gopīṣu ca sadā tāsu pratyekaṁ koṭi-koṭiṣu |
parā prītiḥ kṛpāsaktir api sā tasya vīkṣyate || …
tatrāpi yāṁ prati prema-viśeṣo’sya yadekṣyate |
tadā pratīyate kṛṣṇāsyaiṣaiva nitarāṁ priyā ||
sarvās tad-ucitāṁ tās tu krīḍā-sukha-paramparām |
sarvadānubhavantyo’pi manyante prema na prabhoḥ ||
pratyekaṁ cintayanty evam aho kiṁ bhavitā kiyat |
saubhāgyaṁ mama yena syāṁ kṛṣṇasyādhama-dāsy api ||
aho svāmin gabhīro’yaṁ dustarko mahatām api |
gāḍha-prema-rasāveśa-svabhāva-mahimādbhutaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.214, 216–219)
“That paramount love (prīti), grace (kṛpā), and attachment (āsakti) of his towards every one of those crores and crores of gopīs is always observable. … Yet in that regard [i.e., even when he treats all of them as equally dearmost to him], when a special form of his prema is observable [on occasion] towards one [of them in particular], then by all means she alone is regarded [by the rest of them] as dear to Kṛṣṇa. Even though all of them, who are worthy of that [i.e., of the special form of prema Kṛṣṇa expresses whereby one of them in particular is regarded as dearmost to him], constantly experience a succession of the bliss of play [with him], they do not conceive of Prabhu’s prema [i.e., they do not actually think, ‘I am dearmost to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’]. Every one of them thinks [i.e., desires] thus, ‘Aho! Will some little good fortune to me whereby I can become even a lowly maidservant of Kṛṣṇa?’ Aho! Svāmī! [i.e., O Lord!] This greatness the nature of which is absorption in the rasa of intense prema is difficult to comprehend even for mahats, deep, and astonishing.”
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