Prema-bhakti

mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ

mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ tvañ ca rāsa-rasāmbudhim |
tat-prema-mohitābhiḥ śrī-gopībhir abhito vṛtam ||
amūṣāṁ dāsyam icchantī tādṛśa-prema-bhaṅgibhiḥ |
nityaṁ bhajasva tan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-parāyaṇā ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.154–5)

“The Adolescent Cowherd,
The Ocean of the rasa of rāsa,
Surrounded on all sides by beautiful gopīs
Enchanted by prema for him—
O Mother,
You too should always worship him
With means of prema akin to theirs,
Being desirous servitude to them
And being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his names.”

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prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ

prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ
viccheda-dāvānala-vegato’ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-
veśena gāḍhaṁ bhavatīva duḥkham ||
tathāpi sambhoga-sukhād api stutaḥ
sa ko’py anirvācyatamo mano-ramaḥ |
pramoda-rāśiḥ pariṇāmato dhruvaṁ
tatra sphuret tad-rasikaika-vedyaḥ ||
tac-choka-duḥkhoparamasya paścāc
cittaṁ yataḥ pūrṇatayā prasannam |
samprāpta-sambhoga-mahāsukhena
sampannavat tiṣṭhati sarvadaiva ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.125–127)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Nārada:]
Although at first intense suffering—
Arising from absorption in endless grief
Produced by anguish within
As a result of an onslaught, created by prema,
Of the forest fire of separation
From those who are dear—
As though occurs,
Still in that ultimately
Some most ineffable and heart-satisfying
Abundance of delight,
Praised even more so than the happiness of enjoyment together (sambhoga),
And knowable only by a relisher of rasa,
Shall certainly manifest
Since after the cessation of the grief and suffering of that [i.e., of separation]
The heart becomes indeed ever satisfied
And dwells with completeness
As though endowed with the great happiness
Of fully attained enjoyment together (sambhoga).”

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dṛṣṭe’pi śāmyen mayi tan na duḥkhaṁ

dṛṣṭe’pi śāmyen mayi tan na duḥkhaṁ
viccheda-cintākulitātmanāṁ vai |
harṣāya teṣāṁ kriyate vidhir yo
duḥkhaṁ sa sadyo dviguṇīkaroti ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.96)

“Even if I am seen [by them at last],
That suffering shall not cease
For they whose hearts are indeed overwhelmed
By unrest because of separation [from me].
The means which are enacted [by me]
For the sake of their elation
Immediately double their suffering.”

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puruṣottamasya parito

puruṣottamasya parito
gokula-caritāmṛtena kṛta-sekaḥ |
prema-maranda-syandaṁ
tanotu mama citta-mākandaḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Nandotsavādi-caritam, 40)

“Sprinkled all around
With the ambrosia of Puruṣottama’s
Activities in Gokula,
May the mango tree of my heart
Exude a stream
Of the nectar of prema.”

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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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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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jayati jayati kṛṣṇa-prema-bhaktir yad-aṅghriṁ

jayati jayati kṛṣṇa-prema-bhaktir yad-aṅghriṁ
nikhila-nigama-tattvaṁ gūḍham ājñāya muktiḥ |
bhajati śaraṇa-kāmā vaiṣṇavais tyajyamānā
japa-yajana-tapasya-nyāsa-niṣṭhāṁ vihāya ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.8)

“Kṛṣṇa-prema-bhakti—
Whose foot
Mukti,
Being shunned by the Vaiṣṇavas
And [thus] desirous of shelter,
Worships
Having determined [it] to be the esoteric essence
Of all the Vedas
And utterly rejected perfection in japa, yajña, tapasya, and sannyāsa—
Triumphs!
Triumphs!”

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mat-sevayā pratītaṁ te sālokyādi-catuṣṭayam

mat-sevayā pratītaṁ te sālokyādi-catuṣṭayam |
necchanti sevayā pūrṇāḥ kuto’nyat kāla-viplutam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.4.67)

“Being fulfilled by service [to me], they do not desire the four [types of mukti] beginning with sālokya [that can be] attained by service to me, much less anything else that is dissipated in time.”

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prabho! bhagavan! kṛpā-pārāvāra! ghora-saṁsāra-pravāha-prāpita

prabho! bhagavan! kṛpā-pārāvāra! ghora-saṁsāra-pravāha-prāpita-kleśa-cakra-nakra-vyūha-carvyamāṇaṁ māṁ vilokya, kāruṇyodyota-drava-ceto-navanīto’khila-lokātīto bhagavan śrī-guru-rūpa-dhārī mad-anādy-avidyā-vidāri-sva-darśanena sudarśanenaiva tan nirbhidya, tad-daṁṣṭrā-taṭād evonmocya, nija-caraṇa-kamala-yugala-dāsī-cikīrṣayā sva-mantra-varṇa-vīthīṁ mat-karṇa-vīthīṁ praveśya, nirvyathīkṛtya, muhur muhur api sva-guṇa-nāma-śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇādibhir māṁ yad aśūśudhan nija-bhaktair api saṅgamitaiḥ sva-sevām apy abūbudhat, tad api durmedho’ham adhamatamo divasam ekam api prabhuṁ na paryacaraṁ, kadarya-caryas tad ayaṁ jano daṇḍayitum evārhaḥ, pratyutaitāvad darśana-mādhurīṁ pāyitaḥ |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 8.9)

“O Master! O Bhagavān! O Ocean of grace! Seeing me being chewed by the crocodile bask of the cycle of afflictions engendered by the frightful course of saṁsāra, [you,] Bhagavān, who are beyond all planes [in saṁsāra] and the butter of whose heart becomes melted by the radiance of [your] compassion, have assumed the form of śrī-guru, cut that [bask of crocodiles] asunder with the sudarśana [cakra] of your own darśana rending of my beginningless ignorance (avidyā), freed me from their jaws, caused the syllables of your mantra to enter the path of my ears out of desire to engage me [in service] as a maidservant of your two lotus feet, freed me from all pain, purified me by means of repeated hearing, chanting, remembering, and so forth of your names and qualities, and enlightened me about your own service by means of the association of your own bhaktas, yet still I of dull wit, the most fallen, have not served my Master [i.e., you, O Bhagavān] for even one day. Thus, this ill-behaved person [i.e., my most-fallen self] is certainly fit to be punished. Despite all this [however] I have been given the chance to drink the sweetness of your darśana.”

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