Bābāra Kathā

tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ

tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ
yad gokule’pi katamāṅghri-rajo-’bhiṣekam |
yaj-jīvitaṁ tu nikhilaṁ bhagavān mukundas
tv adyāpi yat-pada-rajaḥ śruti-mṛgyam eva ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.34)

[A translation based on the commentary of Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda:] “May I have that great fortune in which a birth of any sort here in the forest in Gokula shall occur wherein I may also receive an ablution in the dust of the feet of anyone [there] whose entire life is Bhagavān, Mukunda, [he] whose footdust is verily an object to be sought by the Śrutis even to this very day.”

[A translation based on the commentary of Śrī Viśvanātha Carkavartīpāda:] “May I have that great fortune in which a birth of any sort here in the forest or even in Gokula shall occur wherein I may receive an ablution in the dust of the feet of anyone [there] whose entire life is Bhagavān, Mukunda, and whose footdust is verily an object to be sought by the Śrutis even to this very day.”

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kathā imās te kathitā mahīyasāṁ

kathā imās te kathitā mahīyasāṁ
vitāya lokeṣu yaśaḥ pareyuṣām |
vijñāna-vairāgya-vivakṣayā vibho
vaco-vibhūtīr na tu pāramārthyam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.14)

[Translation based on the ṭīkās of Śrīdhara Svāmī and Jīva Gosvāmī:] “[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] O King, these narrations narrated [by me] for the purpose of [teaching] knowledge [i.e., knowledge of the insubstantiality of sense objects (viṣayāsāra-jñānam)] and [subsequent] non-attachment (vairāgyam), which extend the fame of departed great personages [i.e., prominent kings and so forth other than avatāras of Bhagavān] throughout the worlds, are splendors of speech and not, rather, ultimate truth.”

[Translation based on the ṭīkā of Viśvanātha Cakravartī:] “[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] O King, these narrations narrated [by me] for the purpose of [teaching] knowledge [i.e., experience of Bhagavān] and [subsequent] non-attachment, which extend the fame of great personages who attained the Supreme throughout the worlds, are not splendors of speech, but rather, ultimate truth.”

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kṛṣṇāṅghri-padma-makaranda-nipāna-lubdho

kṛṣṇāṅghri-padma-makaranda-nipāna-lubdho
jānāti tad-rasa-lihāṁ paramaṁ mahattvam |
brahmaiva gokula-bhuvām ayam uddhavo’pi
gopī-gaṇasya yad imau lasataḥ sma tat tat ||
yeṣāṁ hi yad vastuni bhāti lobhas
te tadvatāṁ bhāgya-balaṁ vidanti |
gopyo mukundādhara-pāna-lubdhā
gāyanti saubhāgya-bharaṁ muralyāḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.157)

“One intensely desirous of drinking the nectar of the lotus of Kṛṣṇa’s feet knows the paramount greatness of those who taste that rasa; Brahmā certainly [knows that] of those born in Gokula and he, Uddhava, [knows that] of the gopīs, since they both long for those two [i.e., since Brahmā longs for the rasa relished by those born in Gokula and Uddhava longs for the rasa relished by the gopīs]. Those who have intense desire for an object speak of the strength of the fortune of those possessed of that [object]. Intensely desirous of drinking from the lips of Mukunda, the gopīs sing of the abundance of good fortune of the flute.”

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aho imaṁ paśyata me vināśaṁ

aho imaṁ paśyata me vināśaṁ
tapasvinaḥ sac-carita-vratasya |
antarjale vāri-cara-prasaṅgāt
pracyāvitaṁ brahma ciraṁ dhṛtaṁ yat ||
saṅgaṁ tyajeta mithuna-vratīnāṁ mumukṣuḥ
sarvātmanā na visṛjed bahir-indriyāṇi |
ekaś caran rahasi cittam ananta īśe
yuñjīta tad-vratiṣu sādhuṣu cet prasaṅgaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.6.50–51)

“Aho! See this ruination of mine, an ascetic avowed to the conduct of the sat [situated] underwater, wherein [my] long-sustained austerity was lost because of [observance of] the intercourse of fish. A seeker of mukti should completely forsake the association of those avowed to matrimony [alt., those who engage in sexual intercourse] and should not cast forth the external senses. Dwelling alone in seclusion, one should fix the mind upon the Infinite, Īśa, and upon the sādhus devoted to him if ideal association [with such sādhus] should come about.”

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bibhemy asmād dhanta durbodha-līlāt

bibhemy asmād dhanta durbodha-līlāt
kva tat tasyāḥ sāra-saubhagya-dānam |
kva sadyo’ntardhānato rodanābdhāv
anāthāyā yātanaikākinī yā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.154)

“Hanta! I fear he of unfathomable līlā! Where is that granting of the ultimate fortune to her? And where is that solitary anguish of hers as she was helpless in an ocean of [her own] tears because of his sudden disappearance?”

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pada-dyuti-vinirdhuta-smara-parārdha-rūpoddhatir

pada-dyuti-vinirdhuta-smara-parārdha-rūpoddhatir
dṛg-añcala-kalā-naṭī-paṭimabhir mano-mohinī |
sphuran-nava-ghanākṛtiḥ parama-divya-līlā-nidhiḥ
kriyāt tava jagat-trayī-yuvati-bhāgya-siddhir mudam ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 1.5)

“[Paurṇamāsī blesses Śrī Rādhā:] He by the luster of whose feet
The pride of beauty
In a hundred quadrillion Kāmadevas
Is destroyed,
He alluring to the mind
By means of the deftness of the dancing
Of the artistry [i.e., side-long glances] in the corners of his eyes,
His whose figure resembles a shining fresh cloud,
He who is an ocean of paramount, divine līlā,
He who is the fruition of the good fortune
Of the young women throughout the three worlds—
May [he] bring about your delight.”

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sarveṣu mantra-vargeṣu śreṣṭhaṁ vaiṣṇavam ucyate

sarveṣu mantra-vargeṣu śreṣṭhaṁ vaiṣṇavam ucyate |
gāṇapatyeṣu śaiveṣu śākta-saureṣv abhīṣṭadam ||
vaiṣṇaveṣv api mantreṣu rāma-mantrāḥ phalādhikāḥ |
gāṇapaty-ādi-mantrebhyaḥ koṭi-koṭi-guṇādhikāḥ ||
vinaiva dīkṣāṁ viprendra puraścaryāṁ vinaiva hi |
vinaiva nyāsa-vidhinā japa-mātreṇa siddhidāḥ ||
(Agastya-saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.147–149; Bhakti Sandarbha: 284)

“Among all classes of mantras of Gāṇapatyas [i.e., worshippers of Gaṇeśa], Śaivas [i.e., worshippers of Śiva], Śāktas [i.e., worshippers of Śakti], and Sauras [i.e., worshippers of Sūrya], Vaiṣṇava [mantras] are said to be the best fulfillers of desires. O best of the brāhmaṇas, even among Vaiṣṇava mantras, Rāma-mantras have greater results, crores and crores of times greater, than the mantras of the Gāṇapatyas and others, and verily are bestowers of attainments (siddhis) just by means of chanting (japa) indeed without dīkṣā, indeed without puraścaryā, and indeed without the process of nyāsa.”

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yathā cintāmaṇiḥ śreṣṭho yathā gauś ca yathā satī

yathā cintāmaṇiḥ śreṣṭho yathā gauś ca yathā satī |
yathā dvijo yathā gaṅgā tathāsau mantra uttamaḥ ||
(Trailokya-sammohana-tantra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.185)

“As a thought-jewel, a cow, a chaste wife, a twice-born, and the Gaṅgā are the best [among their respective classes], so this mantra [i.e., the eighteen-syllable Gopāla-mantra] is foremost [among mantras].”

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mantrās tu kṛṣṇa-devasya sākṣād bhagavato hareḥ

mantrās tu kṛṣṇa-devasya sākṣād bhagavato hareḥ |
sarvāvatāra-bījasya sarvato vīryavattamāḥ ||
tatrāpi bhagavattāṁ svāṁ tanvato gopa-līlayā |
tasya śreṣṭhatamā mantrās teṣv apy aṣṭādaśākṣaraḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.155, 159)

“Mantras of Kṛṣṇadeva, that is, Bhagavān Hari himself, he who is the source of all avatāras, however, are the most potent of all. … Therein, furthermore, the mantras related to him spreading his own Bhagavattā [i.e., nature of Bhagavān] by means of [his] līlā as a cowherd are the best of all, and even among those, the eighteen-syllable [mantra, i.e., the Gopāla-mantra, is the very best of all].”

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prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api

prakṛtiṁ puruṣaṁ caiva viddhy anādī ubhāv api |
vikārāṁś ca guṇāṁś caiva viddhi prakṛti-saṁbhavān ||
kārya-kāraṇa-kartṛtve hetuḥ prakṛtir ucyate |
puruṣaḥ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhoktṛtve hetur ucyate ||
puruṣaḥ prakṛti-stho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijān guṇān |
kāraṇaṁ guṇa-saṅgo’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 13.19–21)

“Prakṛti and the puruṣa—for certain know both to be verily beginningless (anādi), and know the transformations (vikāras) and functions (guṇas) [thereof] to be born of prakṛti. Prakṛti is said to be the cause in regard to being the producer of effects and instruments. The puruṣa is said to be the cause in regard to being the experiencer of happinesses and sufferings. The puruṣa situated in prakṛti experiences the functions (guṇas) born of prakṛti amid births in high and low wombs, and his attachment to [these] functions (guṇas) is the cause [thereof].”

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