sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste |
prema-rasenobhaya-mana iva madano niṣpipeṣa balāt ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.14)
“[Rādhā:] O sakhī, he was not the male lover, and I was not the female lover, as any distinction between us had ceased; it was as though Madana had forcibly ground our minds [together] with prema-rasa.”
tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ
vidagdhayor nāgarayoḥ parasya |
premno’tikāṣṭhā-pratipādanena
dvayoḥ paraikya-pratipādy avādīt ||
(Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya: 13.45)
“Then he [i.e., Rāmānanda Rāya] sang a song full of rasas which, by explaining the ultimate climax of the expert lovers’ supreme prema, explained their supreme oneness.”
sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā
svargādi-bhogaḥ sulabho’bhavaś ca saḥ |
cintāmaṇiḥ sarva-janair na labhyate
labhyeta kācādi kadāpi hāṭakam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.232)
“Bhakti endowed with prema is extremely rare to attain. Enjoyment of Svarga and so forth, and even non-birth [i.e., non-rebirth], are [relatively] easy to attain. A thought-jewel is not attained by everyone. [Rather,] Glass and so forth is attained, and sometimes gold.”
imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api
sphurat tat-tad-vastrāv iti budha-janair niścitam idam |
sa ko’py accha-premā vilasad-ubhaya-sphūrtikatayā
dadhan mūrti-bhāvaṁ pṛthag apṛthag apy āvirudabhūt ||
(Gopāla-campū: 15.8)
“These two, fair and dark [in complexion], are the opposite [in “color”] in their minds and externally also manifest such respective cloth [i.e., cloth opposite in color to their complexions, that is, corresponding in color to one another’s complexions]. Thus it has been ascertained by the wise that some sort of pure prema, on account of its being a playful revealer of them both [in one another’s hearts], has appeared donning a state of form that is both separated [i.e., dual, bearing the two separate forms of bearer and receiver] and unseparated [i.e., non-dual, being one in nature and function as the medium of exchange between them].”
loka-dvayāt svajanataḥ parataḥ svato vā
prāṇa-priyād api sumeru-samā yadi syuḥ |
kleśās tad apy atibalī sahasā vijitya
premaiva tān harir ibhān iva puṣṭim eti ||
(Prema-sampuṭa: 54)
“Even if hardships equal to [the size of] Mount Sumeru arise from this world and the next, from relatives, from others, from oneself, and from even the beloved of one’s heart, prema, being most powerful, forcibly defeats them and gains nourishment [from them] just as a lion defeats elephants and gains nourishment [by eating them].”
vanaṁ gṛhaṁ no’bhavad ālayo vanaṁ
dviṣat suhṛd bandhu-gaṇaś ca vairiṇaḥ |
viṣaṁ ca pīyūṣam utāmṛtaṁ viṣaṁ
yad-artham asmāt tvād ṛte mriyāmahe ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.292)
“[The gopīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Without you, for the sake of whom the forest has become our home and our abode the forest, our enemies well-wishers, and our friends enemies, poison ambrosia and even nectar poison, we are dying.”
prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ
viccheda-dāvānala-vegato’ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-
veśena gāḍhaṁ bhavatīva duḥkham ||
tathāpi sambhoga-sukhād api stutaḥ
sa ko’py anirvācya-tamo mano-ramaḥ |
pramoda-rāśiḥ pariṇāmato dhruvaṁ
tatra sphuret tad-rasikaika-vedyaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.125–126)
[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Although at first it is as if there occurs intense sorrow, created by prema, arising from absorption in endless grief produced by anguish within as a result of the onslaught of the forest fire of separation from those who are dear, still, this [sorrow] ultimately and certainly manifests some most ineffable heart-satisfying abundance of bliss which is praised more so than the joy of union and knowable only by rasikas.”
tad-eka-rasa-lokasya saṅge’bhivyaktatāṁ svataḥ |
prayāsyad api tad vastu gopanīyaṁ prayatnataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.219)
“Even though that substance [i.e., that prema] will naturally become manifest in the association of a person whose only love is for that [prema], it should be kept hidden with effort.”
nidānaṁ tu paraṁ premṇaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-karuṇā-bharaḥ |
kasyāpy udety akasmād vā kasyacit sādhana-kramāt ||
yathodārān milaty annaṁ pākvaṁ vā pāka-sādhanam |
sādhakasyocyate śāstra-gatyāyaṁ sādhana-kramaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.215–216)
“But the primary cause of [such] prema is an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace. That manifests for some without cause and for some through a course of sādhanas, just as either cooked food or the ingredients for cooking come [to someone] from a generous person. This course of sādhanas for a sādhaka [through which an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace manifests] is [now going to be] described [by me] in accord with śāstra.”
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].”
