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atra vidhi-mārgeṇa rādhā-kṛṣṇayor bhajane

atra vidhi-mārgeṇa rādhā-kṛṣṇayor bhajane mahāvaikuṇṭhastha-goloke khalv avivikta-svakīyā-parakīyā-bhāvam aiśvarya-jñānaṁ prāpnoti | madhura-bhāva-lobhitve sati vidhi-mārgeṇa bhajane dvārakāyāṁ śrī-rādhā-satyabhāmayor aikyāt satyabhāmā-parikaratvena svakīyā-bhāvam aiśvarya-jñāna-miśra-mādhurya-jñānaṁ prāpnoti | raga-mārgeṇa bhajane vraja-bhūmau śrī-rādhā-parikaratvena parakīyā-bhāvaṁ śuddha-mādhurya-jñānaṁ prāpnoti |
(Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 2.6)

“In this regard, from worship of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa by means of the path of injunction (vidhi) one attains in the Goloka situated in Mahāvaikuṇṭha awareness of [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] Godhood (Aiśvarya-jñāna) and a bhāva that is indiscriminate between svakīyā and parakīyā [i.e., a bhāva that possesses no specificity as to whether Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds are ‘his own’ (svakīyā), meaning, his wives, or ‘another’s’ (parakīyā), meaning, the wives of others]. When one [i.e., a sādhaka] is desirous of madhura-bhāva, from worship by means of the path of injunction (vidhi) one attains awareness of [Kṛṣṇa’s] sweetness (mādhurya) mixed with awareness of [his] Godhood (Aiśvarya-jñāna) and svakīyā-bhāva [i.e., the perception that Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds are his own wives] by virtue of [one’s then] being a companion of Satyabhāmā on account of the oneness between Śrī Rādhā and Satyabhāmā in Dvārakā. From worship by means of the path of attachment (rāga) one attains pure awareness of [Kṛṣṇa’s] sweetness (mādhurya) [i.e., awareness that is free from awareness of his Godhood (Aiśvarya)] and parakīyā-bhāva [i.e., the perception that Kṛṣṇa’s beloveds are ‘another’s’] by virtue of [one’s then] being a companion of Śrī Rādhā in the land of Vraja.”

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rāga-bhakti vidhi-bhakti haya dui-rūpa

rāga-bhakti vidhi-bhakti haya dui-rūpa |
svayaṁ-bhagavattve bhagavattve prakāśa dvi-rūpa ||
rāga-bhaktye vraje svayaṁ-bhagavāne pāya |
vidhi-bhaktye pārṣada-dehe vaikuṇṭhete yāya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.24.84–85, 87)

“There are two forms [of bhakti]: rāga-bhakti and vidhi-bhakti. There are two forms of manifestation [of Brahman in response to these two forms of bhakti]: as Svayam Bhagavān [i.e., as Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Gokula] and as Bhagavān [i.e., as the various forms of Bhagavān found elsewhere]. By rāga-bhakti, one attains Svayaṁ Bhagavān in Vraja. By vidhi-bhakti, one reaches Vaikuṇṭha in the body of a companion (pārṣada) [of Bhagavān].”

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atha vaidhī-lakṣanaṁ

atha vaidhī-lakṣanaṁ—śravaṇa-kīrtanādīni śāstra-śāsana-bhayena yadi kriyante tadā vaidhī bhaktiḥ |
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu-bindu: 8)

“Now, the characteristic of vaidhī [-bhakti is stated]: when hearing, praising, and so forth are done out of fear of the ruling of śāstra, then vaidhī-bhakti [is being practiced].”

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vaidhī-bhaktir bhavet śāstraṁ bhaktau cet syāt pravartakam

vaidhī-bhaktir bhavet śāstraṁ bhaktau cet syāt pravartakam |
rāgānugā syāc ced bhaktau lobha eva pravartakaḥ ||
bhaktau pravṛttir atra syāt tac-cikīrṣā suniścayā |
śāstrāl lobhāt tac-cikīrṣū syātāṁ tad-adhikāriṇau ||
(Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 1.3–4)

“Vaidhī-bhakti shall be when the motivator for bhakti shall be śāstra [i.e., injunctions in the śāstra]. Rāgānugā [-bhakti] shall be when the motivator for bhakti shall be intense desire (lobha) specifically. In this regard, an inclination (pravṛtti) towards bhakti [which may be of either of the two aforementioned types] shall be [understood as] a firmly resolved desire to enact that [viz., bhakti]. Those possessed of desire to enact that [viz., bhakti] because of śāstra [i.e., injunctions in the śāstra] or because of intense desire (lobha) shall be the two bearers of eligibility (adhikārīs) for that [i.e., for bhakti, meaning, for vaidhī-bhakti and rāgānugā-bhakti respectively].”

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apīpalad dharma-rājaḥ pitṛvad rañjayan prajāḥ

apīpalad dharma-rājaḥ pitṛvad rañjayan prajāḥ |
niḥspṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādānusevayā ||
sampadaḥ kratavo lokā mahiṣī bhrātaro mahī |
jambūdvīpādhipatyaṁ ca yaśaś ca tridivaṁ gatam ||
kiṁ te kāmāḥ sura-spārhā mukunda-manaso dvijāḥ |
adhijahrur mudaṁ rājñaḥ kṣudhitasya yathetare ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.12.4–6)

“Free from covetousness for all objects of desire by way of continuous service to the feet of Kṛṣṇa, Dharmarāja [viz., Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja], like his father, pleased and protected the citizens [of his kingdom]. Riches, sacrifices, planes [attained by the performance of sacrifices], queens, brothers, the earth, rulership over Jambūdvīpa, and fame situated in Svarga—O twice-born ones, like other objects [i.e., things other than food, like garlands and sandalwood paste] for one who is hungry, could these objects of desire, coveted by the devas, cause delight for the king, whose mind was given over to Mukunda? [Certainly not].”

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yathā ca tatra tat-kālaṁ bhakter yogyaṁ na sat-phalam

yathā ca tatra tat-kālaṁ bhakter yogyaṁ na sat-phalam |
sañjātam iti tac chuddha-bhaktimadbhir vinindyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.222)

“Furthermore, since the real result befitting of bhakti is not produced at that time in that case [i.e., in an instance of desirous (sakāma) bhakti], that is condemned by those endowed with pure bhakti.”

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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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mama pratyakṣam evedaṁ yadā kṛṣṇo vraje’vrajat

mama pratyakṣam evedaṁ yadā kṛṣṇo vraje’vrajat |
tato hi pūtanādibhyaḥ keśy-antebhyo muhur muhuḥ ||
daityebhyo varuṇendrādi-devebhyo’jagarāditaḥ |
tathā cirantana-svīya-śakaṭārjuna-bhaṅgataḥ |
ko vā nopadravas tatra jāto vraja-vināśakaḥ ||
tatratyās tu janāḥ kiñcit te’nusandadhate na tat ||
mohitā iva kṛṣṇasya maṅgalaṁ tatra tatra hi |
icchanti sarvadā svīyaṁ nāpekṣante ca karhicit ||
svabhāva-sauhṛdenaiva yat kiñcit sarvam ātmanaḥ |
asyopakalpayante sma nanda-sūnoḥ sukhāya tat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.6.39–40)

“[Rohiṇī Devī to Devarṣi Nārada:] This is verily my experience: when Kṛṣṇa went to Vraja, from right then on, and again and again, what calamity devastating to Vraja—starting from Pūtanā and ending with Keśī—[coming] from asuras, from devas like Varuṇa and Indra, from pythons and so on [i.e., and other fearsome creatures], and from [even] the breaking of a cart and arjuna trees that had long been our own—did not arise? Still, the people situated there [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs] did not consider any of that [i.e., still, their love for Kṛṣṇa did not wane, and rather, only increased (Vraja-janānāṁ Kṛṣṇe prītir na jātu kṣīṇā, api tu vivṛddhaiva, DDT)]. As if beguiled, in all those cases [i.e., calamities], they [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs] always desired Kṛṣṇa’s well-being, and they never considered their own [well-being]. Purely out of natural cordiality, they offered everything that was their own for his—the Son of Nanda’s—pleasure.”

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astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe

astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe
gṛhe gṛhe gokula-sundarīṇām |
divyānulepābharaṇāmbarāṇi
kṛṣṇāhriyante paritaḥ sakhībhiḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.101)

“O Kṛṣṇa,
When the orb of the sun
Kisses the western horizon,
In house after house
The splendid unguents, ornaments, and garments
Of the beauties of Gokula
Are brought from all sides by [their] friends
[So that these beauties can be well-dressed when they meet Kṛṣṇa as he re-enters the village in the early evening from his day of cow-herding out in the forest].”

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sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra

sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra-
śrīmat-padāmbuja-yuga-sadā-prīti-saṅga-prādāyi |
jijñāsos te janani kathito’śeṣa-sandeha-ghāṭī
goloko’yaṁ madhura-gahana-praśna-bhāvānusārāt ||
vaikuṇṭhasyāpy upari nitarāṁ rājate yo nitānta-
śrīmad-gopī-ramaṇa-caraṇa-prema-pūraika-labhyaḥ |
vāñchā-vāñchopari-guru-phala-prāpti-bhūmir yadīyā
lokā dhyātā dadhati paramāṁ prema-sampatti-niṣṭhām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.77–78)

“O Mother,
In accord with the sweet and deep mood (bhāva)
Of the inquiry of you who are desirous to know
The place which is a bestower
Of eternal loving connection
With the two blessed lotus feet [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Moistened by a beautiful mass of kumkum
From the slopes of the gopīs’ breasts,
And which is a destroyer of all doubts,
This [place, known as] Goloka—
Which shines profoundly beyond even Vaikuṇṭha,
Which is attainable
Only by means of an extraordinary abundance of prema
For the feet of blessed gopīs’ Beloved,
Which is the land of the attainment
Of the great aim
Of our desires and [that is] beyond our desires,
And the people belonging to which,
As they are meditated upon,
Grant paramount fixity in the wealth of prema—
Has been described [by me to you].”

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