vande gurūn īśa-bhaktān īśam īśāvatārakān |
tat-prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-saṁjñakam ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.1)
“I offer obeisance unto my gurus, the Lord’s bhaktas, the Lord’s avatāras, the Lord’s manifestations, the Lord’s śaktis, and the Lord [himself], known as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.”
caitanya-caritāmṛta yei jana śune |
tā̐hāra caraṇa dhuñā karo̐ muñi pāne ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.151)
“I wash the feet of a person who listens to Caitanya-caritāmṛta and drink [the sanctified water thereafter].”
jaya śrī-caitanya-caritāmṛta-srotā-gaṇa |
caitanya-caritāmṛta—yā̐ra prāṇa-dhana ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.15.3)
“Glory to the listeners of Caitanya-caritāmṛta, whose life and wealth is the amṛta of Śrī Caitanya’s deeds!”
kṛṣṇa kene daraśana dibe kali-kāle? |
nija-bhrame mūrkha-loka kare kolāhale ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.18.101)
“[Mahāprabhu to Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya:] Why would Kṛṣṇa give darśana in the Age of Kali? As a result of their own misunderstanding, foolish people make a tumult.”
tabe tāre kahena prabhu cāpaḍa māriyā |
mūrkhera vākye mūrkha hailā paṇḍita ha-iyā ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.18.100)
“Prabhu then slapped him [i.e., Balabhadra Bhaṭṭācārya, and said], ‘Because of the words of fools, you [too] have become a fool [even] while being a paṇḍita [i.e., although you are learned, you have failed to deliberate on what you have heard and thus acted like a fool].”
kintu yadi latāra saṅge uṭhe ‘upaśākhā’ |
bhukti-mukti-vāñchā, yata asaṅkhya tāra lekhā ||
‘niṣiddhācāra’, ‘kuṭīnāṭī’, ‘jīva-hiṁsana’ |
‘lābha’, ‘pūjā’, ‘pratiṣṭhādi’ yata upaśākhā-gaṇa ||
seka-jala pāñā upaśākhā bāḍi yāya |
stabdha hañā mūla-śākhā bāḍite nā pāya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.160)
“With the creeper [of bhakti] arise weeds, desires for enjoyment and mukti, which are innumerable. Forbidden behavior, deceit, harming living beings, [seeking] profit, adoration, prestige, and so on, are some of these weeds. These weeds grow by absorbing the sprinkled water [i.e., the water meant for the creeper of bhakti], and the host plant becomes stunted and unable to grow.”
sakala-sādhana-śreṣṭha ei pañca aṅga |
kṛṣṇa-prema janmāya ei pā̐cera alpa-saṅga ||
(Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: 2.22.125)
“These five limbs are the best of all sādhanas. Even slight connection with these five gives rise to Kṛṣṇa-prema.”
ātmendriya-prīti-icchā—tāre bali ‘kāma’ |
kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-ichchā —dhare ‘prema’ nāma ||
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara |
kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema nirmala bhāskara ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.165, 172)
“The desire to please one’s own senses—that we call ‘kāma,’ and the desire to please Kṛṣṇa’s senses bears the name ‘prema.’ … Therefore, there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is [like] blinding darkness, and prema is [like] a taintless sun.”
karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyāna,
ihā haite mādhurya durlabha |
kevala ye rāga-mārge, bhaje kṛṣṇe anurāge,
tāre kṛṣṇa-mādhurya sulabha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.119)
“Karma [i.e., observing the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama], tapa (austerity), yoga, jñāna [i.e., deliberation on the meaning of the Upaniṣads], vidhi-bhakti [i.e., devotion motivated by śāstric injunctions], japa (repetition of a mantra), dhyāna (meditation)—through these [Kṛṣṇa’s] mādhurya is difficult to attain. Only for one who worships Kṛṣṇa with anurāga (loving attachment) according to the path of rāga is Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya easy to attain.”
ataeva gopī-bhāva kari aṅgīkāra |
rātri-dine cinte rādhā-kṛṣṇera vihāra ||
siddha-deha cinti kare tāhā̐i sevana |
sakhī-bhāve pāya rādhā-kṛṣṇera caraṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.227–8)
“[Rāmānanda Rāya to Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] Therefore, accept the bhāva of the gopīs and think of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s play night and day. Thinking of one’s siddha-deha, engage in service specifically there [i.e., in Vraja]. With the bhāva of a sakhī, one attains the feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”
