḥ sakhyam atyeti gaṅgām |
    murahara-dayitā tat-pāda-padma-prasūtaṁ
    vahati ca makarandaṁ nīra-pūra-cchalena ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.6)

    “The daughter of Sūrya—
    The sister of Dharmarāja,
    Who fosters friendship with Mathurā,
    Surpasses the Gaṅgā,
    Is beloved to Murahara,
    And carries the nectar
    Emanating from his lotus feet
    In the guise of a stream of water—
    Triumphs!”

    Read on →: jayati taraṇi-putrī dharma-rāja-svasā yā

  • jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ
    priyatamam ati-sādhu-svānta-vaikuṇṭha-vāsāt |
    ramayati sa sadā gāḥ pālayan yatra gopīḥ
    svarita-madhura-veṇur vardhayan prema rāse ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.5)

    “This Vṛndāvana—
    Which is dearmost to Murāri,
    More so than the hearts of great sādhus
    And [more so than even] residence in Vaikuṇṭha,
    And in which he,
    Tending the cows,
    Sweetly playing the flute,
    And increasing prema for rāsa,
    Ever delights the gopīs—
    Triumphs!
    Triumphs!”

    Read on →: jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ

  • ṣaḍ-vargādy-ari-kṛta-saṁsāra-bhaya-bādhyamāna eva hi śaraṇaṁ praviśaty ananya-gatiḥ | bhakti-mātra-kāmo’pi tat-kṛta-bhagavad-vaimukhya-bādhyamānaḥ | ananya-gatitvaṁ ca dvidhā darśyate—āśrayāntarasyābhāva-kathanena, nātiprajñayā kathañcid āśritasyānyasya tyājanena ca | pūrveṇa yathā—‘martyo mṛtyu-vyāla-bhītaḥ palāyan lokān sarvān nirbhayaṁ nādhyagacchat | tvat-pādābjaṁ prāpya yadṛcchayādya susthaḥ śete mṛtyur asmād apaiti ||’ iti | uttareṇa yathā—‘tasmāt tvam uddhavotsṛjya codanāṁ praticodanām | pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca śrotavyaṁ śrutam eva ca || mām ekam eva śaraṇam ātmānaṁ sarva-dehinām | yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena mayā syā hy akuto-bhayaḥ ||’ iti |
    (Bhakti Sandarbha: 236)

    “Being troubled by the fear [i.e., suffering] of saṁsāra caused by the enemies beginning with the ṣaḍ-varga [i.e., ‘the group of six,’ viz., desire (kāma), anger, greed, delusion, conceit, and envy], one who is devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatiḥ) [i.e., one who feels oneself to have no shelter from such trouble] enters shelter [i.e., takes shelter in Bhagavān], as also does one whose sole desire is bhakti, being troubled by the obliviousness (vaimukhya) [i.e., forgetfulness] of Bhagavān caused by them [i.e., by the aforementioned enemies, meaning, one whose sole desire is bhakti takes shelter in Bhagavān for the sake of becoming free from the impediments to apt enactment of bhakti created by the ṣaḍ-varga so that one can aptly engage in bhakti to Bhagavān]. [The stage of] Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) is seen, furthermore, to be of two types: [it comes about] (1) by [hearing and understanding] explanation of the absence of any other shelter [from the troubles one undergoes in saṁsāra apart from Bhagavān], and (2) by abandoning another in which one has somehow taken shelter [for the sake of attaining relief from the trouble one is undergoing in saṁsāra] out of a lack of great discrimination [as to who is truly a capable shelter in this regard, i.e., as a result of not having earlier understood that Bhagavān alone, and nothing and no one else, is truly capable of providing shelter to jīvas in saṁsāra]. [Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the former [i.e., by the first aforementioned means, that is, by explanation of the absence of any real shelter other than Bhagavān] is [described in SB 10.3.27] as follows, ‘Scared of the serpent of death and fleeing throughout all the planes [that constitute this universe], a mortal cannot attain fearlessness [anywhere]. [But] Upon reaching your lotus feet fortuitously [i.e., by means bhakti somehow attained by the grace of a mahat], O Foremost Being [i.e., O Bhagavān], one rests peacefully, and death withdraws from one.’ [The state of being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the latter [i.e., by the second aforementioned means, that is, by abandoning another in which one has unwisely taken shelter] is [described by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself in SB 11.12.14–15] as follows: ‘Therefore, O Uddhava, abandoning injunctions and prohibitions [i.e., the injunctions and prohibitions given in the Śruti and the Smṛti], engagement and resignation [i.e., the dharmas of a gṛhastha and of a sannyāsī], and that which can be heard and that which has been heard [i.e., all that pertains to such dharmas and the injunctions and prohibitions related to them in śāstra; alt., all else that can be heard from śāstra, that is, all that is said in śāstra related to the jñāna-mārga], you should take shelter exclusively in me alone, the Self of all embodied beings, with the full existence of your self. With me [i.e., by thus becoming situated in my shelter], be completely fearless.’”

    Read on →: ṣaḍ-vargādy-ari-kṛta-saṁsāra-bhaya-bādhyamāna eva hi śaraṇaṁ

  • jayati mathurā-devī śreṣṭhā purīṣu manoramā
    parama-dayitā kaṁsārāter jani-sthiti-rañjitā |
    durita-haraṇān mukter bhakter api pratipādanāj
    jagati mahitā tat-tat-krīḍā-kathās tu vidūrataḥ ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.4)

    “Mathurā Devī—
    The best among cities,
    Delighting to the mind,
    Supremely beloved to Kaṁsa’s Foe,
    Illumined by his birth and [eternal] presence,
    And honored throughout the world
    For removing sins
    And bestowing mukti and bhakti—
    Triumphs!
    Let narration of those particular sports [of his in Mathurā],
    However,
    Remain aside.”

    Read on →: jayati mathurā-devī śreṣṭhā purīṣu manoramā

  • bhaktiṁ muhuḥ pravahatāṁ tvayi me prasaṅgo
    bhūyād ananta mahatām amalāśayānām |
    yenāñjasolbaṇam uru-vyasanaṁ bhavābdhim
    neṣye bhavad-guṇa-kathāmṛta-pāna-mattaḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.290, Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14)

    “O Unending One! May I have the full association of mahats who are always fully sustaining bhakti to you and [thus] of taintless heart by which I, inebriated by drinking the nectar of narrations of your qualities, shall easily cross beyond the immense ocean of material existence beset with waves of afflictions.”

    Read on →: bhaktiṁ muhuḥ pravahatāṁ tvayi me prasaṅgo

  • svayaṁ śrī-rādhikā devī prātar adyādideśa mām |
    sarūpāyāti mat-kuñje mad-bhakto māthuro dvijaḥ ||
    tatraikākī tvam adyādau gatvā mad-upadeśataḥ |
    prabodhyāśvāsya taṁ kṛṣṇa-prasādaṁ prāpaya drutam ||
    asmāt tasyāḥ samādeśāc chīghram atrāham āgataḥ |
    na praharṣād apekṣe sma kṛṣṇa-saṅga-sukhaṁ ca tat ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.9–11)

    “Śrī Rādhikā Devī herself instructed me first thing in the morning, ‘Sarūpa, a bhakta of mine, a twice-born from Mathurā, is coming to my arbor. First thing you should go alone there first [i.e., before he arrives], enlighten him with my instructions, pacify him, and cause him to quickly attain Kṛṣṇa’s grace.’ In accord with this instruction of hers, I have swiftly come here, and out of delight, I did not wait for that bliss of Kṛṣṇa’s company [which I would have experienced this morning by accompanying him from the village into the forest as I normally do each day].”

    Read on →: svayaṁ śrī-rādhikā devī prātar adyādideśa mām

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