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phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā

phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā
amṛtam amṛtaṁ drākṣā drākṣā madhūni madhūny api |
saha tulayituṁ tenaiteṣāṁ na kiñcana yujyate
subala yad ayaṁ sāraṅgākṣyā bhavaty adharo’dharaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 3.5)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Even the fruit of mango trees
Is [just] fruit.
Even candied sugar
Is [just] candied sugar.
[Even] Nectar is [just] nectar.
[Even] Grapes are [just] grapes.
Even honey is [just] honey.
O Subala,
None of these are fit
To be compared with that,
Since [that, viz.,] this lower lip of she of doe-eyes [viz., Śrī Rādhikā]
Is [really] a lower lip (adharaḥ)
[i.e., Something that excels all else].”

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hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo

hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo
yad rāma-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa-sparaśa-pramodaḥ |
mānaṁ tanoti saha-go-gaṇayos tayor yat
pānīya-sūyavasa-kandara-kanda-mūlaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.21.18)

“Hanta!
O ladies!
This mountain is the best of Hari’s servants
Since he is possessed of great delight
At the touch of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa’s feet,
And since he offers honor to them,
Along with their cows and company,
With beverages, fine grass, hollows, bulbs, and roots.”

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sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra

sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra-
śrīmat-padāmbuja-yuga-sadā-prīti-saṅga-prādāyi |
jijñāsos te janani kathito’śeṣa-sandeha-ghāṭī
goloko’yaṁ madhura-gahana-praśna-bhāvānusārāt ||
vaikuṇṭhasyāpy upari nitarāṁ rājate yo nitānta-
śrīmad-gopī-ramaṇa-caraṇa-prema-pūraika-labhyaḥ |
vāñchā-vāñchopari-guru-phala-prāpti-bhūmir yadīyā
lokā dhyātā dadhati paramāṁ prema-sampatti-niṣṭhām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.77–78)

“O Mother,
In accord with the sweet and deep mood (bhāva)
Of the inquiry of you who are desirous to know
The place which is a bestower
Of eternal loving connection
With the two blessed lotus feet [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Moistened by a beautiful mass of kumkum
From the slopes of the gopīs’ breasts,
And which is a destroyer of all doubts,
This [place, known as] Goloka—
Which shines profoundly beyond even Vaikuṇṭha,
Which is attainable
Only by means of an extraordinary abundance of prema
For the feet of blessed gopīs’ Beloved,
Which is the land of the attainment
Of the great aim
Of our desires and [that is] beyond our desires,
And the people belonging to which,
As they are meditated upon,
Grant paramount fixity in the wealth of prema—
Has been described [by me to you].”

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pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī

pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī
kālindī ca vilocanābja-janitair jātāñjana-śyāmalaiḥ |
ārān madhyama-vedim āpatitayoḥ klinnā tayoḥ saṅgame
vṛttāsi vraja-rājñi tat suta-mukha-prekṣāṁ sphuṭaṁ vāñchasi ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.58)

“[When Mother Yaśodā travelled to Kurukṣetra on the pretext of a solar eclipse with great desire to see Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a feminine ascetic previously known to her says the following upon meeting her there:]
The Gaṅgā has appeared from the streams of milk (kṣīra)
Endowed with luster like nectar
Falling from the mountains of your breasts,
And the Kālindī [has appeared from the streams of water (kṣīra), that is, tears]
Produced by your lotus eyes
That are black because of your mascara [running off into them].
You have been bathed at the confluence of these two [rivers]
That have descended from above
Onto the altar of your midsection
[alt., They—the Gaṅgā and Kālindī—have in this way descended
And joined at Prayāga].
Thus, O Queen of Vraja!
You clearly desire to behold the face of your son
[Since it is well known
That people only go to bath at Prayāga
When they desire to attain the sight of Śrī Bhagavān].”

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vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā

vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā
bhūyaḥ prasrava-varṣiṇī dviguṇitotkaṇṭhā pradoṣodaye |
gehād aṅganam aṅganāt punar asau gehaṁ viśanty ākulā
govindasya muhur vrajendra-gṛhiṇī panthānam ālokate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.55)

“Today [i.e., throughout the day]
Wishing with her ears pricked
To hear the sound of the flute,
And again at the onset of evening,
With doubled longing
And milk streaming [from her breasts]
As she repeatedly entered the courtyard from the house
And the house from the courtyard,
The anxious queen of Vraja
Looked again and again at Govinda’s path
[i.e., the path by which he was expected to soon return home from the forest].”

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niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān

niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān
akhila-surabhi-reṇūn kṣālayadbhir yaśodā |
kuca-kalasa-vimuktaiḥ sneha-mādhvīka-medhyais
tava navam abhiṣekaṁ dugdha-pūraiḥ karoti ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭaka: 1.46; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sidhu: 3.4.47)

“[O Kṛṣṇa!]
Yaśodā conducts your first bath [after you return from the forest in the afternoon]
With the supremely pure streams of milk
Replete with the honey of her affection
Released from the urns of her breasts
That wash away all the dust from [i.e., raised by] the cows,
By which your leaves [i.e., the decorative leaf designs drawn on your body] made of minerals
Become covered over.”

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tanau mantra-nyāsaṁ praṇayati harer gadgadamayī

tanau mantra-nyāsaṁ praṇayati harer gadgadamayī
sabāṣpākṣī rakṣā-tilakam alike kalpayati ca |
snuvānā pratyūṣe diśati ca bhuje kārmaṇam asau
yaśodā mūrteva sphurati suta-vātsalya-paṭalī ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.14)

“Early in the morning,
Stuttering,
Her eyes filled with tears,
Milk flowing [from her breasts],
She performs mantra-nyāsa on Hari’s body,
Draws a tilaka for protection on his forehead,
And places a spell-infused root on his arms;
Yaśodā shines
Like the embodiment
Of a profusion of affection for a son.”

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kṣaumaṁ vāsaḥ pṛthu-kaṭi-taṭe bibhratī sūtra-naddhaṁ

kṣaumaṁ vāsaḥ pṛthu-kaṭi-taṭe bibhratī sūtra-naddhaṁ
putra-sneha-snuta-kuca-yugaṁ jāta-kampaṁ ca subhrūḥ |
rajjv-ākarṣa-śrama-bhuja-calat-kaṅkaṇau kuṇḍale ca
svinnaṁ vaktraṁ kabara-vigalan-mālatī nirmamantha ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.3; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.12)

“Bearing a linen garment bound with a cord
Around her wide hips,
Shaking breasts
Flowing [with milk]
Out of affection for her son,
Bangles moving along her arms
In the midst of the labor of pulling the [churning] ropes,
[Swaying] Earrings,
And a perspiring face,
She of fine brows [viz., Yaśodā],
With mālatī flowers falling from her braid,
Churned [the yoghurt].”

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