Līlā

udayaṁ prajavād ayam ety aruṇas

udayaṁ prajavād ayam ety aruṇas
taruṇī-nicaye sahajākaruṇaḥ |
nibhṛtaṁ nilayaṁ vraja-nātha tatas
tvarito’ṭa kalinda-sutā-taṭataḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.24)

“The dawn,
By nature merciless to young women,
Has swiftly arrived at the Eastern Mountain.
Therefore, O Lord of Vraja!
Quickly and stealthily go
From the bank of the Yamunā [back] to your home.”

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gokula-bandho jaya rasa-sindho

gokula-bandho jaya rasa-sindho
jāgṛhi talpaṁ tyaja śaśi-kalpam |
prīty-anukūlāṁ śrita-bhuja-mūlāṁ
bodhaya kāntāṁ rati-bhara-tāntām ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.23)

“O Friend of Gokula!
Glory to you!
O Ocean of rasa!
Wake up!
Give up this bed akin to the moon!
And awaken your lover,
Favorable out of love (prīti),
And resting on your shoulder,
Exhausted from the load of lovemaking.”

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tam aṅkam ārūḍham apāyayat stanaṁ

tam aṅkam ārūḍham apāyayat stanaṁ
sneha-snutaṁ sa-smitam īkṣatī mukham |
atṛptam utsṛjya javena sā yayāv
utsicyamāne payasi tv adhiśrite ||
sa jāta-kopaḥ sphuritāruṇādharaṁ
sandaśya dadbhir dadhi-mantha-bhājanam |
bhittvā mṛṣāśrur dṛṣad-aśmanā raho
jaghāsa haiyaṅgavam antaraṁ gataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.5–6)

“Raised in her lap, she [i.e., Yaśodā] had him [i.e., Kṛṣṇa] drink from her breast, flowing [with milk] out of affection, as she beheld his smiling face, but when the milk on the fireplace was beginning to boil over, she put him down [although he was] unsatiated, and quickly went over [to attend to the milk on the fireplace]. Angered [by this] and biting his quivering reddish lips with his teeth, he [then] broke with a grindstone the pot [that Yaśodā had been using] for churning yoghurt, went inside [the house] with false tears [alt., non-false tears, in his eyes], and in a concealed place devoured the fresh butter [that Yaśodā had just churned].”

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yadi vo’sti mayi prītiḥ ślāghyo’haṁ bhavatāṁ yadi

yadi vo’sti mayi prītiḥ ślāghyo’haṁ bhavatāṁ yadi |
tadātma-bandhu-sadṛśī buddhir vaḥ kriyatāṁ mayi ||
nāhaṁ devo na gandharvo na yakṣo na ca dānavaḥ |
ahaṁ vo bāndhavo jāto nātaś cintyam ato’nyathā ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa: 5.13.11–12; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 325)

“If you all have love (prīti) for me, and if you all [also] consider I am praiseworthy [i.e., a worthy object of reverence], then you all should [give up your awe and reverence of me and] foster the attitude in regard me that I am like the kinsmen (bandhu) of your very self (ātmā) [i.e., that I am one of your fellow cowherds, alt., that I am like the dear friend (bandhu) of your heart (ātmā)]. I am neither a deva, nor a gandharva, nor a yakṣa, nor a dānava. I have been born as your kinsmen (bāndhava—bandhu), and thus from now on I am not to be thought of otherwise [i.e., as anyone other than one of your fellow cowherds and kinsmen; I should not be thought of as any sort of devatā].”

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adatta-pūrva-svapadābja-sauhṛda

adatta-pūrva-svapadābja-sauhṛda-
pradāna-dīkṣocita-deśa-saṅgata |
sva-sevaka-brahma-sukhādhikotsava-
premākara krīḍana-kṛn namo’stu te ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: 63)

“O you who are [now] situated in the land [of Vraja]

Suitable to your vow (dīkṣa)

Of granting love for your own lotus feet

That has not been given before!

O Bestower of prema

And joy greater than the bliss of Brahman

Upon your own servants!

O Performer of play!

May my obeisance be offered unto you.”

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yasya śrīmac-caraṇa-kamale komale komalāpi

yasya śrīmac-caraṇa-kamale komale komalāpi
śrī-rādhoccair nija-sukha-kṛte sannayantī kucāgre |
bhītāpy ārād atha nahi dadhāty asya kārkaśya-doṣāt
sa śrī-goṣṭhe prathayatu sadā śeṣa-śāyī sthitiṁ naḥ ||
(Stavāvalī: Vraja-vilāsa-stava, 91)

“He whose beautiful, tender lotus feet

Śrī Rādhā intently raised for her own pleasure,

But even then became fearful

Because of the [imagined] fault of hardness

And did not hold atop the tips of her breasts

Although she is [most] tender [in figure]—

May [he,] Śeṣa-śāyī,

Extend to us

Eternal residence in beautiful Vraja.”

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tatrāprakaṭā dvividhā—mantropāsanāmayī svārasikī ca

tatrāprakaṭā dvividhā—mantropāsanāmayī svārasikī ca | prathamā yathā tat-tad-ekatara-sthānādi-niyata-sthitikā tat-tan-mantra-dhyāna-mayī | … nānā-sthānānusāraṇa-rūpatvād eka-sthāna-niṣṭhāyā mantropāsanāmayyā bhidyate’sau | yathāvasara-vividha-svecchāmayī svārasikī | … nānā-līlā-pravāha-rūpatayā svārasikī gaṅgeva | ekaika-līlātmatayā mantropāsanāmayī tu labdha-tat-sambhava-hrada-śreṇir iva jñeyā | kiṁ ca, mantropāsanāmayyām api vraja-rājādi-sambandhaḥ śrūyate, kim uta svārasikyām iti na kutrāpi tad-rahitatā kalpanīyā | … govindaḥ śrī-vṛndāvana-deva eva … keśavo’pi śrī-mathurā-nātha eva, tau hi vṛndāvana-mathurā-prasiddha-mahā-yoga-pīṭhayos … prāpañcika-loka-dṛṣṭyāṁ śrīmat-pratimākāreṇābhātaḥ, svajana-dṛṣṭyāṁ sākṣād-rūpeṇa ca |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 153)

“Therein, the aprakaṭa [-līlā] is of two types: mantropāsanāmayī and svārasikī. The first [is aprakaṭa-līlā that] is a fixed state amid one of various places and so forth and constituted of a correlated mantra and meditation. … This [i.e., svārasikī-līlā] is distinguished from mantropāsanāmayī, which is fixed at one place, because [its, i.e., svārasikī-līlā’s] being a form of movement amidst various places. Svārasikī is constituted of [Bhagavān’s] various personal wishes [manifesting successively in the flow of time within aprakaṭa-līlā] in accord with circumstances [that arise in various places at various times]. Svārasikī is like the Gaṅgā on account of being of the nature of a [continuous] flow of various līlās. Mantropāsanāmayī, on the contrary, on account of being constituted of one singular līlā, is to be understood to be like a multitude of perceived lagoons produced from that [i.e., from the flow of svārasikī-līlā]. Furthermore, [Bhagavān’s] relation with the king of Vraja and so forth is heard of even in mantropāsanāmayī, and so all the more in svārasikī. Thus, it [i.e., Bhagavān’s līlā, of both the mantropāsanāmayī and svārasikī varieties] are never to be conceived devoid of that [i.e., devoid of him having the relationships that he does with all his various associates in the various abodes of his līlās]. … Govinda, the Lord of Śrī Vṛndāvana … and Keśava, the Lord of Śrī Mathurā—at the well-known mahāyogapīṭhas in Vṛndāvana and Mathurā [respectively] these two … shine in the form of splendid deities in the vision of worldly people and in their direct forms in the vision of their own persons [i.e., bhaktas].”

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rādhāṅga-śaśvad-upagūhanatas tad-āpta-dharma-dvayena

rādhāṅga-śaśvad-upagūhanatas tad-āpta-
dharma-dvayena tanu-citta-dhṛtena deva |
gauro dayānidhir abhūr ayi nanda-sūno
tan me manoratha-latāṁ saphalī-kuru tvaṁ ||
(Saṅkalpa-kalpa-druma: 95)

“O Deva! As a result of continuously embracing Rādhā’s figure, you have become golden and an ocean of grace by virtue of cherishing in your body and heart these two qualities acquired from her [viz., her being golden and gracious]. Ayi Son of Nanda! Therefore, may you please make the creeper of my desire fruitful.”

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