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  • ahiṁsā prathamaṁ puṣpaṁ puṣpam indriya-nigrahaḥ |
    sarva-bhūta-dayā puṣpaṁ kṣamā puṣpaṁ viśeṣataḥ ||
    jñāna-puṣpaṁ tapaḥ puṣpaṁ dhyāna-puṣpaṁ tu saptamam |
    satyam aṣṭa-vidhaṁ puṣpaṁ viṣṇoḥ prītikaraṁ bhavet ||
    (Prapanna-parijāta: 5.28)

    “First, the flower of (1) non-violence, [then] the flower of (2) control of the senses, the flower of (3) kindness [alt., compassion] to all beings, the flower of (4) forbearance [alt., forgiveness] in particular, the flower of (5) knowledge, the flower of (6) austerity, the flower of (7) meditation seventh, and (8) truthfulness—[these] flowers of eight types shall be pleasing to Viṣṇu.”

    Read on →: ahiṁsā prathamaṁ puṣpaṁ puṣpam indriya-nigrahaḥ

  • arcādiṣu yadā yatra śraddhā māṁ tatra cārcayet |
    sarva-bhūteṣv ātmani ca sarvātmāham avasthitaḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.27.48)

    “When and where one has śraddhā in a deity or elsewhere, there specifically one should worship me. I, the Self of all, am present in all beings and in the self.”

    Read on →: arcādiṣu yadā yatra śraddhā māṁ tatra cārcayet

  • atha bhūṣaṇāni—
    ambārpitā mahārakṣā navaratnāṅkitā bhuje ||
    aṅgade raṅgadābhikhye caṅkane nāma kaṅkaṇe |
    mudrā ratnamukhī pītaṁ vāso nigama-śobhanam ||
    kiṅkiṇī kala-jhaṅkārā mañjīrau haṁsa-gañjanau |
    kuraṅga-nayanā-citta-kuraṅga-hara-śiñjitau ||
    hāraṁ tārāvalī nāma maṇimālā taḍit-prabhā |
    ruddha-rādhā-pratikṛtir niṣko hṛdaya-modanaḥ ||
    kaustubhākhyo maṇir yena praviśya hradam auragam |
    kāliya-preyasī-vṛnda-hastair ātmopahāritaḥ ||
    kuṇḍale makarākāre rati-rāgādhidaivate |
    kirīṭaṁ ratnapārākhyaṁ cūḍā cāmara-ḍāmarī ||
    navaratna-viḍambākhyaṁ śikhaṇḍaṁ mukuṭaṁ viduḥ |
    rāgavallī tu guñjālī tilakaṁ dṛṣṭi-mohanam ||
    patra-puṣpamayī mālā vanamālā padāvadhiḥ |
    vaijayantī tu kusumaiḥ pañca-varṇair vinirmitā ||
    (Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-gaṇodeśa-dīpikā: 2.125–132)

    “Now, the ornaments [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are described]. The special amulets on his arms placed [there] by his mother are inlaid with the nine jewels [viz., (1) ruby (māṇikya), (2) pearl (muktā), (3) coral (vidruma), (4) emerald (marakata), (5) yellow sapphire (puṣparāga), (6) diamond (vajra), (7) blue sapphire (nīla), (8) hessonite (gomeda), and (9) cat’s eye (vaidūrya)]. His armlets [on his upper arms] are called Raṅgada [i.e., ‘givers of merriment’]. His bangles [on his wrists] are called Caṅkaṇa [i.e., ‘caṅ-sound makers,’ meaning, they named after the clinking sound they make]. His signet-ring is [called] Ratnamukhī [i.e., ‘that on the face of which there are jewels’]. His yellow [lower] garment is called Nigama-śobhana [i.e., ‘the beauty [alt., ornament] of the town’]. His belled sash is [called] Kala-jhaṅkarā [i.e., ‘that which jingles sweetly‘], and his anklets, the tinkling of which captures the does of the hearts of they of doe eyes [viz., the gopīs], are [called] Haṁsa-gañjana [i.e., ‘they which surpass swans’]. His pearl necklace is named Tārāvalī [i.e., ‘line of stars’], and his jewel necklace is [called] Taḍit-prabhā [i.e., ‘that of lightning-like luster’]. His golden medallion, in which an image of Rādhā is held [i.e., reflected], is [called] Hṛdaya-modana [i.e., ‘delighting to the heart’]. His jewel, by which the backwater inhabited by the serpent [viz., Kāliya] had been entered [when the jewel was transferred to Kāliya’s treasury from the body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa when he first appeared to Vasudeva and Devakī] and which was [later] gifted of itself [to him] by the hands of the wives of Kāliya, is known as Kaustubha [i.e., ‘that which comes from the ocean’]. His earrings, which are makaras in shape, are [called] Rati-rāgādhidaivata [i.e., ‘they who are the tutelary deity of the rāga [i.e., loving attachment] of rati—madhura-rasa’]. His diadem is known as Ratnapāra [i.e., that which is covered with jewels’], and his top-knot is [called] Cāmara-ḍāmarī [i.e., ‘that which resembles a cāmara’]. Know the peacock-plume named Navaratna-viḍamba [i.e., ‘that which mocks the nine jewels’] to be his crown. His guñjas [i.e., dried guñjā berry necklace] is [called] Rāgavallī [i.e., ‘creeper of loveliness [alt., reddishness]’], and his tilaka is [called] Dṛṣṭi-mohana [i.e., ‘enrapturing to the eye’]. His garland made of leaves and flowers extending [down] to his feet is [called] Vanamālā [i.e., ‘forest garland’], and that fashioned with flowers of five types is [called] the Vaijayantī [i.e., ‘victory garland’].”

    Read on →: atha bhūṣaṇāni

  • prerakaḥ sūcakaś caiva vācako darśakas tathā |
    śikṣako bodhakaś caiva ṣaḍ ete guravaḥ smṛtāḥ ||
    (Unknown source)

    “An inspirer, an indicator, an informer, a revealer, an educator, and an enlightener [alt., awakener]—these six are regarded as gurus.”

    Read on →: prerakaḥ sūcakaś caiva vācako darśakas tathā

  • na tathā rocate vedaḥ purāṇādyās tathetarāḥ |
    yathā tāsān tu gopīnāṁ bhartsanaṁ garvitaṁ vacaḥ ||
    (Gopī-premāmṛta)

    “Neither the Vedas nor the Purāṇas and others are so pleasing as the chastisement and proud speech of those gopīs.”

    Read on →: na tathā rocate vedaḥ purāṇādyās tathetarāḥ

  • yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ |
    tāvad bhavat-prasaṅgānāṁ saṅgaḥ syān no bhave bhave ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.30.33)

    “As long as we who are affected by your māyā shall wander here [in this world] in accord with our karmas, let us have the association of those endowed with deep attachment to you in birth after birth.”

    Read on →: yāvat te māyayā spṛṣṭā bhramāma iha karmabhiḥ

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