tathaiva kāliya-damaḥ punaḥ punas
tathaiva govardhana-dharaṇaṁ muhuḥ |
parāpi līlā vividhādbhutāsakṛt
pravartate bhakta-manoharā prabhoḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.356)
“So indeed the subduing of Kāliya occurs again and again. So indeed the lifting of Govardhana occurs repeatedly. Various other astonishing līlās of Prabhu captivating of the minds of bhaktas too take place repeatedly.”
ity ataḥ kathitā nitya-priyā yādava-vallavāḥ |
eṣāṁ laukikavac ceṣṭā līlā mura-ripor iva ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.296)
“Thus, the Yādavas and Vallavas [i.e., gopas] are said to be eternal dear ones [of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Their activity, like the līlā of Mura-ripu [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣna] is like that of the world [i.e., although supramundane, it resembles in certain respects activity of the world].”
ātma-koṭi-guṇaṁ kṛṣṇe premāṇaṁ paramaṁ gatāḥ |
nityānanda-guṇāḥ sarve nitya-siddhā mukundavat ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.290)
“All of those whose qualities are eternal and blissful like Mukunda’s and who have paramount prema for Kṛṣṇa which is a crore of times more than their prema for their own self are nitya-siddhas [i.e., eternally realized].”
atha bhaktābhimāna-viśeṣa-hetavo guṇās tat-kṛtāḥ prīter bhaktānāṁ ca bhedās tāratamyaṁ ca yathā—saiva khalu prītir bhagavat-svabhāva-viśeṣāvirbhāva-yogam upalabhya kañcid anugrāhyatvenābhimānayati kañcid anukampitvena kañcin mitratvena, kañcit priyātvena ca | bhagavat-svabhāva-viśeṣāvirbhāva-hetuś ca yasya bhagavat-priya-viśeṣasya saṅgādinā labdhā prītis tasya prīter eva guṇa-viśeṣo boddhavyaḥ | nitya-parikarāṇāṁ nityam eva tad dvayam |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 84)
“Now, the qualities [of prīti] the causes of which are the particular identities (abhimānas) of bhaktas, and the divisions and gradation of prīti and bhaktas made by them [i.e., by these qualities of prīti which give rise to particular identities], are [explained] as follows: prīti itself alone, upon acquiring connection with the manifestation of a particular nature (svabhāva) [i.e., persona] of Bhagavān [e.g., Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Śrī Rāma, Śrī Viṣṇu, or otherwise], produces the identity (abhimāna) of being an object of favor [i.e., a junior, servant, or child of Bhagavān] in someone, of being a bestower of compassion [i.e., a senior or parent of Bhagavān] in someone, of being a friend [of Bhagavān] in someone, and of being a beloved [of Bhagavān] in someone. The cause of the manifestation of a particular nature (svabhāva) of Bhagavān [in relation to which prīti manifests a particular identity in a bhakta] is furthermore to be understood as a particular quality of the prīti of the particular dear one of Bhagavān by whose association and so forth prīti was attained [i.e., prīti is attained only from a bhakta who has it, and the prīti that will be attained from a particular bhakta will possess the same particular sense of identity related to the same particular nature of Bhagavān that the prīti of the bhakta from whom it was attained possesses]. In the case of eternal associates [of Bhagavān], the two of these [i.e., a bhakta’s particular identity and the particular nature of Bhagavān that it relates to] are eternal [i.e., eternal associates of Bhagavān have beginninglessly had a particular identity related to a particular nature of Bhagavān].”
atha ayauthikyaḥ—
tad-bhāva-baddha-rāgā ye janās te sādhane ratāḥ |
tad-yogyam anurāgaughaṁ prāpyotkaṇṭhānusārataḥ ||
tā ekaśo’thavā dvi-trāḥ kāle kāle vraje’bhavan |
prācīnāś ca navāś ca syur ayauthikyas tato dvidhā |
nitya-priyābhiḥ sālokyaṁ prācīnāś ciram āgatāḥ |
vraje jātā navās tv etā martyāmartyādi-yonitaḥ ||
(Ujjvala-nīlāmaṇī: 3.49; cited in Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 2.7)
“Those persons possessed of rāga [i.e., strong affinity] for that bhāva [i.e., the gopīs’ paroḍhā-bhāva] who engaged in sādhana and upon attaining in accord with their [level of] eagerness an abundance of anurāga [i.e., ardor] befitting that [i.e., that gopī-bhāva] took birth one by one or in twos and threes from time to time in Vraja are [known as] ayauthikyas [i.e., those who engaged in a sādhana and attained siddhi outside of a fixed group]. Ayauthikyas can be of two types: ancient and new. The ancient attained co-residence with the eternal beloveds [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in his eternal dhāma] long ago [i.e., during previous kalpas], while the new have taken birth in Vraja after being born as mortals, immortals, and so on [i.e., as human beings, devas, animals, and so forth during the present kalpa].”
