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  • lakṣmīr yad-aṅghri-kamalasya nakhāñcalasya
    saundarya-bindum api nārhati labdhum īśe |
    sā tvaṁ vidhāsyasi na cen mama netra-dānaṁ
    kiṁ jīvitena mama duḥkha-davāgnidena ||
    (Vilāpa-kusumāñjali: 101)

    “O Īśā, if you—she even a drop of the beauty of the tips of the nails of whose lotus feet [even] Lakṣmī is unable to attain—do not grant me eyes [i.e., vision of your līlā and so forth], [then] what is the use of this life of mine which causes a forest fire of suffering?”

    Read on →: lakṣmīr yad-aṅghri-kamalasya nakhāñcalasya

  • devī kṛṣṇamayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā |
    sarva-lakṣmīmayī sarva-kāntiḥ sammohinī parā ||
    (Bṛhad Gautamīya Tantra; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.83, 2.23.68)

    “She is known as Devī, Kṛṣṇamayī, Rādhikā, Paradevatā, Sarvalakṣmīmayī, Sarvakānti, Sammohinī, and Parā.”

    Read on →: devī kṛṣṇamayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā

  • hlādinīra sāra ‘prema’, prema-sāra ‘bhāva’ |
    bhāvera parama-kāṣṭhā, nāma ‘mahābhāva’ ||
    mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī |
    sarva-guṇa-khani kṛṣṇa-kāntā-śiromaṇi ||
    (Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.68–9)

    “The essence of hlādinī is prema, the essence of prema is bhāva, and the acme of bhāva is known as mahābhāva. The embodiment of mahābhāva is Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī. She is the mine of all good qualities and the crest-jewel of Kṛṣṇa’s lovers.”

    Read on →: hlādinīra sāra ‘prema’, prema-sāra ‘bhāva’

  • prayojanam anuddiśya na mando’pi pravartate |
    (Kumārila Bhaṭṭa)

    “Even a fool does not undertake an action without having some purpose to fulfill.”

    Read on →: prayojanam anuddiśya na mando’pi pravartate

  • devo bhūtvā yajed devaṁ nādevo devam arcayet |
    (Tantra-śāstra; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 22, Bhagavat Sandarbha: 64, and Bhakti Sandarbha: 306)

    “Becoming a deva, worship the deva. A non-deva cannot worship a deva.”

    Read on →: devo bhūtvā yajed devaṁ nādevo devam arcayet

  • aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi |
    utsarpati rajo ghoraṁ tato vaikārikaṁ manaḥ ||
    rajo-yuktasya manasaḥ saṅkalpaḥ sa-vikalpakaḥ |
    tataḥ kāmo guṇa-dhyānād duḥsahaḥ syād dhi durmateḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.9–10)

    [In response to Uddhava’s inquiry as to why human beings engage in sensual enjoyment even though they generally know it ultimately results only in suffering, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:] “When a false notion of ‘I’ [i.e., identification with the material body and mind] surges in the heart of a bewildered person [i.e., someone devoid of proper discrimination], then frightful rajas surges in the sāttvika mind [i.e., even though the mind is sāttvika by nature]. Resolve along with fancy arise in a mind possessed by rajas, and then irresistible desire arises because of the deluded person’s [consequent] meditation on qualities [i.e., mental absorption in the qualities of the object of the mind’s resolve and fancy].”

    Read on →: aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi

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