śrī-kṛṣṇa-dāsa-varyo’yaṁ śrī-govardhana-bhūdharaḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-dāsa-varyo’yaṁ śrī-govardhana-bhūdharaḥ |
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 16.232)
“The best of the servants of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is Govardhan.”
deve varṣati yajña-viplava-ruṣā vajrāsma-varṣānilaiḥ
deve varṣati yajña-viplava-ruṣā vajrāsma-varṣānilaiḥ
sīdat-pāla-paśu-striy ātma-śaraṇaṁ dṛṣṭvānukampy utsmayam |
utpāṭyaika-kareṇa śailam abalo līlocchilīndhraṁ yathā
bibrad goṣṭham apān mahendra-mada-bhit prīyān na indro gavām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.26.25)
“Seeing the cowherd men, animals, and women sheltered in Him suffering from the lightning, hail, and wind cast down by Indra, who was angered by the disruption of the sacrifice, He compassionately smiled, lifted up Govardhan with one hand like a child playfully lifting up a mushroom, and protected Vraja. May this destroyer of Indra’s pride, the Lord of the cows, be pleased with us.”
aho kṛṣṇa-rasāviṣṭaḥ sadā nāmāni kīrtayet
aho kṛṣṇa-rasāviṣṭaḥ sadā nāmāni kīrtayet |
kṛṣṇasya tat-priyāṇāñ ca bhaiṣmyādīnāṁ gurur mama ||
gopīnāṁ vitatādbhuta-sphuṭatara-premānalārciśchaṭā-
dagdhānāṁ kila nāma-kīrtana-kṛtāt tāsāṁ viśeṣāt smṛteḥ |
tat-tīkṣṇa-jvalanocchikhāgra-kaṇikāsparśena sadyo mahā-
vaikalyaṁ sa bhajan kadāpi na mukhe nāmāni kartuṁ prabhuḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.157–158)
“Aho! My guru [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], absorbed in Kṛṣṇa-rasa, can continuously chant the names of Kṛṣṇa and his dear ones beginning with Rukmiṇī. [My] Prabhu [however] can never pronounce with his mouth the names of the gopīs, who are burned by the myriad of flames of the fire of their profuse, astonishing, full-blown prema because he immediately becomes greatly overwhelmed by the touch of the sparks from the tips of the high flames of that searing fire by performing kīrtan of their names and thus remembering them in particular.”
veṇu-nāda-sudhā-vṛṣṭyā niṣkramayyokti-mādhurīm
veṇu-nāda-sudhā-vṛṣṭyā niṣkramayyokti-mādhurīm |
yāsāṁ naḥ pāyayāmāsa kṛṣṇas tā eva no gatiḥ ||
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.21.7)
“Our refuge is they [i.e., the Vraja-gopīs,] the sweetness of whose speech Kṛṣṇa, with a shower of nectar in the form of the sound of his flute, drew out and caused us to drink.”
tāsāṁ nāthaṁ ballavīnāṁ sametaṁ
tāsāṁ nāthaṁ ballavīnāṁ sametaṁ
tābhiḥ premṇā saṁśrayantī yathoktam |
mātaḥ satyaṁ tat-prasādān mahattvaṁ
tāsāṁ jñātuṁ śakṣyasi tvaṁ ca kiñcit ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.159)
“By taking full shelter with prema [i.e., by becoming fully absorbed in sevā with prema] of the gopīs and their Nātha together with them as described [i.e., without transgressing the rules regarding upāsanā described in śāstra], I promise that you too will be able to understand something of their [i.e., the gopīs’] greatness by their [i.e., the gopīs’ and their Nātha’s] grace [i.e., even though their greatness is indescribable].”
gopīnāṁ paramānanda āsīd govinda-darśane
gopīnāṁ paramānanda āsīd govinda-darśane |
kṣaṇaṁ yuga-śatam iva yāsāṁ yena vinābhavat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.19.16)
“The gopīs felt the highest bliss at the darśana of Govinda, as for them, a moment without him had become like a hundred yugas.”
yāsāṁ budhyeta vāg artho yāsām eva prasādataḥ
yāsāṁ budhyeta vāg artho yāsām eva prasādataḥ |
gopīḥ prapadye tā yābhiḥ sa gambhīrāśayo jitaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.21.7)
“I take shelter in the gopīs, the meaning of whose words can be understood only by their grace, and by whom he of deep heart [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] is conquered.”
tad-bhāva-baddha-rāgā ye janās te sādhane ratāḥ
atha ayauthikyaḥ—
tad-bhāva-baddha-rāgā ye janās te sādhane ratāḥ |
tad-yogyam anurāgaughaṁ prāpyotkaṇṭhānusārataḥ ||
tā ekaśo’thavā dvi-trāḥ kāle kāle vraje’bhavan |
prācīnāś ca navāś ca syur ayauthikyas tato dvidhā |
nitya-priyābhiḥ sālokyaṁ prācīnāś ciram āgatāḥ |
vraje jātā navās tv etā martyāmartyādi-yonitaḥ ||
(Ujjvala-nīlāmaṇī: 3.49; cited in Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 2.7)
“Those persons possessed of rāga [i.e., strong affinity] for that bhāva [i.e., the gopīs’ paroḍhā-bhāva] who engaged in sādhana and upon attaining in accord with their [level of] eagerness an abundance of anurāga [i.e., ardor] befitting that [i.e., that gopī-bhāva] took birth one by one or in twos and threes from time to time in Vraja are [known as] ayauthikyas [i.e., those who engaged in a sādhana and attained siddhi outside of a fixed group]. Ayauthikyas can be of two types: ancient and new. The ancient attained co-residence with the eternal beloveds [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in his eternal dhāma] long ago [i.e., during previous kalpas], while the new have taken birth in Vraja after being born as mortals, immortals, and so on [i.e., as human beings, devas, animals, and so forth during the present kalpa].”
kānta-sevā sukha-pūra, saṅgama haite sumadhura
kānta-sevā sukha-pūra, saṅgama haite sumadhura |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.60)
[For the gopīs:] “Service to the beloved is an outpouring of joy, and is far sweeter than union.”
gopī-preme kare kṛṣṇa-mādhuryera puṣṭi
gopī-preme kare kṛṣṇa-mādhuryera puṣṭi |
mādhurya bāḍāya prema hañā mahātuṣṭi ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.198)
“The gopīs’ prema nourishes Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya, and his mādhurya, becoming greatly satisfied, increases the prema [of the gopīs].”