idam ākarṇya bhagavān utthāya śayyanād drutam |
priya-prema-parādhīno rudann uccair bahir gataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.6.63)
“Hearing this [statement of Balarāma], Bhagavān [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], he who is captivated by the prema of dear ones, quickly arose from bed and went outside, weeping loudly.”
pratyekaṁ gāva etā bahir api ca hareḥ prāṇa-rūpā yad āsāṁ
śaśvat tṛptau ca tṛptiṁ kṣudhi ca kalayati kṣud-vikāraṁ sa eṣaḥ |
ānīyānīya caitā nija-hṛdi vidadhad ghrāṇa-saukhyaṁ dadhānaḥ
śliṣyann uccair vicinvann aśanam upadadat pālayan svena bhāti ||
usrāṇāṁ prāṇa-sāmyaṁ vahati harir amūs taṁ vinā rikta-cittāś
citra-prāyāḥ samantād yad iha vana-tati-śrī-nibhā visphuranti |
(Gopāla-campū: 1.12.31–32)
“And every one of these cows, although outside [Hari’s body], is like an embodiment of Hari’s vital air (prāṇa), since he always feels satisfied when their satisfaction occurs and [he feels] the pang of hunger when their hunger occurs. He repeatedly fetches them, takes pleasure in smelling them, and holds them to his heart; he embraces them, avidly inspects them, and feeds them; he along with those who are his own shines as he protects them. Hari sustains the cows like his vital air (prāṇa), and without him they become of void hearts and [motionless] like pictures since they appear like the beauty of the forests all around here [i.e., since they remain motionless like the beautiful trees in Goloka when he disappears from their sight].”
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati |
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.26)
[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] “One who with bhakti offers a leaf, flower, fruit, or water to me—I partake of that offered out of bhakti from one of pure heart.”
kṛṣṇa sei satya kare, yei māge bhṛtya |
bhṛtya-vāñchā-pūrti-vinu nāhi anya kṛtya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.15.168)
“Kṛṣṇa manifests that which [his] servants ask for. He has no task other than fulfilling [his] servants’ desires.”
so’pi saṅkalpajaṁ viṣṇoḥ pāda-sevopasāditam |
prāpya saṅkalpa-nirvāṇaṁ nātiprīto’bhyagāt puram ||
vidura uvāca—
sudurlabhaṁ yat paramaṁ padaṁ harer
māyāvinas tac-caraṇārcanārjitam |
labdhvāpy asiddhārtham ivaika-janmanā
kathaṁ svam ātmānam amanyatārtha-vit ||
maitreya uvāca—
mātuḥ sapatnyā vāg-bāṇair hṛdi viddhas tu tān smaran |
naicchan mukti-pater muktiṁ paścāt tāpam upeyivān ||
dhruva uvāca—
samādhinā naika-bhavena yat padaṁ
viduḥ sanandādaya ūrdhva-retasaḥ |
māsair ahaṁ ṣaḍbhir amuṣya pādayoś
chāyām upetyāpagataḥ pṛthaṅ-matiḥ ||
aho bata mamānātmyaṁ manda-bhāgyasya paśyata |
bhava-cchidaḥ pāda-mūlaṁ gatvāyāce yad antavat ||
matir vidūṣitā devaiḥ patadbhir asahiṣṇubhiḥ |
yo nārada-vacas tathyaṁ nāgrāhiṣam asattamaḥ ||
daivīṁ māyām upāśritya prasupta iva bhinna-dṛk |
tapye dvitīye’py asati bhrātṛ-bhrātṛvya-hṛd-rujā ||
mayaitat prārthitaṁ vyarthaṁ cikitseva gatāyuṣi |
prasādya jagad-ātmānaṁ tapasā duṣprasādanam |
bhava-cchidam ayāce’haṁ bhavaṁ bhāgya-vivarjitaḥ ||
svārājyaṁ yacchato mauḍhyān māno me bhikṣito bata |
īśvarāt kṣīṇa-puṇyena phalī-kārān ivādhanaḥ ||
maitreya uvāca—
na vai mukundasya padāravindayo
rajo-juṣas tāta bhavādṛśā janāḥ |
vāñchanti tad-dāsyam ṛte’rtham ātmano
yadṛcchayā labdha-manaḥ-samṛddhayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.27–36)
“[Maitreya:] Even after attaining his desire—that which led [him] to [attaining] the service of Viṣṇu’s feet and because of which his resolve [to propitiate Viṣṇu by means of performing austere worship] was extinguished—he returned home not greatly satisfied.
“Vidura said: ‘Even after having attained in one birth that supreme abode of gracious Hari [i.e., the “vault of heaven” in the upper most region of the material universe], acquired through worship of his feet and most difficult to attain, why did he who was sagacious [i.e., able to discern between essence and non-essence and cognizant of the ultimate puruṣārtha] consider himself as though unsuccessful [i.e., to have not attained a worthwhile goal]?’
“Maitreya said: ‘Having been struck at heart by the arrows of the words of his stepmother and remembering them [i.e., those arrow-like words, at the time of his meeting with Śrī Bhagavān], he did not desire mukti [i.e., bhakti, that is, servitude to Śrī Bhagavān and the position of being one of his associates] from the Lord of mukti [i.e., from Śrī Bhagavān] and [thereafter thus] felt remorse.’
“Dhruva said: ‘After attaining in six months the shade of the feet of he who Sananda and other celibates realized by means of samādhi [only] over the course of many births, I went away [because of] being of separate interest [i.e., because my interest was in an object other than Śrī Bhagavān and thus he did not take me with him to his abode right then]. Oh! Alas! See the mindlessness of I of meager fortune! After having reached the base of the feet of the Destroyer of material existence, I begged for what is perishable. My mind was polluted by the falling, intolerant devas [i.e., by the devas who are inevitably subject to falling from their positions and intolerant of those who attain something beyond them]. Being most wicked, I did not accept the truth of Nārada’s word [when he told me to ignore the harsh remarks of my stepmother that initially prompted me to propitiate Bhagavān for the sake of attaining a kingdom greater than my father’s]. Taking shelter in Bhagavān’s māyā and, as though asleep, being a seer of difference even in a second unreality [i.e., seeing a puruṣārtha other than Śrī Bhagavān as though perceiving unrealities in a dream], I suffered from heartache because of an enemy who was a brother [i.e., I perceived my own brother to be my enemy even though he wasn’t inimical to me at all]. That which was requested [from Śrī Bhagavān] by me is useless, like treatment for a dead person. After propitiating the Self of the universe, the Destroyer of material existence who is difficult to propitiate by means of austerity, I begged for material existence [i.e., something of the realm of material existence that binds one within it], being devoid of fortune. From he who was offering [me] sovereignty [i.e., servitude to himself], honor [i.e., a kingdom and other causes of attaining worldly honor] was begged for by me out of foolishness like unhusked grain is [begged for] from an emperor by a poor man because of being devoid of merit.’
“Maitreya said: ‘My dear [i.e., dear Vidura], persons like you who delight in the dust of the lotus feet of Mukunda and whose well-being of mind comes about [just] by means of that which is attained of its own accord [i.e., those who are satisfied with and able to draw benefit from whatever it is they encounter] certainly do not desire any object of the self [i.e., any puruṣārtha] other than servitude to him.”
tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata |
tat-prasādāt parāṁ śāntiṁ sthānaṁ prāpsyasi śāśvatam ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.62)
“Take shelter in him alone with the entirety of your being, O Bhārata. By his grace, you shall attain the supreme peace and the eternal abode.”
teṣām evānukampārtham aham ajñānajaṁ tamaḥ |
nāśayāmy ātma-bhāva-stho jñāna-dīpena bhāsvatā ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 10.11)
“For the sake of favoring them specifically, I, situated within the cognition of the mind, cause the destruction of the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge.”
teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam |
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 10.10)
“To those ever-intent [upon me] and worshiping [me] lovingly, I give that means of understanding by which they reach me.”
tasmai namo’stu nirupādhi-kṛpākulāya
śrī-gopa-rāja-tanayāya gurūttamāya |
yaḥ kārayan nija-janaṁ svayam eva bhaktiṁ
tasyātituṣyati yathā paramopakartuḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.157)
“May [my] obeisance be [offered] unto him,
The blessed Son of the cowherds’ king,
The most exalted of gurus,
Overcome with unconditional compassion,
Who entirely of his own accord
Causes persons who are his own
To engage in bhakti [to himself]
And becomes greatly satisfied with them
Just as [one does] with a paramount benefactor.”
tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām |
yad yad dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 7.383; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6, 40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.111)
“[Brahmā to Śrī Bhagavān:] O Nātha! You, he the path to whom is seen by hearing, dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that have been purified by bhakti-yoga [alt., that have been made fit (for you) by virtue of prema]. O you of highest praise! [Alt., O you who are sung of in many ways!] Out of favor upon the sat, you bring forth that very form of yours which they distinctively meditate on [alt., visualize] with the mind.”
