lokānugāpi sānyonyaṁ priyatātīta-laukikā |
madhurātyadbhutaiśvarya-laukikatva-vimiśritā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.84)
“Although following the [ways of] the world, that reciprocal fondness [of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣna and the Vraja-vāsīs] is beyond the worldly, sweet (madhurā), exceedingly astonishing, and specially mixed with worldliness and aiśvarya.”
tādṛg bhagavati premā pāramaiśvarya-dṛṣṭitaḥ |
sadā sampadyate naiva bhaya-gaurava-sambhavāt ||
kevalaṁ laukika-prāṇa-suhṛd-buddhyā sa sidhyati |
lokālokottaro yo’sāv atilokottaro’pi yaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.82–83)
“Prema of such nature for Bhagavān certainly cannot be attained by means of constant vision of [his] paramount aiśvarya because of the ensuance of fear and reverence [i.e., because fear, reverence, and other sentiments that obstruct the manifestation of that prema ensue from focus on Śrī Bhagavān’s paramount aiśvarya]. That [i.e., prema which follows the beautiful prema of the residents of Vraja, as described in BB 2.5.81] is attained only by means of the mentality of [Śrī Bhagavān’s being like] the friend of one’s prāṇa as in the world. It [i.e., such prema] is that which is beyond the lokas and non-lokas, and which is beyond even that which is above the lokas [i.e., beyond even Vaikuṇṭha].”
yadi vo’sti mayi prītiḥ ślāghyo’haṁ bhavatāṁ yadi |
tadātma-bandhu-sadṛśī buddhir vaḥ kriyatāṁ mayi ||
nāhaṁ devo na gandharvo na yakṣo na ca dānavaḥ |
ahaṁ vo bāndhavo jāto nātaś cintyam ato’nyathā ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa: 5.13.11–12; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 325)
“If you all have love (prīti) for me, and if you all [also] consider I am praiseworthy [i.e., a worthy object of reverence], then you all should [give up your awe and reverence of me and] foster the attitude in regard me that I am like the kinsmen (bandhu) of your very self (ātmā) [i.e., that I am one of your fellow cowherds, alt., that I am like the dear friend (bandhu) of your heart (ātmā)]. I am neither a deva, nor a gandharva, nor a yakṣa, nor a dānava. I have been born as your kinsmen (bāndhava—bandhu), and thus from now on I am not to be thought of otherwise [i.e., as anyone other than one of your fellow cowherds and kinsmen; I should not be thought of as any sort of devatā].”
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte |
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṁ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti ||
samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno’niśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ |
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.1–2)
“Two birds of beautiful plumage,
Ever-united in friendship,
Perch on the same tree.
Among them,
One eats the tasty berry [of the tree],
And the other, not eating, watches over [the first].
On the same tree,
The puruṣa [i.e., the embodied living entity], absorbed,
Laments because of [his] powerlessness, being deluded.
When he sees the other, the Lord, satisfied, and his [i.e., the Lord’s] greatness, he becomes free from lamentation.”
vaiṣṇave bandhu-sat-kṛtyā |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.44; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 295)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa: Worship me] In a Vaiṣṇava with a proper reception for a kinsmen [alt., friend].”
vadānyeśas tṛṣṇā-nicaya-cita-cittaiḥ karuṇa-rāṭ
vipannaiḥ kandarpo yuvati-nikarair mṛtyur aribhiḥ |
adhīśaḥ sad-bhaktaiḥ sahaja-nija-bandhur vraja-janaiḥ
pratītaḥ kṛṣṇo’sāv iti vividha-lokair bahu-vidhaḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 17.20)
“Kṛṣṇa is perceived in many ways by various persons: by those whose hearts are filled with heaps of [worldly] desires as the most capable of the munificent, by the distressed as the king of the compassionate, by young women as Kandarpa [i.e., the ultimate object of love], by enemies as Death, by virtuous bhaktas as the Supreme Lord, and by the people of Vraja as their own natural kinsmen (bandhu).”
aniṣṭāśaṅkīni bandhu-hṛdayāni bhavanti |
(Unknown source; cited in the Durgama-saṅgamanī-tīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.52, Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.19)
“The hearts of friends (bandhus) are apprehensive about misfortune [befalling their friends].”
aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām |
yan mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.32)
“Aho! The fortune! Aho! The fortune of the residents of Chief Nanda’s Vraja, whose eternal friend is the Complete Brahman, the highest bliss!”
kiṁ varṇaye tava vibho yad-udīrito’suḥ
saṁspandate tam anu vāṅ-mana-indriyāṇi |
spandanti vai tanu-bhṛtām aja-śarvayoś ca
svasyāpy athāpi bhajatām asi bhāva-bandhuḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.8.40)
“O Pre-eminent One, how do I praise you indeed by whom the life air is impelled and functions, and following that, the speech, minds, and senses function for the embodied, for Aja and Śarva [i.e., Brahmā and Śiva], and for myself as well? Still, you are the Friend out of love (Bhāva-bandhu) of [your] worshipers.”
sad-bhāvena haren mitraṁ sambhrameṇa tu bāndhavān |
strī-bhṛtyau dāna-mānābhyāṁ dākṣiṇyenetarān janān ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 112)
“Win over a friend with sincerity, relatives with honor, a wife or a servant with gifts and recognition, and others with cordiality.”
