aho’tiramyaṁ pulinaṁ vayasyāḥ
sva-keli-sampan mṛdulāccha-vālukam |
sphuṭat-saro-gandha-hṛtāli-patri-ka-
dhvani-pratidhvāna-lasad-drumākulam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.13.5)
[Kṛṣṇa:] “Aho! Friends! This bank is very pleasant, with amenities for our play; soft, clear sand; and an abundance of swaying trees and echoes of sounds from the water of birds and bees attracted by the fragrance of the blooming pools.”
cintāmaṇiś caraṇa-bhūṣaṇam aṅganānāṁ
śṛṅgāra-puṣpa-taravas taravaḥ surāṇām |
vṛndāvane vraja-dhanaṁ nanu kāma-dhenu-
vṛndāni ceti sukha-sindhur aho vibhūtiḥ ||
(Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.173; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.14.228)
“‘Nanu! In Vṛndāvana, the ladies’ foot-ornaments are thought-jewels, the decorative flowering trees are desire-trees [lit., trees of the suras], and the communal wealth is herds of desire-cows. Aho! The opulence [here] is thus an ocean of joy!”
śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
drumā bhūmiś cintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayī toyam amṛtam |
kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhī
cid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca ||
sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhībhyaś ca sumahān
nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ |
bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti‑virala‑cārāḥ katipaye ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.55–56; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 5.143; Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.94–95; Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.500–501; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 172, 177, 186; Prīti Sandarbha: 111; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.14.227)
“That [place] where the lovers [alt., women] are Śrīs [i.e., resemblant of Lakṣmī], the beloved is the Supreme Puruṣa [i.e., he who is superior even to Nārāyaṇa and expands himself to reciprocate with every lover], the trees are desire-trees, the land is made of thought-jewels, the water is nectar, the speech is song, the movement is dance, the vaṁśī [i.e., flute] is a dear sakhī [i.e., is a friend to Kṛṣṇa as his constant companion and a friend to the residents of Vraja by making Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure and whereabouts known], the conscious, blissful, superb light is supremely relishable, an ocean of milk flows from the cows [i.e., where the cows become absorbed in the sound of the flute and yield unlimited milk], and where even the time [i.e., the time span] known as half of the most immense [i.e., half of the lifespan of Brahmā] or [the time span known as half of] the blink of the eye [i.e., an instant] does not pass [i.e., where the troublesome effects of time are absent and the residents are unaware of time on account of their absorption]—I worship [i.e., take shelter in] that Śvetadvīpa [lit., ‘white island’] which [only] a few sādhus in this world, who move about in seclusion on the earth [out of attachment to Kṛṣṇa and non-attachment to everything of the world; alt., who are extremely rare], know to be Goloka.”
cintāmaṇi-prakara-sadmasu kalpa-vṛkṣa-
lakṣāvṛteṣu surabhīr abhipālayantam |
lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.29; cited in Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 80, 106, 116, 137, 153, 172; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.5.22)
“I serve him, Govinda, the original Person, who in abodes made of spiritual gemstone filled with lakhs of wish-fulfilling trees tends the cows and is lovingly served by hundreds of thousands of lakṣmīs.”
niyamāt phalam āpnoti na śreyo niyamaṁ vinā ||
(Bhaviṣya Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 15.464, Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 13.510, 15.630)
“One attains the result on account of the vow [i.e., the resolution (saṅkalpa) to perform a given vrata or sevā]. Without the vow, no auspicious result comes about.”
viṣaya thākite kṛṣṇa-prema nāhi haya |
viṣayīra dūre kṛṣṇa jāniha niścaya ||
viṣaye āviṣṭa mana baḍai jañjāla |
strī-putra māyā-jāla, ei saba kāla ||
daive kona bhāgyavān sādhu-saṅga pāya |
viṣaye āveśa chāḍi kṛṣṇere bhajaya ||
sei saba aparādha habe punar-bāra |
viṣayera dharma ei śuna kathā-sāra ||
‘viṣaya pāsara ahar-niśa bala hari’ ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 1.16.59–63)
“[Hari Dāsa Ṭhākura to inmates in jail:] “Kṛṣṇa-prema does not manifest in the presence of viṣaya [i.e., objects of the senses and mental inclinations for them]. Know for certain that Kṛṣṇa is far from viṣayīs. A mind absorbed in viṣaya is a great disturbance. Wife and sons are the net of māyā. They are all death [i.e., the bewilderment produced attachment related to them effectively terminates one’s endeavor to transcend the realm of saṁsāra and perpetuates only absorption in worldly ends]. If by destiny some fortunate person attains association with a sādhu, then one gives up absorption in viṣaya and serves Kṛṣṇa. All that offense [i.e., all the offenses in the form of violence towards, and disturbance of, other living beings that you have committed and thus wound up in jail] will happen again [if you do not follow my advice]. This is the nature of viṣaya [i.e., the nature of worldly objects and the mental inclinations they produce, that is, vāsanās, is that they cause one to perpetually engage in the same behaviors]. Listen to the essence of my message …: ‘Forget viṣaya and day and night chant, “Hari!”’”
tathāpi viṣayera svabhāva—kare mahā-andha |
sei karma karāya, yāte haya bhava-bandha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.199)
”Still, the nature of viṣaya [i.e., objects of the senses and the inclinations for them impressed in the mind] makes one severely blind. It causes one to perform karma whereby worldly bondage accrues.”
kṛṣṇe gate madhupurīṁ bata ballavīnāṁ
bhāvo’bhavat sapadi yo laya-vahni-tīvraḥ |
premāsya hetur uta tattvam idaṁ hi tasya
mā tad-viśeṣam aparaṁ bata boddhum iccha ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.232)
“The cause of the gopīs’ bhāva, intense like the fire of [universal] destruction, that immediately arose when Kṛṣṇa went to Madhupurī is prema, and this [i.e., this state] is indeed its [i.e., prema’s] very nature. Bata! Do not desire to understand anything other than this description.”
śūnyāyate mahāgoṣṭhaṁ girīndro’jagarāyate |
vyāghra-tuṇḍāyate kuṇḍaṁ jīvātu-rahitasya me ||
(Stavāvalī: Prārthanāśraya-caturdaśaka, 11)
“The great pastureland [i.e., Vraja] seems empty, the king of mountains [i.e., Girirāja Govardhana] seems like a python, and the pool [i.e., Rādhā Kuṇḍa] seems like the jaws of a tiger for I who am bereft of [my] vitality [i.e., Śrī Rūpa].”
