Brahmānanda

kṛṣṇaiśvaryādy-avijñānaṁ kṛtaṁ naiṣām avidyayā

kṛṣṇaiśvaryādy-avijñānaṁ kṛtaṁ naiṣām avidyayā |
kintu premottara-rasa-viśeṣeṇaiva tat kṛtam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.4.15)

“Their [i.e., bhaktas’] absence of awareness of Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya and so forth is not caused by ignorance (avidyā). Rather, it is caused solely by a particular rasa overlaid with prema.”

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adatta-pūrva-svapadābja-sauhṛda

adatta-pūrva-svapadābja-sauhṛda-
pradāna-dīkṣocita-deśa-saṅgata |
sva-sevaka-brahma-sukhādhikotsava-
premākara krīḍana-kṛn namo’stu te ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: 63)

“O you who are [now] situated in the land [of Vraja]

Suitable to your vow (dīkṣa)

Of granting love for your own lotus feet

That has not been given before!

O Bestower of prema

And joy greater than the bliss of Brahman

Upon your own servants!

O Performer of play!

May my obeisance be offered unto you.”

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tad ekaṁ tattvaṁ svarūpa-bhūtayaiva śaktyā kam api viśeṣaṁ

tad ekaṁ tattvaṁ svarūpa-bhūtayaiva śaktyā kam api viśeṣaṁ dhartuṁ parāsām api śaktīnāṁ mūlāśraya-rūpaṁ, tad-anubhāvānanda-sandohāntarbhāvita-tādṛśa-brahmānandānāṁ bhāgavata-paramahaṁsānāṁ tathānubhavaika-sādhakatama-tadīya-svarūpānanda-śakti-viśeṣātmaka-bhakti-bhāviteṣv antar-bahir apīndriyeṣu parisphurad vā, tadvad vivikta-tādṛśa-śakti-śaktimattā-bhedena pratipādyamānaṁ vā bhagavān iti śabdyate | … evaṁ cānanda-mātraṁ viśeṣyaṁ, samastāḥ śaktayo viśeṣaṇāni, viśiṣṭo bhagavān ity āyātam | tathā caivaṁ vaiśiṣṭye prāpte pūrṇāvirbhāvatvenākhaṇḍa-tattva-rūpo’sau bhagavān | brahma tu sphuṭam aprakaṭita-vaiśiṣṭyākāratvena tasyaivāsamyag āvirbhāva ity āyātam |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 2–3)

“When the one [Absolute] Reality, which is by nature the fundamental shelter of [all] other śaktis, to manifest some type of [wonderful] specificity solely by means of its own inherent śakti, fully manifests to the internal and external senses of devoted transcendentalists (bhāgavata-paramahaṁsas), subsumed in whose [experience of an] abundance of bliss from experience thereof [i.e., of the Absolute Reality so manifest with specificity] is such [experience of the] bliss of Brahman, [and whose internal and external senses are] imbued with bhakti [which is] constituted of a specific inherent śakti of bliss thereof [i.e., of that Absolute Reality] that is singularly most effectual of such experience [of that Absolute Reality’s manifest specificity], or, when it as such is to be defined with discrimination between the distinction of [its] being [both] śakti and the possessor of śakti (śaktimat), it is known as Bhagavān. … In this way, furthermore, it is understood that bliss alone is the qualificand (viśeṣya), all śaktis are [its] qualifiers (viśeṣaṇas), and Bhagavān is the qualified entity (viśiṣṭa). Furthermore, when possessed of such specificity (vaiśiṣṭya), that undivided [Absolute] Reality is Bhagavān on account of being the complete manifestation [thereof], whereas Brahman, evidently, is an incomplete manifestation thereof on account of [its] being an appearance devoid of manifest specificity. This is understood.”

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jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo

jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo
vividha-madhurimābdhiḥ ko’pi kaiśora-gandhiḥ |
gata-parama-daśāntaṁ yasya caitanya-rūpād
anubhava-padam āptaṁ prema gopīṣu nityam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1)

“Someone—

Who descended to bestow prema

For his own lotus feet,

Who is an ocean

Of various sweetnesses,

Who is fragrant with adolescence,

And whose everlasting prema for the gopīs,

Having attained the ultimate limit

Of the highest state,

Has reached the position of experience [for others]

Because of his form of Caitanya—triumphs!”

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bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter

bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter
ānandātiśaya-pradā viṣayajāt saukhyād vimuktir yayā |
śrī-rādhā-ramaṇaṁ padāmbuja-yugaṁ yasyā mahān-āśrayo
yā kāryā vraja-lokavat gurutara-premnaiva tasyai namaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)

“Obeisance unto her, Bhakti [Devī],

Who is the mother of all goals

[i.e., the cause of attaining all the puruṣārthas],

Who is the bestower of bliss

Surpassing [that of] Brahman realization,

By whom complete liberation from pleasure

Produced by the sense objects is attained,

Whose principal shelter

Is the two lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā Ramaṇa,

And who is to be performed with very strong prema

Like the people of Vraja.”

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kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma-gandha yei-jana pāya

kṛṣṇa-pāda-padma-gandha yei-jana pāya |
brahmaloka-ādi sukha tāre nāhi bhāya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.136)

”The happiness of Brahmaloka and so forth do not appeal to one who experiences the fragrance of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet.”

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brahmānanda haite pūrṇānanda līlā-rasa

brahmānanda haite pūrṇānanda līlā-rasa |
brahma-jñānī ākarṣiyā kare ātma-vaśa ||
brahmānanda haite pūrṇānanda kṛṣṇa-guṇa |
ataeva ākarṣaye ātmārāmera mana ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.17.137, 139)

“Līlā-rasa is full in bliss in comparison to the bliss of Brahman, attracts Brahma-jñānīs, and brings them under its own control. … Kṛṣṇa’s qualities are full in bliss in comparison to the bliss of Brahman and thus attract the minds of ātmārāmas [i.e., those who are (otherwise) satisfied within the self].”

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yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile

yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile |
evaṁ draṣṭari dṛśyatvam āropitam abuddhibhiḥ ||
ataḥ paraṁ yad avyaktam avyūḍha-guṇa-vyūhitam |
adṛṣṭāśruta-vastutvāt sa jīvo yat punar-bhavaḥ ||
yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā |
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam ||
yady eṣoparatā devī māyā vaiśāradī matiḥ |
sampanna eveti vidur mahimni sve mahīyate ||
evaṁ janmāni karmāṇi hy akartur ajanasya ca |
varṇayanti sma kavayo veda-guhyāni hṛt-pateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.31–35)

“As a mass of clouds is attributed [i.e., taken to be] to the sky or a particle of earth [is taken to be] to the air, so the visible [i.e., the body] is [taken to be] to the seer [i.e., the ātmā] by the unintelligent. Beyond this [i.e., the gross body] is the jīva [i.e., the subtle body], which is unmanifest [i.e., externally imperceptible] because of its being an unseen and unheard of entity not arranged by the guṇas to be developed [i.e., to have physical, visible limbs] and [because of its] undergoing rebirth. When these gross and subtle forms are negated [i.e., understood to not be the self] through full knowledge of the self, whereby they are recognized as being imposed upon the ātmā by ignorance (avidyā), then darśana [i.e., sākṣātkāra, direct experience] of Brahman occurs. When this supernatural māyā belonging to the Expert [i.e., Īśvara] in the form of thought [i.e., misunderstanding] becomes withdrawn, then one certainly becomes fortunate [i.e., endowed with experience of the bliss of Brahman] and exalted in one’s own greatness—this is known [to the wise]. In this [same] way, the wise describe the births and activities, hidden to the Vedas, of he who is a non-actor and unborn [i.e., Bhagavān, who is transcendental to saṁsāra], the Lord [situated] in the heart.”

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yeṣāṁ tu mate muktāv ānandānubhavo nāsti teṣāṁ pum-arthatā na sampadyate

yeṣāṁ tu mate muktāv ānandānubhavo nāsti, teṣāṁ pum-arthatā na sampadyate | sato’pi vastunaḥ sphuraṇābhāve nirarthakatvāt | na ca sukham ahaṁ syām iti kasyacid icchā, kintu sukham ahan anubhavāmi ity eva | tataś ca pravṛtty-abhāvāt tādṛśa-puruṣārtha-sādhana-preraṇāpi śāstre vyarthaiva syāt | tan-mate kevalānanda-rūpasyājñāna-duḥkha-sambandhāsambhavāt tan-nivṛtti-rūpaś ca puruṣārtho na ghaṭate | vigītaṁ tv īdṛśa-puruṣārthatvaṁ prācīnabarhiṣaṁ prati śrī-nārada-vākye ‘duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate’ iti | tasmād asty evānubhavaḥ | tathā ca śrutiḥ—‘rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati’ iti | ‘ātma-ratiḥ ātma-krīḍaḥ’ ity ādiś ca |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 5)

“The quality of being the puruṣārtha cannot be established in the mukti of those [i.e., the proponents of Kevalādvaitavāda] in whose view there is no experience of bliss [in mukti] because of the uselessness even of an existent object in the absence of manifestation [of it, i.e., since something is effectively non-existent when it is existent yet unmanifest and thus unable to be experienced, a form of mukti wherein one is said to have the nature of being happiness yet no have any actual experience of that happiness cannot qualify as the puruṣārtha since the puruṣārtha is not just happiness but rather the experience of happiness]. Furthermore, no one’s desire is, ‘Let me become happiness.’ Rather, it is only, ‘I shall experience happiness.’ Therefore, furthermore, because of the absence of an impetus (pravṛtti) [i.e., because no one would have any motivation to pursue a supposed puruṣārtha wherein there is no experience of bliss since the pursuit of bliss is the fundamental impetus of every living being], even the directives in the śāstra for [taking up] a means (sādhana) to [attaining] such a puruṣārtha [i.e., such a supposed puruṣārtha devoid of the experience of bliss] would just go in vain. Because of the impossibility in their [i.e., the Kevalādvaitavādīs’] view of one whose form is bliss alone having a relation with ignorance and suffering, a puruṣārtha in the form of the cessation of these [i.e., of ignorance and suffering] also does not occur [according to them]. Such being the puruṣārtha [i.e., this idea of the Kevalādvaitavādīs that the puruṣārtha is neither the attainment of bliss nor the cessation of suffering], however, is contradicted in a statement of Śrī Nārada to Prācīnabarhi [in SB 4.25.4], ‘The highest good (śreyas) is the elimination of suffering and attainment of happiness, and that is not attainable here [i.e., by means of karma performed with a mind attached to worldly ends].’ Therefore, there is certainly experience [of bliss in mokṣa, that is, in the puruṣārtha]. Furthermore, there is also the Śruti [i.e., statements in the śāstra such as Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1], ‘Only upon attaining this rasa [i.e., the Supreme Entity] does one become blissful,’ and [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.25.2], ‘One [then] has delight in the self and play in the self.’”

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brahmānando bhaved eṣa

brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārddha-guṇīkṛtaḥ |
naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.38)

“If this bliss of Brahman [i.e., the bliss of samādhi in nirviśeṣa Brahman] accumulated for a parārddha [i.e., half of the life of Brahmā, fifty quadrillion years], it would not equal even an atom in the ocean of the joy of bhakti.”

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