śraddhā kari ei līlā śuna bhakta-gaṇa |
ihāra prasāde pābe caitanya-caraṇa ||
ihāra prasāde pābe kṛṣṇa-tattva-sāra |
sarva-śāstra-siddhāntera ihā̐ pāibe pāra ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.25.262–263)
“O bhaktas, hear this līlā with śraddhā. By its grace, you will attain Caitanya’s feet. By its grace, you will attain the essence of Kṛṣṇa-tattva. In it, you will attain the limit of the siddhānta of all the śāstras.”
atho mahābhāga bhavān amogha-dṛk
śuci-śravāḥ satya-rato dhṛta-vrataḥ |
urukramasyākhila-bandha-muktaye
samādhinānusmara tad-viceṣṭitam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.13)
[Nārada to Vyāsa:] “Therefore, O most fortunate one, you who are of unerring vision, of pure glory, dedicated to truth, and of resolute vows, with full absorption (samādhi) should remember and describe the [illustrious] variegated acts of Urukrama for the liberation of all [beings] from bondage.”
e-tine lāgila mana, lobhe kare āsvādana … |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.135)
“His [i.e., Mahāprabhu’s] mind became fixed upon these three [i.e., the mādhurya of Kṛṣṇa’s figure, Kṛṣṇa’s face, and Kṛṣṇa’s smile], and out of intense desire (lobha) he tasted them.”
prema-sevā sādhya yei, gāḍha-lobhe mile sei,
varaja-vāsi-carita tatpara ||
(Yadunandana Ṭhākura’s rendering of Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.3)
“One devoted to the ways of the residents of Vraja attains prema-sevā, the sādhya [i.e., the goal], [only] with intense hankering.”
ābhīra-pallī-pati-putra-kāntā-
dāsyābhilāṣātibalāśvavāraḥ |
śrī-rūpa-cintāmala-sapti-saṁstho
mat-svānta-durdānta-hayecchur āstām ||
(Stavāvalī: Abhīṣṭa-sūcana: 1)
“May the very strong horseman of longing for servitude unto the Beloved of the Son of the cowherd village’s headman [i.e., Śrī Rādhikā, the beloved of Śrī Kṛṣṇa] that is mounted on the spotless horse of Śrī Rūpa’s thoughts become desirous of [mounting, and riding] the difficult to tame horse of my mind [i.e., may Śrī Rūpa’s line of thought regarding Śrī Rādhikā and the longing it inspires take hold in my mind and forever engage me in the service of Śrī Rādhikā].”
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-prabhura dāsera anudāsa |
sevā abhilāṣa kare narottama-dāsa ||
(Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura’s Prārthanā)
“Narottama Dāsa, an assisting servant of the servants of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Prabhu, longs for service.”
veda-śāstre upadeśe—kṛṣṇa eka sāra |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.3)
“The Vedic śāstra teaches that Kṛṣṇa is sole essence.”
kṛṣṇera aiśvarya apāra—amṛtera sindhu |
avagāhite nārila, tāra chu̐ila eka bindu ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.98)
“Kṛṣṇa’s boundless aiśvarya is an ocean of nectar. I cannot swim within it and have only touched upon one drop of it.”
guṇaiḥ svair hīnā me yadapi kavitā nātimadhurā
satāṁ svādyāthāpy acyuta-guṇa-yutatvena bhavitā |
ayaḥ-śastrī spṛṣṭā mṛgayu-gṛha-gā sparśa-maṇinā
suvarṇatvaṁ prāptā bhavati mahatāṁ bhūṣaṇa-kṛte ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 16.5)
[On the order of Vṛndā following the indication of Rādhā, a parrot begins to speak in praise of Kṛṣṇa:] “Although my poetry is deficient in its own attributes and not very sweet, still it shall be relishable to sādhus because of it being endowed with [descriptions of] the qualities of Acyuta, since [even] an iron knife situated in the home of a hunter that has been touched by a touchstone and attained the state of being golden becomes suitable for decorating a great person.”
sarvādbhuta-camatkāra-līlā-kallola-vāridhiḥ
atulya-madhura-prema-maṇḍita-priya-maṇḍalaḥ |
tri-jagan-mānasākarṣi-muralī-kala-kūjitaḥ
asamānordhva-rūpa-śrī-vismāpita-carācaraḥ ||
līlā premṇā priyādhikyaṁ mādhuryaṁ veṇu-rūpayoḥ |
ity asādhāraṇaṁ proktaṁ govindasya catuṣṭayam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.41–43)
“[Kṛṣṇa is:] He who is an ocean of waves of līlā that are astounding and amazing to all; (2) he who has a circle of dear ones adorned with incomparable sweet prema; (3) he the melodious coos of whose flute are attractive to the hearts of [everyone throughout] the three worlds; (4) he by the beauty of whose unequalled and unsurpassed figure [all] moving and inert beings are enchanted. (1) Līlā, (2) a superiority with respect to dear ones by virtue of [their superlative] prema, (3–4) the sweetness (mādhurya) of his flute and of his figure—in this way the four extraordinary qualities of Govinda [found in no other form of Śrī Bhagavān] are stated.”
