The Latest

  • sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste |
    prema-rasenobhaya-mana iva madano niṣpipeṣa balāt ||
    (Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.14)

    “[Rādhā:] O sakhī, he was not the male lover, and I was not the female lover, as any distinction between us had ceased; it was as though Madana had forcibly ground our minds [together] with prema-rasa.”

    Read on →: sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste

  • tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ
    vidagdhayor nāgarayoḥ parasya |
    premno’tikāṣṭhā-pratipādanena
    dvayoḥ paraikya-pratipādy avādīt ||
    (Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya: 13.45)

    “Then he [i.e., Rāmānanda Rāya] sang a song full of rasas which, by explaining the ultimate climax of the expert lovers’ supreme prema, explained their supreme oneness.”

    Read on →: tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ

  • sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā
    svargādi-bhogaḥ sulabho’bhavaś ca saḥ |
    cintāmaṇiḥ sarva-janair na labhyate
    labhyeta kācādi kadāpi hāṭakam ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.232)

    “Bhakti endowed with prema is extremely rare to attain. Enjoyment of Svarga and so forth, and even non-birth [i.e., non-rebirth], are [relatively] easy to attain. A thought-jewel is not attained by everyone. [Rather,] Glass and so forth is attained, and sometimes gold.”

    Read on →: sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā

  • imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api
    sphurat tat-tad-vastrāv iti budha-janair niścitam idam |
    sa ko’py accha-premā vilasad-ubhaya-sphūrtikatayā
    dadhan mūrti-bhāvaṁ pṛthag apṛthag apy āvirudabhūt ||
    (Gopāla-campū: 15.8)

    “These two, fair and dark [in complexion], are the opposite [in “color”] in their minds and externally also manifest such respective cloth [i.e., cloth opposite in color to their complexions, that is, corresponding in color to one another’s complexions]. Thus it has been ascertained by the wise that some sort of pure prema, on account of its being a playful revealer of them both [in one another’s hearts], has appeared donning a state of form that is both separated [i.e., dual, bearing the two separate forms of bearer and receiver] and unseparated [i.e., non-dual, being one in nature and function as the medium of exchange between them].”

    Read on →: imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api

  • api kalpānilasyaiva taraṅgasya mahodadheḥ |
    śakyate prasaro roddhuṁ nānuraktasya cetasaḥ ||
    (Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2009)

    “Even the course of strong winds and the waves of a great ocean can be checked, but not that of a loving heart.”

    Read on →: api kalpānilasyaiva taraṅgasya mahodadheḥ

  • loka-dvayāt svajanataḥ parataḥ svato vā
    prāṇa-priyād api sumeru-samā yadi syuḥ |
    kleśās tad apy atibalī sahasā vijitya
    premaiva tān harir ibhān iva puṣṭim eti ||
    (Prema-sampuṭa: 54)

    “Even if hardships equal to [the size of] Mount Sumeru arise from this world and the next, from relatives, from others, from oneself, and from even the beloved of one’s heart, prema, being most powerful, forcibly defeats them and gains nourishment [from them] just as a lion defeats elephants and gains nourishment [by eating them].”

    Read on →: loka-dvayāt svajanataḥ parataḥ svato vā

Scroll to Top