Bābāra Kathā – Page 40

ayi praṇaya-śālini praṇaya-puṣṭa-dāsyāptaye

ayi praṇaya-śālini praṇaya-puṣṭa-dāsyāptaye
prakāmam atirodanaiḥ pracura-duḥkha-dagdhātmanā |
vilāpa-kusumāñjalir hṛdi nidhāya pādāmbuje
mayā bata samarpitas tava tanotu tuṣṭiṁ manāk ||
(Vilāpa-kusuñjali: 104)

“Ayi affectionate one, may this Vilāpa-kusumāñjali [i.e., this flowering offering of lamentation]—offered by me as I hold your lotus feet to my heart and call [out to you], burned by profuse sorrow and [thus] crying intensely, for the sake of attaining servitude enriched with affection unto you as desired—produce in you some slight satisfaction.”

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pādābjayos tava vinā vara-dāsyam eva

pādābjayos tava vinā vara-dāsyam eva
nānyat kadāpi samaye kila devi yāce |
sakhyāya te mama namo’stu namo’stu nityaṁ
dāsyāya te mama raso’stu raso’stu satyam ||
(Vilāpa-kusumāñjali: 16)

“O Devī! Certainly I never pray at any time for anything other than the finest servitude unto your lotus feet. May my obeisance be offered, may my obeisance be offered forever, unto to friendship with you, and may my loving attachment be, may my loving attachment forever be to servitude unto you. This is my vow.”

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lakṣmīr yad-aṅghri-kamalasya nakhāñcalasya

lakṣmīr yad-aṅghri-kamalasya nakhāñcalasya
saundarya-bindum api nārhati labdhum īśe |
sā tvaṁ vidhāsyasi na cen mama netra-dānaṁ
kiṁ jīvitena mama duḥkha-davāgnidena ||
(Vilāpa-kusumāñjali: 101)

“O Īśā, if you—she even a drop of the beauty of the tips of the nails of whose lotus feet [even] Lakṣmī is unable to attain—do not grant me eyes [i.e., vision of your līlā and so forth], [then] what is the use of this life of mine which causes a forest fire of suffering?”

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aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi

aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi |
utsarpati rajo ghoraṁ tato vaikārikaṁ manaḥ ||
rajo-yuktasya manasaḥ saṅkalpaḥ sa-vikalpakaḥ |
tataḥ kāmo guṇa-dhyānād duḥsahaḥ syād dhi durmateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.9–10)

[In response to Uddhava’s inquiry as to why human beings engage in sensual enjoyment even though they generally know it ultimately results only in suffering, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:] “When a false notion of ‘I’ [i.e., identification with the material body and mind] surges in the heart of a bewildered person [i.e., someone devoid of proper discrimination], then frightful rajas surges in the sāttvika mind [i.e., even though the mind is sāttvika by nature]. Resolve along with fancy arise in a mind possessed by rajas, and then irresistible desire arises because of the deluded person’s [consequent] meditation on qualities [i.e., mental absorption in the qualities of the object of the mind’s resolve and fancy].”

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sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā

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.”

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vanaṁ gṛhaṁ no’bhavad ālayo vanaṁ

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.”

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prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ

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.”

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nidānaṁ tu paraṁ premṇaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-karuṇā-bharaḥ

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.”

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ṛddhā siddhi-vraja-vijayitā satya-dharmā samādhir

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].”

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ālībhiḥ paripālitaḥ prabalitaḥ sānandam ālokitaḥ

ālībhiḥ paripālitaḥ prabalitaḥ sānandam ālokitaḥ
pratyāśaṁ sumanaḥ-phalodaya-vidhau sāmodam āsvāditaḥ
vṛndāraṇya-bhuvi prakāśa-madhuraḥ sarvātiśāyi-śriyā
rādhā-mādhavayoḥ pramodayatu mām ullāsa-kalpa-drumaḥ
(Prīti Sandarbha: 429)

“May the desire-tree of Rādhā and Mādhava’s joy
[Alt., may the effulgent desire-tree of Rādhā and Mādhāva]
In the land of Vṛndāvana,
Splendorous with sweetness;
Nurtured in full,
Fortified,
Blissfully beheld with expectation,
And, upon the emergence of its fruits and flowers,
Delightedly relished by the sakhīs;
Completely delight me
With [its] all-surpassing beauty.”

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