yeṣāṁ kṛpā-lavaṁ prāpya rasābdhir durgamo mayā |
spṛṣṭaḥ kṣudra-mater me’pi te śrī-rūpa-gaṇā gatiḥ ||
(Artha-ratnālpa-dīpikā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.9.44)
“The followers of Śrī Rūpa,
As a result of receiving a particle of whose grace
The difficult to reach ocean of rasa
Has been touched by me—
May they be the refuge
Even of I of petty mind.”
śrī-rūpeṇa prabala-karunā-śālinā darśitaṁ yan
mādṛṅ-mugdha-prakṛti-janatā-śreyase rāga-vartma |
tasmin yeṣāṁ ratir atitarāṁ vartate sāra-bhājāṁ
teṣāṁ pādāmbuja-natimatī koṭiśas syāj janir me ||
(Svātma-pramodinī-ṭīkā on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 15.260)
“May I receive crores of births
Filled with obeisances unto the lotus feet
Of those graspers of essence
Who have profound loving attachment (rati)
To the path of rāga
Shown for the sake of the highest benefit
Of the populace of erring temperament like myself
By the profoundly compassionate Śrī Rūpa.”
vairāgyaṁ vidhi-rāga-bhaktim amalān nānā-rasān dvādaśa
premānaṁ vraja-vāsināṁ śuka-mukhair vipra-rṣibhiḥ saṁstutam |
gopīnāṁ paramāṁ lasat-para-mahābhāvāṁ samarthāṁ ratiṁ
rādhāyām iha mādanaṁ vada sakhe ko vetti rūpaṁ vinā ||
(Govardhana Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī)
“O friend,
Pray tell,
Who here [i.e., in this world] would understand
Non-attachment (vairāgya),
Vidhi- and rāgā-bhakti [i.e., vaidhī- and rāgānugā-bhakti],
The twelve different taintless rasas,
The prema of the residents of Vraja
Highly praised by the learned seers led by Śuka,
The gopīs’ paramount samartha-rati
Which shines ultimately as mahābhāva,
Or the mādana [i.e., the mādanākhyā-mahābhāva, manifest] in Rādhā
Without Rūpa?”
kaḥ śrī-bhāgavatasya tattvam amalaṁ boddhuṁ kṣamo bhūtale
ko vṛndāvana-mādhurīṁ kalayituṁ vaktuṁ ca dhatte matim |
goṣṭhendrāmala-rūpam adbhutatamaṁ ko vā nayen mānasaṁ
śrīmantaṁ karuṇākaraṁ guṇa-nidhiṁ rūpaṁ sabandhuṁ vinā ||
(Govardhana Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī)
“Who on the surface of the earth
Is able to understand
The taintless truth of Śrīmad Bhāgavam,
Who can cause the intellect to grasp and describe
The sweetness of Vṛndāvana,
And who can fix the mind
On the supremely astonishing, taintless figure
Of [Śrī Kṛṣṇa,] the Prince of the cowherd dwelling,
Without the illustrious reservoir of compassion
And treasury of qualities,
Śrī Rūpa,
Along with his companions?”
hitvā rūpa-padāmbujaṁ bhavati yo rādhāṅghri-dāsyotsukas
tuṅgaṁ geham asau tanoti na kathaṁ ramye sthale saikate |
bāhubhyāṁ tridivaṁ spṛśen na hi kathaṁ no vā kathaṁ cchādayet
tūrṇaṁ bhūri-rajobhir ambara-maṇiṁ paṅguṁ na kiṁ cālayet ||
(Govardhana Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī)
“Does one who becomes strongly desirous
Of service to the feet of Rādhā
But disregards the lotus feet of Rūpa
Not [in effect] build a lofty house
In a pleasant spot on a sand-bank?
Can one not touch the heavens with one’s arms?
Can one not cover the sun with a bunch of dust?
Can one not make a lame person walk?”
śrīmad-rūpa-padābja-dhūlim alike nityaṁ dadhe yā manāg
ghrātā hṛn-madhupaṁ mamānayad aho kṛṣṇāṅghri-tṛṣṇāṅghripam |
yaḥ saṁsāra-mataṅgajāṅga-madirāṁ vyasmārayat svai rasair
yad-gandhāṇu-lavo’pi karṣati dhṛtottarṣaṁ munīndrān api ||
(Stavāmṛta-laharī: Nikuñja-keli-virudāvalī: 70)
“Aho!
Forever I hold upon my forehead
The pollen of the lotus feet of Śrīmad Rūpa,
Which upon being smelled [just] slightly
Have drawn the bee [lit., nectar-drinker] of my heart
To the desire-tree of Kṛṣṇa’s feet,
Which with their own nectars
Have caused forgetfulness of the rut juice
Of the elephant of saṁsāra,
And even a minute trace of the fragrance of which
Attracts even the best of the sages
And fills them with intense desire.”
yat-pādāmbuja-yugma-vicyuta-rajaḥ-sevā-prabhāvād ahaṁ
gāndharvā-sarasī-girīndra-nikaṭe kaṣṭo’pi nityaṁ vasan |
tat-preyo-gaṇa-pālito jita-sudhā rādhā-mukundābhidhā
udgāyāmi śṛṇomi māṁ punar aho śrīmān sa rūpo’vatu ||
(Stavāvalī: Abhīṣṭa-sūcana, 13)
“Aho! May he, Śrīmān Rūpa, again protect me, I who am sustained by the circle of those dear to him, and who, although troubled, sing aloud and hear the names of Rādhā and Mukunda, by which nectar is defeated, residing continuously near the king of mountains [i.e., Govardhana] at the lake of Gāndharvā [i.e., Rādhā Kuṇḍa] by the power of service to the dust fallen from the pair of his lotus feet.”
apūrva-premābdheḥ parimala-payaḥ-phena-nivahaiḥ
sadā yo jīvātur yam iha kṛpayāsiñcad atulam |
idānīṁ durdaivāt pratipada-vipad-dāva-valito
nirālambaḥ so’yaṁ kam iha tam ṛte yātu śaraṇam ||
(Stavāvalī: Prārthanāśraya-caturdaśaka, 10)
“Now, in the wake of misfortune, who shall he who is shelterless and surrounded by a forest fire of constant adversity take shelter in here besides he who is his vitality and who always graciously and matchlessly showered him here with heaps of foam from the fragrant water of the ocean of unprecedented prema?”
śrīmad-rūpa-padāmbhoja-dhūlī-mātraika-sevinā
kenacid grathitā padyair mālāghreyā tad-āśrayaiḥ ||
(Stavāvalī: Viśākhānanda-stotra, 134)
“Strung with verses by some one-pointed servitor of just the dust of the lotus feet of Śrīmad Rūpa, may this garland be smelled by those who are in his shelter [alt., by those in the shelter of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa].”
sva-dayita-nija-bhāvaṁ yo vibhāvya sva-bhāvāt
sumadhuram avatīrṇo bhakta-rūpena lobhāt |
jayati kanaka-dhāmā kṛṣṇa-caitanya-nāmā
harir iha yati-veśaḥ śrī-śacī-sūnur eṣaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.3)
“Bearing a golden luster,
The name Kṛṣṇa Caitanya,
And the garb of an ascetic,
He who has descended here [amongst us]
With the form of a bhakta
Out of intense desire
After reflecting on the fine sweetness
Of the bhāva for himself
Of his own beloveds
In comparison to his own bhāva [for them]—
[He,] Hari, the Son of Śrī Śacī,
Triumphs!”
