tasmād bhārata sarvātmā bhagavān īśvaro hariḥ |
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyaś cechatābhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.1.5; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.7; Bhakti Sandarbha: 25, 125; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.110)
“[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Mahārāja Parīkṣit:] O descendant of Bharata! The Self of all, Bhagavān, Īśvara, Hari, is to be heard about, to be praised, and to be remembered by one desirous of fearlessness.”
ādi-purāṇe ca śrīmad-arjuna-vākyaṁ—
trailokye bhagavad-bhaktāḥ ke tvāṁ jānanti marmaṇi |
keṣu vā tvaṁ sadā tuṣṭaḥ keṣu prema tavātulam ||
śrī-bhagavad-vākyaṁ—
na tathā me priyatamo brahmā rudraś ca pārthiva |
na ca lakṣmīr na cātmā ca yathā gopī-jano mama ||
bhaktā mamānuraktāś ca kati santi na bhū-tale |
kintu gopī-janaḥ prāṇādhika-priyatamo mama ||
na māṁ jānanti munayo yoginaś ca parantapa |
na ca rudrādayo devā yathā gopyo vidanti mām ||
na tapobhir na vedaiś ca nācārair na ca vidyayā |
vaśo’smi kevalaṁ premṇā pramāṇaṁ tatra gopikāḥ ||
man-māhātmyaṁ mat-saparyāṁ mac-chraddhāṁ man-manogatam |
jānanti gopikāḥ pārtha nānye jānanti marmaṇi ||
nijāṅgam api yā gopyo mameti samupāsate |
tābhyaḥ paraṁ na me pārtha nigūḍha-prema-bhājanam ||
(Ādi Purāṇa; cited in Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.34–40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.184, 213)
“Also a statement of Śrīmad Arjuna [to Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in Ādi Purāṇa: ‘Which bhaktas of Bhagavān throughout the three worlds know you in truth? With whom are you always pleased? For whom do you have unparalleled prema? The reply of Śrī Bhagavān: ‘O royal, neither Brahmā, nor Rudra, nor Lakṣmī, nor myself are so beloved to me as the gopīs. How many devoted bhaktas do I have on the surface of the earth? [So many.] The gopīs, however, are beloved to me more so than [even] my life [so, it goes without saying they are more dear to me than all my other bhaktas]. The sages and yogīs do not know me, O tormenter of enemies. Not even Rudra or any of the other devas know me as the gopīs do. I am not captivated by austerities, by [study of] the Vedas, by observances of conduct, or by knowledge. [Rather, I am captivated] Only by prema. The gopīs are the evidence (pramāṇa) of this. The gopīs know my greatness, my service, my desire, and my intent. O Pārtha, no one else knows [these] in truth. O Pārtha, there are no greater vessels of highly confidential prema for me than the gopīs, who care even for their own bodies as my own [i.e., they care for their own bodies only because they consider them instruments for my service].”
nāma cintāmaṇiḥ kṛṣṇaś caitanya-rasa-vigrahaḥ |
pūrṇaḥ śuddho nitya-mukto’bhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.503; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.233; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 47; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.17.133)
“[Translated according to the interpretation of Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda:] The name is a thought-jewel, Kṛṣṇa [himself], an embodiment of consciousness and rasa, complete, pure, and eternally liberated, because of the name and the bearer of the name being non-different.”
alaukika-līlā prabhura alaukika-rīti |
śunileo bhāgya-hīnera nā haya pratīti ||
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.18.225)
“Prabhu’s līlā is extraordinary, and [his] manner is extraordinary. Even when they hear [of it, however], the unfortunate do not believe.”
vande’haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca
śrī-rūpaṁ sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam |
sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ
śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca ||
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.2.1, 3.3.1)
“I offer obeisance to the blessed lotus feet of śrī guru;
To [all my] śrī gurus
And the Vaiṣṇavas;
To him, Śrī Rūpa,
Along with his elder brother,
Accompanied by Raghunātha and associates,
And along with Jīva;
To Kṛṣṇa Caitanyadeva
Along with Advaita,
Along with the Avadhūta,
And accompanied by attendants;
And to the feet of Śrī Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa
Accompanied by Lalitā, Śrī Viśākhā, and associates.”
tomāra bhajana-phala—tomāte prema-dhana |
viṣaya lāgi tomāya bhaje sei mūrkha-jana ||
sei śuddha-bhakta—ye tomā bhaje tomā lāgi |
āpanāra sukha-duḥkhe haya bhoga-bhogī ||
tomāra anukampā cāhe, bhaje anukṣaṇa |
acirāte mile tāre tomāra caraṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.9.69, 75–76)
“[Śrī Kāśī Miśra to Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] The result of worship of you is the wealth of prema for you. A person who worships you for the sake of objects of the senses (viṣaya) is a fool. … He is a pure bhakta who worships you for your sake and is an endurer of the experience of his own happiness and suffering [i.e., he does not worship you for the sake of attaining personal happiness or removing personal suffering]. He desires [only] your grace and worships [you] at every moment. Your feet reach him before long.”
antaḥ kṛṣṇaṁ bahir gauraṁ darśitāṅgādi-vaibhavam |
kalau saṅkīrtanādyaiḥ smaḥ kṛṣṇa-caitanyam āśritāḥ ||
(Tattva Sandarbha: 2; cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.80)
“Through saṅkīrtana and so forth in [the Age of] Kali, we have taken shelter in Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, who is internally Kṛṣṇa, externally golden, and manifest with the magnificence of his limbs and so forth [i.e., along with his sub-limbs, weapons, and associates].”
sei veṣa kaila ebe vṛndāvana giyā |
kṛṣṇa-niṣevaṇa kari nibhṛte vasiyā ||
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.3.9)
“I have accepted that garb [i.e., the garb of a sannyāsī]. Now, going to Vṛndāvana, I shall perform worship of Kṛṣṇa, sitting in seclusion.”
tṛptāv anya-janasya tṛptim ayitā duḥkhe mahāduḥkitā
labdhaiḥ svīya-sukhāli-duḥkha-nicayair no harṣa-bādhodayāḥ |
sveṣṭārādhana-tatparā iha yathā śrī-vaiṣṇava-śreṇayaḥ
kās tā brūhi vicārya candra-vadane tā mad-vayasyā imāḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 13.113)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa presents a riddle:]
‘They attain satisfaction from another person’s satisfaction,
Are greatly troubled by [by another person’s] trouble,
Experience no elation or misery
Because of the personal pleasures and troubles they undergo,
And are devoted to the worship of their own Iṣṭa
Like the multitudes of blessed Vaiṣṇavas here—
Consider and tell [me],
O you of moon face,
Who are they?’
[Śrī Rādhā replies:]
‘They are these friends of mine!’”
śrī-govindaṁ vrajānanda-sandohāmanda-mandiram |
vande vṛndāvanānandaṁ śrī-rādhā-saṅga-nanditam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.1)
“I offer obeisance to Śrī Govinda,
He who is the abode filled
With the totality of the bliss of Vraja,
He whose bliss is in Vṛndāvana,
He who is blissful in the company of Śrī Rādhā.”
