sarvathaiva durūho’yam abhaktair bhagavad-rasaḥ |
tat-pādāmbuja-sarvasvair bhaktair evānurasyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.131; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.23.100)
“This Bhagavad-rasa is in all cases difficult to comprehend for non-bhaktas. It is relished only by bhaktas whose all is his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] lotus feet.”
caitanyacandrera kṛpā hañāche i̐hāre |
caitanyacandrera ‘vātula’ ke rākhite pāre? ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.41)
[Śrī Dāsa Gosvāmī’s father tells his mother:] “Śrī Caitanyacandra’s grace has come upon him. Who can detain a man mad for Caitanyacandra?”
yaḥ sarva-lokaika-mano-‘bhirucyā
saubhāgya-bhūḥ kācid akṛṣṭa-pacyā |
yatrāyam āropaṇa-tulya-kālaṁ
tat-prema-śākhī phalavān atulyaḥ ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka: 10.4; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.264)
“Since he [i.e., Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī] is unanimously a delight to everyone, he is [like] an untilled fertile field of some [indescribable] good fortune wherein this tree of prema for him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], from the very moment it was planted, has become incomparably fruitful.”
devī kṛṣṇamayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā |
sarva-lakṣmīmayī sarva-kāntiḥ sammohinī parā ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya Tantra; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.83, 2.23.68)
“She is known as Devī, Kṛṣṇamayī, Rādhikā, Paradevatā, Sarvalakṣmīmayī, Sarvakānti, Sammohinī, and Parā.”
hlādinīra sāra ‘prema’, prema-sāra ‘bhāva’ |
bhāvera parama-kāṣṭhā, nāma ‘mahābhāva’ ||
mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī |
sarva-guṇa-khani kṛṣṇa-kāntā-śiromaṇi ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.68–9)
“The essence of hlādinī is prema, the essence of prema is bhāva, and the acme of bhāva is known as mahābhāva. The embodiment of mahābhāva is Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī. She is the mine of all good qualities and the crest-jewel of Kṛṣṇa’s lovers.”
rādhāyā bhavataś ca citta-jatunī svedair vilāpya kramād
yuñjann adri-nikuñja-kuñjara-pate nirdhūta-bheda-bhramam |
citrāya svayam anvarañjayad iha brahmāṇḍa-harmyodare
bhūyobhir nava-rāga-hiṅgula-bharaiḥ śṛṅgāra-kāruḥ kṛtī ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.155; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 81; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.194)
[Vṛndā addresses Kṛṣṇa:] “O elephant king of the mountain arbors, the expert artisan of amorous love has gradually melted the lac of the hearts of Rādhā and yourself with heat, stirred them, removed any appearance of separation [between them, i.e., made them one], and then personally dyed them with a rich abundance of fresh red vermillion dye to decorate [alt., to paint a picture within] the interior of the palace of the universe.”
ṛddhā siddhi-vraja-vijayitā satya-dharmā samādhir
brahmānando gurur api camatkārayaty eva tāvat |
yāvat premṇāṁ madhu-ripu-vaśīkāra-siddhauṣadhīnāṁ
gandho’py antaḥ-karaṇa-saraṇī-pānthatāṁ na prayāti ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭaka: 5.2; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 19.165)
“The pre-eminence of flourishing siddhis, samādhi attained by means of the dharma of truthfulness [cleanliness, austerity, and so forth], and even the greatness of the bliss of Brahman cause amazement only so long as even the fragrance of prema—the proven herb for captivating the Enemy of Mura [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]—does not become a traveller on the path of the antaḥkaraṇa [i.e., is not perceived by the mind].”
mat-tulyo nāsti pāpātmā nāparādhī ca kaścana |
parihāre’pi lajjā me kiṁ brūve puruṣottama ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.154; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.1.190)
“No one is a sinner and a offender like me. O Puruṣottama! I am ashamed even to speak. What can I say?’
ramaṇa-kavala-śiṣṭaṁ san-mṛṇālaṁ marālyaḥ
kiśalaya-kulam eṇyaḥ śrī-marandaṁ bhramaryaḥ |
amṛtam iva cakroyaś caindavaṁ rādhikādyā
mumudur adhikam annaṁ prāsya kṛṣṇāvaśiṣṭam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 20.71)
“Rādhikā and her companions felt abundant delight eating the remnants of Kṛṣṇa’s food just as female swans do by eating morsels of the remnants of fine lotus stems left by their husbands, deer do by eating young shoots, bees do by eating bright flower nectar, and cakorīs do by drinking the moon’s nectar.”
vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-hara-
pradīvyad-adharāmṛtaḥ sukṛti-labhya-phelā-lavaḥ |
sudhā-jid-ahivallikā-sudala-vīṭikā-carvitaḥ
sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti jihvā-spṛhām ||
(Govinda Līlāmṛta: 8.8; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.16.119)
“[Rādhārāṇī to Viśākhā:] The amṛta of his most lustrous lips takes away the incomparable noble women of Vraja’s thirst for [all] other rasas. A morsel of his remnants is attainable [only] by sukṛti. And the pan roll he has chewed made from fine leaves of betel defeats nectar. O sakhi, Madana-mohana increases the desire of my tongue.”
