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karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyāna,
ihā haite mādhurya durlabha |
kevala ye rāga-mārge, bhaje kṛṣṇe anurāge,
tāre kṛṣṇa-mādhurya sulabha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.119)
“Karma [i.e., observing the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama], tapa (austerity), yoga, jñāna [i.e., deliberation on the meaning of the Upaniṣads], vidhi-bhakti [i.e., devotion motivated by śāstric injunctions], japa (repetition of a mantra), dhyāna (meditation)—through these [Kṛṣṇa’s] mādhurya is difficult to attain. Only for one who worships Kṛṣṇa with anurāga (loving attachment) according to the path of rāga is Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya easy to attain.”
Read on →: karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna
rāgera bhajana-patha, kahi ebe abhimata,
loka-veda-sāra ei vāṇī |
sakhīra anugā haiyā, vraje siddha-deha pāiyā,
sei bhāve juḍābe parāṇī ||
(Prema-bhakti-candrika: 48)
“I now speak of the approved path of rāga-bhajana. This teaching is the essence of the world [i.e., worldly propriety] and the Vedas. Becoming a follower of the sakhīs, and receiving a siddha-deha in Vraja, soothe the heart with this bhāva.”
Read on →: rāgera bhajana-patha
kṛṣṇa-tad-bhakta-kāruṇya-mātra-lābhaika-hetukā |
puṣṭi-mārgatayā kaiścid iyaṁ rāgānugocyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.309)
“Because the only cause for attaining it is simply the grace of Kṛṣṇa and his bhaktas, this rāgānugā [-bhakti] is called puṣṭi-mārga by some.”
Read on →: kṛṣṇa-tad-bhakta-kāruṇya
śrī-mūrter mādhurīṁ prekṣya tat-tal-līlāṁ niśamya vā |
tad-bhāvākāṅkṣiṇo ye syus teṣu sādhanatānayoḥ |
purāṇe śruyate pādme puṁsam api bhaved iyam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.300)
“After seeing the beauty of the śrī-mūrti [i.e., the beauty of the śrī-mūrti of Śrī Kṛṣṇa along with the śrī-mūrtis of his beloveds engaged in their various līlās], or hearing of the beauty of their various līlās, those who shall become desirous of that bhāva [i.e., the bhāva of the Vraja-gopīs] possess the means [i.e., the adhikāra, eligibility] for these two [i.e., either of the two types of kāmānugā-bhakti]. This can occur even in men, as is heard of in Padma Purāṇa.”
Read on →: śrī-mūrter mādhurīṁ prekṣya
ataeva gopī-bhāva kari aṅgīkāra |
rātri-dine cinte rādhā-kṛṣṇera vihāra ||
siddha-deha cinti kare tāhā̐i sevana |
sakhī-bhāve pāya rādhā-kṛṣṇera caraṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.227–8)
“[Rāmānanda Rāya to Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] Therefore, accept the bhāva of the gopīs and think of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s play night and day. Thinking of one’s siddha-deha, engage in service specifically there [i.e., in Vraja]. With the bhāva of a sakhī, one attains the feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”
Read on →: ataeva gopī-bhāva kari aṅgīkāra
mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ tvañ ca rāsa-rasāmbudhim |
tat-prema-mohitābhiḥ śrī-gopībhir abhito vṛtam ||
amūṣāṁ dāsyam icchantī tādṛśa-prema-bhaṅgibhiḥ |
nityaṁ bhajasva tan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-parāyaṇā ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.154–5)
“The Adolescent Cowherd, the Ocean of the rasa of rāsa, surrounded on all sides by the beautiful gopīs enchanted by prema for him—O Mother, you too should always worship him with similar means of prema [i.e., with means of prema similar to those of the gopīs’ prema], desiring servitude to them [i.e., to the gopīs] and being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his name.”
Read on →: mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ