Kṛṣṇa

na brāhmaṇān me dayitaṁ rūpam etac catur-bhujam

na brāhmaṇān me dayitaṁ rūpam etac catur-bhujam |
sarva-vedamayo vipraḥ sarva-devamayo hy aham ||
duṣprajñā aviditvaivam avajānanty asūyavaḥ |
guruṁ māṁ vipram ātmānam arcādāv ijya-dṛṣṭayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.86.54–55)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] This four-armed form of mine is not dear [to me] more so than a brāhmaṇa since a brāhmaṇa is constituted of all the Vedas and I am constituted of all the devas. Not understanding this, detractors [of brāhmaṇas] lacking insight, who are seers of worshipability [only] in the deity and so on [i.e., not in the brāhmaṇa], disregard the brāhmaṇa—the guru, me, the Self [i.e., they disregard the brāhmaṇa, who is worshipable just by virtue of his caste, and even more worshipable because (1) he is the guru, that is, the teacher of all other castes in society, (2) he is me, that is, non-different from me by virtue of being a paramount dwelling place (adhiṣṭhāna) of mine, and (3) he is the Self, that is, a form of the Supreme Self (Paramātmā)].”

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nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ tapasopaśamena vā

nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ tapasopaśamena vā |
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.34)

“I [Bhagavān], the Self of all beings, shall not be satisfied by sacrifice, higher birth [alt., procreation], austerity, or equilibrium as [I am] by service to the guru.”

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atha bhūṣaṇāni

atha bhūṣaṇāni—
ambārpitā mahārakṣā navaratnāṅkitā bhuje ||
aṅgade raṅgadābhikhye caṅkane nāma kaṅkaṇe |
mudrā ratnamukhī pītaṁ vāso nigama-śobhanam ||
kiṅkiṇī kala-jhaṅkārā mañjīrau haṁsa-gañjanau |
kuraṅga-nayanā-citta-kuraṅga-hara-śiñjitau ||
hāraṁ tārāvalī nāma maṇimālā taḍit-prabhā |
ruddha-rādhā-pratikṛtir niṣko hṛdaya-modanaḥ ||
kaustubhākhyo maṇir yena praviśya hradam auragam |
kāliya-preyasī-vṛnda-hastair ātmopahāritaḥ ||
kuṇḍale makarākāre rati-rāgādhidaivate |
kirīṭaṁ ratnapārākhyaṁ cūḍā cāmara-ḍāmarī ||
navaratna-viḍambākhyaṁ śikhaṇḍaṁ mukuṭaṁ viduḥ |
rāgavallī tu guñjālī tilakaṁ dṛṣṭi-mohanam ||
patra-puṣpamayī mālā vanamālā padāvadhiḥ |
vaijayantī tu kusumaiḥ pañca-varṇair vinirmitā ||
(Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa-gaṇodeśa-dīpikā: 2.125–132)

“Now, the ornaments [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa are described]. The special amulets on his arms placed [there] by his mother are inlaid with the nine jewels [viz., (1) ruby (māṇikya), (2) pearl (muktā), (3) coral (vidruma), (4) emerald (marakata), (5) yellow sapphire (puṣparāga), (6) diamond (vajra), (7) blue sapphire (nīla), (8) hessonite (gomeda), and (9) cat’s eye (vaidūrya)]. His armlets [on his upper arms] are called Raṅgada [i.e., ‘givers of merriment’]. His bangles [on his wrists] are called Caṅkaṇa [i.e., ‘caṅ-sound makers,’ meaning, they named after the clinking sound they make]. His signet-ring is [called] Ratnamukhī [i.e., ‘that on the face of which there are jewels’]. His yellow [lower] garment is called Nigama-śobhana [i.e., ‘the beauty [alt., ornament] of the town’]. His belled sash is [called] Kala-jhaṅkarā [i.e., ‘that which jingles sweetly‘], and his anklets, the tinkling of which captures the does of the hearts of they of doe eyes [viz., the gopīs], are [called] Haṁsa-gañjana [i.e., ‘they which surpass swans’]. His pearl necklace is named Tārāvalī [i.e., ‘line of stars’], and his jewel necklace is [called] Taḍit-prabhā [i.e., ‘that of lightning-like luster’]. His golden medallion, in which an image of Rādhā is held [i.e., reflected], is [called] Hṛdaya-modana [i.e., ‘delighting to the heart’]. His jewel, by which the backwater inhabited by the serpent [viz., Kāliya] had been entered [when the jewel was transferred to Kāliya’s treasury from the body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa when he first appeared to Vasudeva and Devakī] and which was [later] gifted of itself [to him] by the hands of the wives of Kāliya, is known as Kaustubha [i.e., ‘that which comes from the ocean’]. His earrings, which are makaras in shape, are [called] Rati-rāgādhidaivata [i.e., ‘they who are the tutelary deity of the rāga [i.e., loving attachment] of rati—madhura-rasa’]. His diadem is known as Ratnapāra [i.e., that which is covered with jewels’], and his top-knot is [called] Cāmara-ḍāmarī [i.e., ‘that which resembles a cāmara’]. Know the peacock-plume named Navaratna-viḍamba [i.e., ‘that which mocks the nine jewels’] to be his crown. His guñjas [i.e., dried guñjā berry necklace] is [called] Rāgavallī [i.e., ‘creeper of loveliness [alt., reddishness]’], and his tilaka is [called] Dṛṣṭi-mohana [i.e., ‘enrapturing to the eye’]. His garland made of leaves and flowers extending [down] to his feet is [called] Vanamālā [i.e., ‘forest garland’], and that fashioned with flowers of five types is [called] the Vaijayantī [i.e., ‘victory garland’].”

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na tathā rocate vedaḥ purāṇādyās tathetarāḥ

na tathā rocate vedaḥ purāṇādyās tathetarāḥ |
yathā tāsān tu gopīnāṁ bhartsanaṁ garvitaṁ vacaḥ ||
(Gopī-premāmṛta)

“Neither the Vedas nor the Purāṇas and others are so pleasing as the chastisement and proud speech of those gopīs.”

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akiñcanasya dāntasya

akiñcanasya dāntasya śāntasya sama-cetasaḥ |
mayā santuṣṭa-manasaḥ sarvāḥ sukha-mayā diśaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.13)

[Kṛṣṇa:] “All directions are filled with happiness for one who is disinterested, controlled, peaceful, equanimous, and of mind fully satisfied by me.”

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bhagavad-bhakti-śāstrāṇām ayaṁ sārasya saṅgrahaḥ

bhagavad-bhakti-śāstrāṇām ayaṁ sārasya saṅgrahaḥ |
anubhūtasya caitanyadeve tat-priya-rūpataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.11)

“This [text] is a compilation of the essence of the śāstras related to Bhagavad-bhakti [which has been] perceived [by me] in Caitanyadeva [i.e., in Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or, in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu] by reason of his beloved form [alt., by reason of his beloved bhakta Śrī Rūpa].”

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jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ

jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ
priyatamam ati-sādhu-svānta-vaikuṇṭha-vāsāt |
ramayati sa sadā gāḥ pālayan yatra gopīḥ
svarita-madhura-veṇur vardhayan prema rāse ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.5)

“This Vṛndāvana—
Which is dearmost to Murāri,
More so than the hearts of great sādhus
And [more so than even] residence in Vaikuṇṭha,
And in which he,
Tending the cows,
Sweetly playing the flute,
And increasing prema for rāsa,
Ever delights the gopīs—
Triumphs!
Triumphs!”

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tathaiva kāliya-damaḥ punaḥ punas

tathaiva kāliya-damaḥ punaḥ punas
tathaiva govardhana-dharaṇaṁ muhuḥ |
parāpi līlā vividhādbhutāsakṛt
pravartate bhakta-manoharā prabhoḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.356)

“So indeed the subduing of Kāliya occurs again and again. So indeed the lifting of Govardhana occurs repeatedly. Various other astonishing līlās of Prabhu captivating of the minds of bhaktas too take place repeatedly.”

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tava kṛṣṇa keli-muralī

tava kṛṣṇa keli-muralī
hitam ahitaṁ ca sphuṭaṁ vimohayati |
ekaṁ sudhormi-suhṛdā
viṣa-viṣameṇāparaṁ dhvaninā ||
(Stava-mālā: Govinda-virudāvalī: 38)

“O Kṛṣṇa!
Your play-flute vividly bewilders
The well-disposed and the ill-disposed,
One [i.e., the well-disposed] with a sound
That is friendly like a wave of nectar [and causes one to faint out of bliss],
And the other [i.e., the ill-disposed] with a sound
That is dreadful like poison [and causes one to faint out of fear].”

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sambhrāntaiḥ saṣaḍ-aṅga-pātam abhito vedair mudā vanditā

sambhrāntaiḥ saṣaḍ-aṅga-pātam abhito vedair mudā vanditā
sīmantopari gauravād upaniṣad-devībhir apy arpitā |
ānamraṁ praṇavena ca praṇayato hṛṣṭātmanābhiṣṭutā
mṛdvī te muralī-rutir mura-ripo śarmāṇi nirmātu naḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Govinda-virudāvalī: 37)

“Bowed to on all sides by the reverent Vedas
Accompanied by [their] six limbs,
Placed out of veneration atop the part [in the hair]
Even by the devīs of the Upaniṣads,
And highly praised out of admiration
By bowing praṇava [i.e., the syllable Om] with a rejoicing mind—
O Enemy of Mura—
May the gentle sound of your flute
Create delights for us.”

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