Vraja-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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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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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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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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aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām

aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām |
yan mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.32)

“Aho! The fortune! Aho! The fortune of the residents of Chief Nanda’s Vraja, whose eternal friend is the Complete Brahman, the highest bliss!”

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Yugala-gītā

Twelve pairs of verses sung by the gopīs in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.35.1–26.

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kuñjād goṣṭhaṁ niśānte praviśati kurute dohanānnāśanādyāṁ

kuñjād goṣṭhaṁ niśānte praviśati kurute dohanānnāśanādyāṁ
prātaḥ sāyaṁ ca līlāṁ viharati sakhibhiḥ saṅgave cārayan gāḥ |
madhyāhne cātha naktaṁ vilasati vipine rādhayāddhāparāhne
goṣṭhaṁ yāti pradoṣe ramayati suhṛdo yaḥ sa kṛṣṇo’vatān naḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.4)

“At the end of night, from the kuñja he enters his homestead. In the early morning and evening, he performs līlās of milking [cows], eating food, and so forth. In the forenoon, he sports with friends while herding the cows. At midday and [mid-] night, he plays in full directly with Rādhā in the forest. In the afternoon, he returns to his homestead. In the evening, he delights his well-wishers. May he, Kṛṣṇa, protect us.”

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śrī-rādhā-prāṇa-bandhoś caraṇa-kamalayoḥ keśa-śeṣādy-agamyā

śrī-rādhā-prāṇa-bandhoś caraṇa-kamalayoḥ keśa-śeṣādy-agamyā
yā sādhyā prema-sevā vraja-carita-parair gāḍha-laulyaika-labhyā |
sā syāt prāptā yayā tāṁ prathayitum adhunā mānasīm asya sevāṁ
bhāvyāṁ rāgādhva-pānthair vrajam anucaritaṁ naityikaṁ tasya naumi ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.3)

“The attainment of prema-sevā to the lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā’s Prāṇa-bandhu [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], which is incomprehensible to Brahmā, Śiva, Śeṣa, and others, and attainable only through intense hankering by those who are devoted to the conduct of [the gopīs’ of] Vraja—to now expound mental sevā to him, [which is] to be meditated upon by the followers of the path of rāga, by which this [attainment of prema-sevā] can be attained, I offer obeisance to his daily activity in Vraja.”

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tatrāpi gokule tasya mādhurī sarvato’dhikā

tatrāpi gokule tasya mādhurī sarvato’dhikā ||
caturdhā mādhurī tasya vraja eva virājate |
aiśvarya-krīḍayor veṇos tathā śrī-vigrahasya ca ||
tatra aiśvaryasya—
kutrāpy aśruta-pūrveṇa madhuraiśvarya-rāśinā |
sevyamāno haris tatra vihāraṁ kurute vraje ||
krīḍāyāḥ yathā pādme—
caritaṁ kṛṣṇa-devasya sarvam evādbhutaṁ bhavet |
gopāla-līlās tatrāpi sarvato’timanoharā ||
śrī-bṛhad-vāmane—
santi yadyapi me prājyā līlās tās tā manoharāḥ |
na hi jāne smṛte rāse mano me kīdṛśaṁ bhavet ||
veṇoḥ, yathā—
yāvatī nikhile loke nādānām asti mādhurī |
tāvatī vaṁśikā-nāda-paramāṇau nimajjati ||
cara-sthāvarayoḥ sāndra-paramānanda-magnayoḥ ||
bhaved dharma-viparyāso yasmin dhvanati mohane ||
mohanaḥ ko’pi mantro vā padārtho vādbhutaḥ paraḥ |
śruti-peyo’yam ity uktvā yatrāmuhyaś chivādayaḥ ||
cara-sthāvarayoḥ sāndra-paramānanda-magnayoḥ ||
bhaved dharma-viparyāso yasmin dhvanati mohane ||
śrī-vigrahasya, yathā—
asamānordhva-mādhurya-taraṅgāmṛta-vāridhiḥ |
jaṅgama-sthāvarollāsi-rūpo gopendra-nandanaḥ ||
yathā tantre—
kandarpa-koṭy-arbuda-rūpa-śobhā-
nīrājya-pādābja-nakhāñcalasya |
kutrāpy adṛṣṭa-śruta-ramya-kānter
dhyānaṁ paraṁ nanda-sutasya vakṣye ||
(Laghu-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.520, 526–526, 530–533, 538–539)

“Even therein [i.e., even in regard to the three abodes—Gokula, Mathurā, and Dvārakā], his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] sweetness in Gokula is superior to all [i.e., to his sweetness in Mathurā and Dvārakā]. … Only in Vraja [i.e., Gokula] shines the fourfold sweetness of his power, play, flute, and beautiful figure. Regarding [his] power therein: ‘Being served by multitude of sweet powers unheard of before anywhere else, Hari sports there in Vraja.’ Regarding [his] play, as in Padma Purāṇa: ‘All of Kṛṣṇadeva’s activities can certainly be astonishing. Even among them, [however,] his līlās with the gopas and gopīs are the most charming of all [i.e., are more charming than his līlās as a king in Mathurā and Dvārakā].’ In Śrī Bṛhad Vāmana Purāna: ‘[Bhagavān:] Although I have many well-known charming līlās [e.g., the līlā of being tied around the belly by Yaśodā], when I remember the rāsa-līlā, I do not know what becomes of my mind.’ Regarding [his] flute, as follows: ‘All the sweetness of the sounds that exist throughout the entire world become engulfed in an atom of the sound of the flute. A reversal of the nature (dharma) of [all] mobile and stationary beings, who become absorbed in intense, paramount bliss, can occur when the enchanting flute resounds [i.e., mobile beings can become stationary, and stationary beings can become mobile].’ … Regarding [his] beautiful figure, as follows: ‘An ocean of nectar filled with waves of incomparable sweetness, the figure of the Son of the gopa’s king delights [all] mobile and stationary beings.’ As in the Tantra, ‘I will describe the supreme meditation on the Son of Nanda, the tips of the toenails of whose lotus feet are worthy of lustration by the beauty of the figures of crores and crores of Kandarpas [i.e., Kāmadevas], and whose pleasing luster is unseen and unheard of anywhere [else, i.e., including even in Mathurā and Dvārakā].’”

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