tac ca śrī-ballavī-prāṇanātha-pāda-sarojayoḥ |
premaiva tad-vraja-prema-sājātīyaṁ na cetarat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.214)
“That [i.e., your sādhana to attain your Iṣṭadeva], moreover, is simply prema for the lotus feet of the beautiful ballavī’s Beloved [lit., the Lord of the gopīs’ prāṇas, that is, hearts, lives, or vital airs] which resembles the [highly celebrated] prema for him [found] in Vraja, and is not otherwise.”
rāgānugāmi-bhajanollāsa-mānasānāṁ
śrī-rādhayā saha sadā smaratāṁ vrajendum |
śrī-rūpa-pāda-kamalāśrita-cetasāṁ me
cittaṁ satāṁ madhukarīyatu pāda-padme ||
(Mukunda Dāsa Gosvāmī in his Artha-ratnālpa-dīpikā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1)
“May my mind become a bee [lit., “a nectar-gatherer”] in the lotuses of the feet of the sādhus whose minds are filled with the joy of rāgānugā-bhajana, who are ever-engaged in remembrance of the Moon of Vraja [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] with Śrī Rādhā, and whose hearts are sheltered at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa.”
devo bhūtvā yajed devaṁ nādevo devam arcayet |
(Tantra-śāstra; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 22, Bhagavat Sandarbha: 64, and Bhakti Sandarbha: 306)
“Becoming a deva, worship the deva. A non-deva cannot worship a deva.”
nidānaṁ tu paraṁ premṇaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-karuṇā-bharaḥ |
kasyāpy udety akasmād vā kasyacit sādhana-kramāt ||
yathodārān milaty annaṁ pākvaṁ vā pāka-sādhanam |
sādhakasyocyate śāstra-gatyāyaṁ sādhana-kramaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.215–216)
“But the primary cause of [such] prema is an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace. That manifests for some without cause and for some through a course of sādhanas, just as either cooked food or the ingredients for cooking come [to someone] from a generous person. This course of sādhanas for a sādhaka [through which an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace manifests] is [now going to be] described [by me] in accord with śāstra.”
janma-trayānuguṇita-vaira-saṁrabdhayā dhiyā |
dhyāyaṁs tan-mayatāṁ yāto bhāvo hi bhava-kāraṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.74.46)
“Meditating [on Bhagavān] with a mind enflamed with enmity over the course of three births, he [i.e., Śiśupāla] reached [after giving up his body] a state of absorption [in him, i.e., he again became his pārṣada, personal associate], as bhāva [i.e., one’s continuous meditation, contemplation, and focus] is the cause of [one’s future] birth [be it within saṁsāra or beyond].”
vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām |
nītau punar hareḥ pārśvaṁ jagmatur viṣṇu-pārṣadau ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.1.47)
“By meditation [on Bhagavān] with an intense sense of enmity, these two associates of Viṣṇu [i.e., Jaya and Vijaya] attained a state of being of the same form as Acyuta [i.e., they merged into him, and later, they attained forms like his], and returned to the side of Hari [i.e., resumed their roles as his gatekeepers in Vaikuṇṭha].”
viceyāni vicāryāṇi vicintyāni punaḥ punaḥ |
kṛpaṇasya dhanānīva tvan-nāmāni bhavantu naḥ ||
(Bhavānanda; cited in Padyāvalī: 30)
“Like riches for a miser, may your names be our object of pursuit, object of deliberation, and object of meditation again and again.”
rādheti nāma nava-sundara-sīdhu-mugdhaṁ
kṛṣṇeti nāma madhurādbhuta-gāḍha-dugdham |
sarva-kṣaṇaṁ surabhi-rāga-himena ramyaṁ
kṛtvā tad eva piba me rasane kṣudhārte ||
(Stavāvalī: Abhīṣṭa-sūcana, 10)
“The name ‘Rādhā’ is fresh, beautiful, charming nectar, and the name ‘Kṛṣṇa’ is sweet, wonderfully condensed milk. O my hunger-stricken tongue! Enrich these with the fragrant camphor of rāga (love) and drink them at every moment.”
sal-lakṣaṇaṁ prema-bharasya kṛṣṇe
kaiścid rasajñair uta kathyate tat |
premṇo bhareṇaiva nijeṣṭa-nāma-
saṅkīrtanaṁ hi sphurati sphuṭārtyā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.166)
“It [i.e., nāma-saṅkīrtana] is even said by some knowers of rasa to be the foremost characteristic of a profusion of prema for Kṛṣṇa, as saṅkīrtana of the names of one’s own Iṣṭa with pronounced heartache certainly manifests with a profusion of prema.”
tad eva manyate bhakteḥ phalaṁ tad-rasikair janaiḥ |
bhagavat-prema-sampattau sadaivāvyabhicārataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.165)
“It [i.e., nāma-saṅkīrtana] itself is [also] considered the fruit of bhakti [i.e., of prema] by persons who are connoisseurs of it because of its being always unfailing in manifesting prema for Bhagavān.”
