manaḥ-saṁharaṇaṁ śaucaṁ maunaṁ mantrārtha-cintanam
manaḥ-saṁharaṇaṁ śaucaṁ maunaṁ mantrārtha-cintanam |
avyagratvam anirvedo japa-sampatti-hetavaḥ ||
(Mantrārṇava; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 17.129)
“Retraction of the mind [from objects of the senses], purity, silence, contemplation of the mantra’s meaning, non-agitation [i.e., steadiness], and non-dejection [i.e., perseverance, sustained enthusiasm] are causes of success in japa.”
mano-madhye sthito mantro mantra-madhye sthitaṁ manaḥ
mano-madhye sthito mantro mantra-madhye sthitaṁ manaḥ |
mano-mantraṁ samāyuktam etad dhi japa-lakṣaṇam ||
(Dhyānacandra Gosvāmī’s Gaura-Govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhatiḥ: 64)
“The mantra is fixed in the mind.
The mind is fixed in the mantra.
The mind and mantra aptly united—
This indeed is the characteristic of [successful] japa.”
āraṇya-veśo vicalat-kadamba
āraṇya-veśo vicalat-kadamba-
mālāvataṁsāmbara-bārha-mauliḥ |
saurabhya-saṁvāsita-dik-taṭānto
līlā-smita-śrī-vikasan-mukhābjaḥ ||
kṛpāvalokollasad-īkṣaṇāmbujo
vicitra-saundarya-bharaika-bhūṣaṇaḥ |
go-dhūlikālaṅkṛta-cañcalālaka-
śreṇy-āvṛti-vyagra-karāmbujāṅguliḥ ||
dharā-tala-śrī-bhara-dāna-hetunā
bhūmi-spṛśor nṛtya-vilāsa-gāminoḥ |
sujātayoḥ śrī-pada-padmayor javad-
uccālanollāsa-bharair manoharaḥ ||
kaiśora-mādhurya-bharollasac-chrī-
gātrābhra-kānty-ujjvalitākhilāśaḥ |
tatratya-nitya-priya-loka-citta-
grāhyādbhutāneka-mahattva-sindhuḥ ||
sva-dīna-loka-priyatā-niyantrito
balād athotplutya samīpam āgataḥ |
tad-īkṣaṇa-prema-vimohitaṁ hi māṁ
gale gṛhitvā sahasāpatad bhuvi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.56–60)
“With forest garb,
Kadamba garland, earrings, and peacock feather crest swaying,
The extremes of the directions
Fully scented with his fragrance,
Lotus face blossoming
With the splendor of a mild, playful smile,
Lotus eyes beaming with a glance of grace,
An abundance of variegated beauty
As his preeminent ornament,
The fingers of his lotus hand eagerly engaged
In retaining his locks
That had become decorated
With the dust raised by the cows,
Captivating the heart
With abundances of elation—
The high steps of his superb, blessed lotus feet
Moving with the joviality of dance
And touching the earth
For the sake of granting an abundance of blessedness
Upon the earth’s surface—
All directions illuminated
By the cloud-like luster of his blessed figure
Shining with an abundance of the sweetness of adolescence,
An ocean of numerous, astonishing greatnesses
Constantly perceptible to the minds
Of his dear ones present there [i.e., in Goloka],
And controlled by his fondness [i.e., prema]
For this humble person of his own [i.e., me (Gopa Kumāra)],
He then,
Forcibly jumping,
Came near me—
I who was overwhelmed with prema
Just by the sight of him—
Grabbed hold of my neck,
And suddenly [i.e., unintentionally] fell to the ground.”
bhaktā bhagavato ye tu sakāmāḥ svecchayākhilān
bhaktā bhagavato ye tu sakāmāḥ svecchayākhilān |
bhuñjānāḥ sukha-bhogāṁs te viśuddhā yānti tat-padam ||
vaikuṇṭhaṁ durlabhaṁ muktaiḥ sāndrānanda-cid-ātmakam |
niṣkāmā ye tu tad-bhaktā labhante sadya eva tat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.13–14)
“Those desirous (sakāma) bhaktas of Bhagavān, however, who remain pure [even] while partaking by their own wish of all pleasant objects of experience, [eventually] attain his abode. Bhaktas of his who are desireless (niṣkāma), however, quickly attain that [abode,] Vaikuṇtha, constituted of intense bliss and consciousness, [which is] difficult to attain [even] for muktas.”
mūrkhā yatra na pūjyate dhānyaṁ yatra susañcitam
mūrkhā yatra na pūjyante dhānyaṁ yatra susañcitam |
dāmpatyo kalahaṁ nāsti tatra śrīḥ svayam āgataḥ ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti: 3.12)
“Where fools are not worshiped [i.e., given power, regarded as role-models, etc.],
Where grain is well-stored,
And where there is no quarrel in marital relationships,
There Śrī [i.e., Lakṣmī, prosperity] comes of her own accord.”
gatānugatiko mūrkhaḥ śāstronmādaś ca paṇḍitaḥ
gatānugatiko mūrkhaḥ śāstronmādaś ca paṇḍitaḥ |
nitya-kṣībāś ca veśyānāṁ jaṅgamāḥ kalpa-pādapāḥ ||
(Samaya-mātṛkā: 5.67; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 7755)
“A fool is an imitator [lit., ‘a goer after that which has gone,’ i.e., just an uncritical follower of what those before them have done], a scholar (paṇḍita) is crazed by śāstra [i.e., undone as a result of pedantry, excessive concern for theory that results in a lack of practical application, etc.], and the ever-debased [alt., weak-minded] are the mobile desire-trees of prostitutes.”
niśamya gītāṁ tad anaṅga-vardhanaṁ
niśamya gītāṁ tad anaṅga-vardhanaṁ
vraja-striyaḥ kṛṣṇa-gṛhīta-mānasāḥ |
ājagmur anyonyam alakṣitodyamāḥ
sa yatra kānto java-lola-kuṇḍalāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.29.4)
“Upon hearing that song [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s flute] intensifying of kāma [i.e., of prema for Śrī Kṛṣṇa], the women of Vraja, their minds stolen by Kṛṣṇa, their departing [from wherever they were upon hearing the flute’s song] unseen by one another, and their earrings swinging from [the] swiftness [of their running through the forest to meet Kṛṣṇa], arrived where he, their lover, was present.”
tadīya-nāmehita-gāna-tatparā
tadīya-nāmehita-gāna-tatparā
vicitra-veśāmbara-kānti-bhūṣitāḥ |
ramātisaubhagya-mada-prahārikā
javena kṛṣṇā-taṭam āśrayanta tāḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.53)
“Absorbed in singing his names and of his acts,
Adorned with extraordinary ornaments, garments, and embellishments,
And demolishing Ramā’s pride in her great beauty,
They swiftly converged on the bank of the Yamunā.”
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-vilāsa-vaibhava-rasaṁ śrutvā rudann apy asau
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-vilāsa-vaibhava-rasaṁ śrutvā rudann apy asau
tat-tad-rūpa-prakaṭana-paro mādhurī-dhurya-sāram |
vyaktīkṛtya sa jagati punar goṣṭha-bhāvena pūrṇaḥ
sāndrānando vijayati paraṁ śrī-śacī-nandano’yam ||
(Kṛṣṇa-caitanya-caritāmṛta: 4.10.23)
“Upon hearing of the rasa of the magnificence of the play of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa [in the kuñjas of Vraja] and weeping, he—this blessed Son of Śacī—became intent upon manifesting those very forms [of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa], revealed the essence of the foremost sweetness (mādhurī) in the world [i.e., self-manifested himself as Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa with the totality of their sweetness], and, becoming fulfilled and intensely blissful with the bhāva of Vraja, triumphed completely.”