Līlā

ātmārāmān madhura-caritair bhakti-yoge vidhāsyam

ātmārāmān madhura-caritair bhakti-yoge vidhāsyam
nānā-līlā-rasa-racanayā nandayiṣyan sva-bhaktān |
daityānīkair bhuvam atibharāṁ vīta-bhārāṁ kariṣyan
mūrtānando vraja-pati-gṛhe jātavat prādurāsīt ||
(Ānanda-vṛndāvana-campū: 2.9)

“To direct ātmārāmas to bhakti-yoga

With his sweet acts,

To delight his own bhaktas

With a production of the rasa of various līlās,

And to unburden the earth

From the excessive burden of the armies of the daityas,

Embodied Bliss [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]

Appeared in the home of Vraja’s king

Like a newborn.”

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vidagdha-gopāla-vilāsinīnāṁ

vidagdha-gopāla-vilāsinīnāṁ
sambhoga-cihnāṅkita-sarva-gātram |
pavitram āmnāya-girām agamyaṁ
brahma prapadye navanīta-cauram ||
(Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 2.51 (Southern recension); cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.25)

“His entire body

Marked with the signs of enjoyment

With artful gopī lovers,

Pure,

And unattainable by the words of Vedas—

I take shelter in Brahman,

The thief of fresh butter.”

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mānasādi-pūjāyāṁ bhūta-pūrva-tat-parikara-līlā-saṁvalitatvam api na kalpanā-mayaṁ

mānasādi-pūjāyāṁ bhūta-pūrva-tat-parikara-līlā-saṁvalitatvam api na kalpanā-mayaṁ, kintu yathārtham eva | yatas tasya prākaṭya-samaye līlās tat-parikarāś ca ye prādurbabhūvuḥ, te tādṛśāś cāprakaṭam api nityaṁ tadīye dhāmni saṅkhyātītā eva vartante |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)

“In worship [performed] in the mind and elsewhere, although the content of the meditation is possessed of līlās and associates of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] that were existent in the past, it is not [merely] imaginary but rather real since his associates and the līlās that appeared at the time of his manifestation (prākaṭya) [which one meditates upon] exist eternally beyond enumeration even unmanifestly as such [i.e., in an equally real form] in his abode [as well].”

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kiṁ bahunā sarvatraiva sahṛdayaiḥ sarva evāvagantavyaḥ

kiṁ bahunā, sarvatraiva sahṛdayaiḥ sarva evāvagantavyaḥ |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 158)

“What is the use of more [illustrations of the excellence of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s manifestations and līlās in Śrī Vṛndāvana]? Verily in all cases, everything is to be [alt., can be] understood by sahṛdayas [i.e., rasikas, lit., ‘those with heart’].”

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smared vṛndāvane ramye mohayantam anāratam

smared vṛndāvane ramye mohayantam anāratam |
govindaṁ puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ gopa-kanyāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
ātmano vadanāmbhoja-preritākṣi-madhu-vratāḥ |
kāma-bāṇena vivaśāś ciram āśleṣaṇotsukāḥ ||
muktāhāra-lasat-pīnottuṅga-stana-bharānatāḥ |
srasta-dhammilla-vasanā mada-skhalita-bhāṣaṇāḥ ||
danta-paṅkti-prabhodbhāsi-spandamānādharāñcitāḥ |
vilobhayantīr vividhair vibhramair bhāva-garbhitaiḥ ||
(Śāradā-tilaka, following the Mṛtuñjaya-saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.110–113, Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)

“Remember in joyful Vṛndāvana

Govinda of lotus eyes

Enchanting unceasingly

Thousands of gopa girls,

Their own bumblebees eyes directed

Towards the lotus of his face,

Captivated by arrows of kāma,

Long eager for his embraces,

Bowed by the weight of their full, raised breasts

Shining with pearl necklaces [draped over them],

Their chignons and garments disheveled,

Their speech wavering with passion,

Adorned with quivering lips

Shining with the splendor

Of their rows of teeth,

And alluring [him] with various amorous movements

Filled with bhāva.”

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sat-puṇḍarīka-nayanaṁ meghābhaṁ vaidyutāmbaram

sat-puṇḍarīka-nayanaṁ meghābhaṁ vaidyutāmbaram |
dvi-bhujaṁ jñāna-mudrāḍhyaṁ vana-mālinam īśvaram ||
gopa-gopī-gavāvītaṁ sura-druma-talāśritam |
divyālaṅkaraṇopetaṁ rakta-paṅkaja-madhyagam ||
kālindī-jala-kallola-saṅgi-māruta-sevitam |
cintayaṁś cetasā kṛṣṇaṁ mukto bhavati saṁsṛteḥ ||
(Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad: 1.9–11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.107–109, Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 153, Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.2)

“Excellent lotus eyes,

The luster of a cloud,

Cloth like lightning,

Two-arms,

Endowed with the posture of wisdom,

Wearing a forest garland,

Capable,

Surrounded by gopas, gopīs, and cows,

Situated at the base of a sura-tree,

Endued with divine ornaments,

Centered on red lotus [seat],

Attended by breezes

Bearing [the mist from] the waves

Of the waters of the Kālindī—

Meditating with the heart on Kṛṣṇa [in this way],

One becomes liberated from saṁsāra.”

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jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo

jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo
vividha-madhurimābdhiḥ ko’pi kaiśora-gandhiḥ |
gata-parama-daśāntaṁ yasya caitanya-rūpād
anubhava-padam āptaṁ prema gopīṣu nityam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)

“Someone—

Who descended to bestow prema

For his own lotus feet,

Who is an ocean

Of various sweetnesses,

Who is fragrant with adolescence,

And whose everlasting prema for the gopīs,

Having attained the ultimate limit

Of the highest state,

Has reached the position of experience [for others]

Because of his form of Caitanya—
Triumphs!”

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śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramaṁ tātparyam uṭṭaṅkitaṁ

śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramaṁ tātparyam uṭṭaṅkitaṁ
śrī-vaiyāsakinā duranvayatayā rāsa-prasaṅge’pi yat |
yad rādhā-rati-keli-nāgara-rasāsvādaika-sad-bhājanaṁ
tad-vastu-prathanāya gaura-vapuṣā loke’vatīrṇo hariḥ ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 122)

“Hari descended in golden form for the sake of extending that object [i.e., that prema] which is the ultimate intention (tātparya) of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which was [only] lightly indicated by Śrī Śukadeva even in the discussion of rāsa [-līlā] because of [its] being difficult to comprehend, and which is the only real means for relishing the rasa of [Śrī Kṛṣṇa,] the paramour engaged in amorous play with Rādhā.”

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vadānyeśas tṛṣṇā-nicaya-cita-cittaiḥ karuṇa-rāṭ

vadānyeśas tṛṣṇā-nicaya-cita-cittaiḥ karuṇa-rāṭ
vipannaiḥ kandarpo yuvati-nikarair mṛtyur aribhiḥ |
adhīśaḥ sad-bhaktaiḥ sahaja-nija-bandhur vraja-janaiḥ
pratītaḥ kṛṣṇo’sāv iti vividha-lokair bahu-vidhaḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 17.20)

“Kṛṣṇa is perceived in many ways by various persons: by those whose hearts are filled with heaps of [worldly] desires as the most capable of the munificent, by the distressed as the king of the compassionate, by young women as Kandarpa [i.e., the ultimate object of love], by enemies as Death, by virtuous bhaktas as the Supreme Lord, and by the people of Vraja as their own natural kinsmen (bandhu).”

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hari-līlā-sudhā-sindhos taṭam apy adhitiṣṭhataḥ

hari-līlā-sudhā-sindhos taṭam apy adhitiṣṭhataḥ |
mano mama caturvargaṁ tṛṇāyāpi na manyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.147)

“Situated even on the shore of the ocean of the nectar of Hari’s līlā, my mind does not consider the caturvarga [i.e., the four puruṣārthas of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa] even to be straw.”

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