ity evam upakāro’dya bhavatākāri me mahān |
tat te’smi parama-prīto nijābhīṣṭān varān vṛṇu ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.131)
[Śrī Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Thus in this way today [i.e., by reminding me of the gopīs] you have greatly favored me. Therefore, I am supremely pleased with you. Please choose your desired benedictions.”
vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ |
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)
“One endowed with śraddhā who shall hear about or describe this extraordinary play and so forth of Viṣṇu with the ladies of Vraja attains superlative bhakti to Bhagavān, quickly casts off the heart disease of kāma, and without delay becomes steadfast.”
saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo bhavatināṁ mad-arcanam |
mayānumoditaḥ so’sau satyo bhavitum arhati ||
na mayy āveśita-dhiyāṁ kāmaḥ kāmāya kalpate |
bharjitāḥ kvathitā dhānā prāyo bījāya neśate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.22.25–26)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to the gopīs who worshipped Kātyāyanī to attain him as their husband:] O honorable girls, your resolve (saṅkalpa) in worshipping me is understood. It is approved by me and fit to become true. The desire of those whose minds are absorbed in me does not lead to desire [i.e., desire for anything else]. Do fried and boiled roasted grains likely act as seed?”
loka-dharma veda-dharma deha-dharma-karma |
lajjā dhairya deha-sukha ātma-sukha-marma ||
dustyaja ārya-patha nija parijana |
svajane karaye yata tāḍana-bhartsana ||
sarva-tyāga kari kare kṛṣṇera bhajana |
kṛṣṇa-sukha-hetu kare prema-sevana ||
ihāke kahiye kṛṣṇe dṛḍha anurāga |
svaccha dhauta-vastre yaiche nāhi kona dāga ||
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara |
kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema nirmala bhāskara ||
ataeva gopī-gaṇe nāhi kāma-gandha |
kṛṣṇa-sukha lāgi mātra, kṛṣṇa se sambandha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.167–172)
“Social dharma [i.e., conventional rites and conduct], Vedic dharma [i.e., rites and conduct enjoined in the Vedas], activities dictated by bodily dharma [i.e., appeasing one’s thirst and hunger, etc.], shyness, composure, and pleasing the body [i.e., activities performed to please the senses]—which are [all] based on pleasing oneself—the difficult to give up noble path [i.e., the code of proper social conduct], one’s own relatives, and all the punishment and chastisement leveled by one’s kinsfolk—forsaking all [of these] and engaging in worship of Kṛṣṇa, that is, engaging in service with prema for the sake of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure—this is called firm anurāga for Kṛṣṇa. It [i.e., such anurāga] is like a pure washed cloth on which there is no blemish whatsoever. Therefore, there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is like blinding darkness, and prema is like the spotless sun. Therefore, there is not even a trace of kāma within the gopīs. Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is only for the sake of Kṛṣṇa’s happiness.”
brahmādira abhīṣṭa ye saba kṛṣṇa-bhāva |
gopī-gaṇe vyakta ye sakala anurāga ||
iṅgite se saba bhāva nityānanda-rāya |
dilena sakala priya-gaṇere kṛpāya ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.5.418–419)
“Through hints Nitāyananda Rāya graciously bestowed upon all his dear companions all of the bhāva for Kṛṣṇa desired by Brahmā and others, and all of the anurāga manifested in the gopīs.”
ye bhakti gopikā-gaṇera kahe bhāgavate |
nityānanda haite tāhā pāila jagate ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.5.303)
“Through Nityānanda the world received the bhakti of the gopīs described in the Bhāgavata.”
ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanaṁ
ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā |
śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalaṁ premā pumārtho mahān
itthaṁ gaura-mahāprabhor matam atas tatrādaro naḥ paraḥ ||
(Caitanya-mata-mañjuṣā: 1.1)
“‘The object of worship is Bhagavān, the Son of Vraja’s king. His abode is Vṛndāvana. The lovely worship [that is to be performed] is that which is performed by the ladies of Vraja. The flawless pramāṇa [i.e., means of knowing these conclusions] is the śāstra [Śrīmad] Bhāgavatam, and the [rightful ultimate] aim of a human being is prema.’ This is the view of Gaura Mahāprabhu, and thus we have the highest regard for it.”
rāgera bhajana-patha, kahi ebe abhimata,
loka-veda-sāra ei vāṇī |
sakhīra anugā haiyā, vraje siddha-deha pāiyā,
sei bhāve juḍābe parāṇī ||
(Prema-bhakti-candrika: 48)
“I now speak of the approved path of rāga-bhajana. This teaching is the essence of the world [i.e., worldly propriety] and the Vedas. Becoming a follower of the sakhīs, and receiving a siddha-deha in Vraja, soothe the heart with this bhāva.”
ataeva gopī-bhāva kari aṅgīkāra |
rātri-dine cinte rādhā-kṛṣṇera vihāra ||
siddha-deha cinti kare tāhā̐i sevana |
sakhī-bhāve pāya rādhā-kṛṣṇera caraṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.227–8)
“[Rāmānanda Rāya to Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] Therefore, accept the bhāva of the gopīs and think of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s play night and day. Thinking of one’s siddha-deha, engage in service specifically there [i.e., in Vraja]. With the bhāva of a sakhī, one attains the feet of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.”
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 the beautiful gopīs enchanted by prema for him—O Mother, you too should always worship him with similar means of prema [i.e., with means of prema similar to those of the gopīs’ prema], desiring servitude to them [i.e., to the gopīs] and being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his name.”
