adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ
śarīriṇaḥ saṁsṛti-cakra-śātanam |
tad brahma-nirvāṇa-sukhaṁ vidur budhās
tato bhajadhvaṁ hṛdaye hṛd-īśvaram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.37)
“The wise know the impure mind’s contact with Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān] to be destructive of the cycle of saṁsāra for an embodied being in this world and to be [inclusive of] the bliss of immersion (nirvāṇa) in Brahman. Therefore, you all should worship the Lord of the heart in the heart.”
muktau sva-tattva-jñānena māyāpagamato hi saḥ |
nivartate ghanānanda-brahmāṁśānubhavo bhavet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.188)
“That [i.e., the delusion of saṁsāra] ceases on account of the withdrawal of māyā in [i.e., upon the attainment of] mukti by means of knowledge of the essential nature (tattva) of the self, and [then for a jīva who thus becomes liberated] the experience of [only] a part (aṁśa) of the condensed bliss of Brahman shall occur.”
yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṁ tava pāda-padma-
dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt |
sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt
kiṁ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṁ vimānāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.10; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.29)
“O Lord, that bliss which can arise for embodied beings from meditation upon your lotus feet or through hearing narratives of persons who are your own does not occur even in [realization of] Brahman, your own [all-pervading] greatness. How then could it occur for [the devas of Svarga,] those who [all eventually] fall from airplanes slashed by the sword of death [i.e., time]?”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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: 1.1.1)
“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!”
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.”
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.”
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].”
