Bhakti-rasa

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān
gopānāṁ sva-jano’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ |
mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ
vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.43.17)

“Being perceived as
A lighting bolt by the wrestlers,
The best of men by the menfolk,
Kāmadeva embodied by women,
A kinsmen by the cowherds,
A punisher by the kings,
A child by his parents,
Death by the ruler of the Bhogas [viz., Kaṁsa],
A [mere, ordinary human] kṣatriya by the ignorant,
The Supreme Reality by the yogīs,
And the Supreme Devatā by the Vṛṣṇis,
He entered the area
Along with his elder brother.”

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govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān

govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān
karṇa-sphuran-maṇi-śilopari saṅkṣuvānā |
kā bhrū-dhanur-dhuvana-sūcita-luñcaneyaṁ
vyagrīkaroty ahaha mām api sambhrameṇa ||
(Dāna-keli-kaumudī: 30; cited in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.3)

“Reaching Govardhana Hill
And sharpening the arrows of her side-long glances
Atop the sparkling jewel-slabs on her ears,
Who is this
By whom thievery is intimated
By the quivering of the bows of her brows,
That, ahaha,
Makes even me restless with excitement?”

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kathaṁ vinā romaharṣaṁ dravatā cetasā vinā

kathaṁ vinā romaharṣaṁ dravatā cetasā vinā |
vinānandāśru-kalayā śudhyed bhaktyā vināśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.23)

“How without horripilation, without meltedness of the heart, without a teardrop of bliss—without bhakti—could the heart be purified?”

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bhakti-yogaḥ puraivoktaḥ prīyamāṇāya te’nagha

bhakti-yogaḥ puraivoktaḥ prīyamāṇāya te’nagha |
punaś ca kathayiṣyāmi mad-bhakteḥ kāraṇaṁ param ||
śraddhāmṛta-kathāyāṁ me śaśvan mad-anukīrtanam |
pariniṣṭhā ca pūjāyāṁ stutibhiḥ stavanaṁ mama ||
ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ sarvāṅgair abhivandanam |
mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā sarva-bhūteṣu man-matiḥ ||
mad-artheṣv aṅga-ceṣṭā ca vacasā mad-guṇeraṇam |
mayy arpaṇaṁ ca manasaḥ sarva-kāma-vivarjanam ||
mad-arthe’rtha-parityāgo bhogasya ca sukhasya ca |
iṣṭaṁ dattaṁ hutaṁ japtaṁ mad-arthaṁ yad vrataṁ tapaḥ ||
evaṁ dharmair manuṣyāṇām uddhavātma-nivedinām |
mayi sañjāyate bhaktiḥ ko’nyo’rtho’syāvaśiṣyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.19–24; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.514-517, 526; Bhakti Sandarbha: 228)

“The practice (yoga) of bhakti was indeed explained previously [to you by me]. O sinless one, for you who are finding pleasure [in that], I will describe again the best means of bhakti to me. Continuous śraddhā in the nectar of narration of me, recapitulating related to me, full fixity in ritual worship of me, praising [me] with hymns, attentive regard for adoring service [to me], offering respectful obeisance [to me] with all the limbs, exceeding worship of my bhakta, awareness of me in all entities, body-activity for purposes related to me, speaking of my qualities with the [faculty] of speech, offering of the mind to me, letting go of all desires, relinquishment of wealth, as well as of enjoyment and of pleasure, for my sake, and sacrifice, charity, oblations, utterance (japa), rites, and austerity which are for my sake—by means of such dharmas, O Uddhava, bhakti to me is manifested in full for human beings who are offerers of themselves [to me]. What other object remains for one [i.e., for such a bhakta]?”

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vidagdhānāṁ mitho līlā-vilāsena yathā sukham

vidagdhānāṁ mitho līlā-vilāsena yathā sukham |
na tathā samprayogeṇa syād evaṁ rasikā viduḥ ||
yathā—
balena parirambhaṇe nakha-śikhābhir ullekhanaṁ
haṭhād adhara-khaṇḍane bhuja-yugena bandha-kriyām |
dukūla-dalane hatim kuvalayena kurvāṇayā
ratād api sukhaṁ harer adhikam ādadhe rādhayā ||
yathā vā—
narmotseka-kalā dṛg-añcala-camatkārī bhruvor vibhramaḥ
saṁvyānasya vikarṣaṇe caṭulatāṁ karṇotpalenāhatiḥ |
krīḍeyaṁ vraja-nāgarī-rati-guror gāndharvikāyās tathā
bhūyiṣṭhaṁ suratotsavād api navāsvādaṁ vitene sukham ||
ata eva śrī-gīta-govinde—
pratyūhaḥ pulakāṅkureṇa niviḍa-śleṣe nimeṣeṇa ca
krīḍā-kūta-vilokite’dhara-sudhā-pāne kathā-narmabhiḥ |
ānandābhigamena manmatha-kalā-yuddhe’pi yasminn abhud
udbhūtaḥ sa tayor babhūva suratārambhaḥ priyaṁbhāvukaḥ ||
(Ujjvala-nīlāmaṇi: 15.253–256)

“For the cultured, pleasure shall not arise from full union (samprayoga) as it shall from sportive coquetry (līlā-vilāsa) with one another. This rasikas know.
As [is described in the following verse]:
‘By scratching [him on the chest] with the tips of her nails
When he embraces [her] by force,
By blocking [him] with her arms
When he forcibly bites her lip,
And by striking [him] with a water lily
When he pulls her raiment,
Pleasure for Hari
Greater than even [that of] union [i.e., samprayoga]
Was created by Rādhā.’
Or as [is described in the following verse]:
‘The art of pouring forth jokes [exhibited by Kṛṣṇa],
And the waggling of the eyebrows
[That was] Astonishing with sidelong glances [exhibited by Rādhā in return],
The vivacity in pulling upon the upper garment [of Rādhā exhibited by Kṛṣṇa],
And the blow with a lotus from her ear [dealt to Kṛṣṇa by Rādhā in return]—
This play
Between the ladies of Vraja’s Love-teacher (Rati-guru) and Gāndharvikā
Manifested pleasure abundant and freshly relishable
Even more so than the delight of full union (samprayoga).’
Therefore, in Śrī Gīta-govinda (12.10) [the following is found], ‘Wherein obstruction arose
To their tight embraces
By their horripilation,
To their observation of the plentitude of their play
By the blinking of their eyes,
To their drinking the nectar of one another’s lips
By their talks and jokes,
And to their battle in the arts of the Mind-churner [i.e., Kāma]
By the arrival of bliss—
That [wonderful] beginning of their amorous union,
Being [most] pleasing [to them both],
Became perceptible.’”

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yat-pāda-paṁśur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato

yat-pāda-paṁśur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato
dhṛtātmabhir yogibhir apy alabhyaḥ |
sa eva yad-dṛg-viṣayaḥ svayaṁ sthitaḥ
kiṁ varṇyate diṣṭam aho vrajaukasām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.12.12; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.122; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 100)

“Aho! How can the fortune be described of these residents of Vraja, the sole object of whose vision present directly [before them] is he the dust of whose feet is unattainable even by yogīs who have painstakingly controlled their minds for many births?”

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pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī

pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī
kālindī ca vilocanābja-janitair jātāñjana-śyāmalaiḥ |
ārān madhyama-vedim āpatitayoḥ klinnā tayoḥ saṅgame
vṛttāsi vraja-rājñi tat suta-mukha-prekṣāṁ sphuṭaṁ vāñchasi ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.58)

“[When Mother Yaśodā travelled to Kurukṣetra on the pretext of a solar eclipse with great desire to see Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a feminine ascetic previously known to her says the following upon meeting her there:]
The Gaṅgā has appeared from the streams of milk (kṣīra)
Endowed with luster like nectar
Falling from the mountains of your breasts,
And the Kālindī [has appeared from the streams of water (kṣīra), that is, tears]
Produced by your lotus eyes
That are black because of your mascara [running off into them].
You have been bathed at the confluence of these two [rivers]
That have descended from above
Onto the altar of your midsection
[alt., They—the Gaṅgā and Kālindī—have in this way descended
And joined at Prayāga].
Thus, O Queen of Vraja!
You clearly desire to behold the face of your son
[Since it is well known
That people only go to bath at Prayāga
When they desire to attain the sight of Śrī Bhagavān].”

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vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā

vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā
bhūyaḥ prasrava-varṣiṇī dviguṇitotkaṇṭhā pradoṣodaye |
gehād aṅganam aṅganāt punar asau gehaṁ viśanty ākulā
govindasya muhur vrajendra-gṛhiṇī panthānam ālokate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.55)

“Today [i.e., throughout the day]
Wishing with her ears pricked
To hear the sound of the flute,
And again at the onset of evening,
With doubled longing
And milk streaming [from her breasts]
As she repeatedly entered the courtyard from the house
And the house from the courtyard,
The anxious queen of Vraja
Looked again and again at Govinda’s path
[i.e., the path by which he was expected to soon return home from the forest].”

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niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān

niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān
akhila-surabhi-reṇūn kṣālayadbhir yaśodā |
kuca-kalasa-vimuktaiḥ sneha-mādhvīka-medhyais
tava navam abhiṣekaṁ dugdha-pūraiḥ karoti ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭaka: 1.46; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sidhu: 3.4.47)

“[O Kṛṣṇa!]
Yaśodā conducts your first bath [after you return from the forest in the afternoon]
With the supremely pure streams of milk
Replete with the honey of her affection
Released from the urns of her breasts
That wash away all the dust from [i.e., raised by] the cows,
By which your leaves [i.e., the decorative leaf designs drawn on your body] made of minerals
Become covered over.”

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