śrutam apy aupaniṣadaṁ dūre hari-kathāmṛtāt |
yan na santi dravac-citta-kampāśru-pulakādayaḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Padyāvalī: 39; Bhakti Sandarbha: 69)
“Even that which I have heard in the Upaniṣads [about nirviśeṣa Brahman] is also far from the amṛta of Hari-kathā, as by [hearing] it no melting of the heart, trembling, tears, horripilation, and so forth occur.”
uvāsa katicin māsān gopīnāṁ vinudan śucaḥ |
kṛṣṇa-līlā-kathāṁ gāyan ramayām āsa gokulam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.54)
“He [i.e., Uddhava] resided [there, i.e., in Vraja] for some months and dispelled the gopīs’ sorrow. By singing narrations of Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, he delighted Gokula.”
yat-saṅga-labdhaṁ nija-vīrya-vaibhavaṁ
tīrthaṁ muhuḥ saṁspṛśatāṁ hi mānasam |
haraty ajo’ntaḥ śrutibhir gato’ṅgajaṁ
ko vai na seveta mukunda-vikramam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.18.11)
“He who is unborn [i.e., Bhagavān], having entered within [i.e., into the subtle body of the jīva] through the ears [alt., through hearing], removes the desire [alt., the contamination] in the mind [alt., attracts the mind and desires] of those who consistently sip the sacred water of the magnificence of his own potency, which is attained in their association [i.e., in the association of those dear to Bhagavān]. Indeed who would not honor the prowess of Mukunda [i.e., the kathā about Mukunda spoken by his dear bhaktas]?”
so’cirād eva rājarṣe syād acyuta-kathāśrayaḥ |
śṛṇvataḥ śraddadhānasya nityadā syād adhīyataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.38)
“O royal sage! That [i.e., fully performed bhakti-yoga—prema-bhakti] will certainly manifest soon for one who shall take shelter in Acyuta-kathā, hearing and studying it with śraddhā continuously.”
sudhānām cāndrīṇāṁ mādhurīmonmāda-damanī
dadhānā rādhādi-praṇaya-ghana-sāraiḥ surabhitām |
samantāt santāpodgama-viṣama-saṁsāra-saraṇī-
praṇītāṁ te tṛṣṇāṁ haratu hari-līlā-śikhariṇī ||
(Vidagdha-mādhava: 1.1)
“Bearing the fragrance of the camphor of Rādhā and others’ love, may the śikhariṇī of Hari’s līlā, the subduer of the pride of the sweetness of the moon’s nectars, completely remove your thirst arising from [travelling along] the rugged, distressing path of saṁsāra [just as śikhariṇī subdues the mania produced by an excess of vāta and aches produced by an excess of pitta].”
yat tūttamaḥ-śloka-guṇānuvādaḥ
saṅgīyate’bhīkṣṇam amaṅgala-ghnaḥ |
tam eva nityaṁ śṛṇuyād abhīkṣṇaṁ
kṛṣṇe’malāṁ bhaktim abhīpsamānaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.15)
“… Whereas one who is desirous of pure bhakti to Kṛṣṇa should always repeatedly hear only narration of the qualities of he of highest praise [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣnā], which is sung repeatedly and destroys all inauspiciousness.”
yat pītaṁ śruti-vāṅ-manobhir aniśaṁ tṛṣṇā-pradam adbhutaṁ
saṁsārāmaya-hāry api praṇayajonmādāndhya-mohādi-kṛt |
śaśvac carvitam apy analpa-rasadaṁ dehādi-hṛt-puṣṭidaṁ
taj jīyād amṛta-spṛhā-haram idaṁ govinda-līlāmṛtam ||
(Govinda Līlāmṛta: 1.5)
“May this wonderful Govinda-līlāmṛtam triumph! [Why is it wonderful?] Even when it is drunk with the ears, tongue, and mind, it incessantly produces thirst [for more of itself] and [simultaneously] gives nourishment to the body, heart, and so forth; even though it cures the disease of saṁsāra, it gives rise to the madness, blindness, delusion, and so forth manifest by love (praṇāya) [i.e., the “disease” of Kṛṣṇa-prema]; even when it is chewed constantly [as it wonderfully can continually be both drunk and chewed], it produces no small amount of rasa [i.e., as sugarcane does, but rather again and again produces an abundance of sweet prema-rasa]; and even though it is itself amṛta (nectar), it removes all desire for amṛta [i.e., be it the nectarean beverage drunk by the devas to remain ever-youthful sought by the karmīs or the various forms of liberation from māyā sought by the jñānīs and yogīs].”
vayaṁ dhanyatamā loke guro’pi kṣatra-bandhavaḥ |
vayaṁ pibāmo muhus tvattaḥ puṇyaṁ kṛṣṇa-kathāmṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.12.43)
[Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī:] “O guru, although we are [just] relatives of kṣatriyas [i.e., we are the lowest of kṣatriyas], we are the most fortunate in the world, for we are drinking repeatedly the pure nectar of Kṛṣṇa-kathā from you.”
bhavatīm abhivādya cāṭubhir
varam ūrjeśvari varyam arthaye |
bhavadīyatayā kṛpāṁ yathā
mayi kuryād adhikāṁ bakāntakaḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Utkalikā-vallariḥ, 20)
“O Ūrjeśvarī [i.e., O Rādhā, presiding goddess over Kārtika], I salute you, and with endearing words I pray for this finest benediction: may Bakāntaka [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the killer of Bakāsura], bestow greater grace upon me on account of [my] being your own.”
karmaṇā jāyate jantuḥ karmaṇeva vilīyate |
sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhayaṁ kṣemaṁ karmaṇevābhipadyate ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A living being is born because of his karma and dies because of his karma. Happiness, distress, fear, and well-being [all] arise only because of karma.”
