paraṁ bhagavatā sākaṁ sākṣāt-krīḍā-paramparāḥ |
sadānubhavituṁ tair hi vaikuṇṭho’pekṣyate kvacit ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.3.62)
“Vaikuṇṭha is sometimes desired by them [i.e., bhaktas sometimes desire to enter Vaikuṇṭha] only specifically to continuously and directly experience a succession of play with Bhagavān.”
aho golokīyair nikhila-bhuvana-vāsi-mahitaiḥ
sadā tais tair lokaiḥ samanubhavanīyasya mahataḥ |
padārthasyākhyātuṁ kati vivaraṇāni prabhur ahaṁ
tad āstaṁ tal-lokākhila-parikarebhyo mama namaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.380)
“Aho!
How many descriptions can I articulate
Of that paramount object
Eternally experienceable in full
By those people of Goloka
[Who are] Honored by the residents of all the worlds?
Thus,
Let my obeisance be [offered]
Unto all the companions [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in that plane [of Goloka].”
lobha-moha-samāpannaṁ na daivaṁ trāyate naram ||
yathāgniḥ pavanoddhūtaḥ sūkṣmo’pi bhavate mahān |
tathā karma-samāyuktaṁ daivaṁ sādhu vivardhate ||
yathā taila-kṣayād dīpaḥ pramlānim upagacchati |
tathā karma-kṣayād daivaṁ pramlānim upagacchati ||
(Mahābhārata: 13.6.42–44)
“Destiny does not save a person afflicted with greed and delusion. As even a small fire stoked by the wind becomes large, so destiny supported by karma greatly increases. As a lamp becomes extinguished as a result of the diminution of oil, so destiny becomes extinguished as a result of the diminution of karma.”
yayā hṛt-kṣobha-rāhityān mahākautukato’pi te |
vṛttaṁ bhāva-viśeṣena tat-tal-loke’cyutekṣaṇaṁ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.251)
“Because of which [i.e., because of being unknowing], your sight of Acyuta occurred on those various lokas [i.e., in Svarga, Mahar, and so on] by means of your special bhāva [in relation to Bhagavān] on account of your absence of agitation of mind and your great curiosity.”
kṛṣṇāṅghri-padma-makaranda-nipāna-lubdho
jānāti tad-rasa-lihāṁ paramaṁ mahattvam |
brahmaiva gokula-bhuvām ayam uddhavo’pi
gopī-gaṇasya yad imau lasataḥ sma tat tat ||
yeṣāṁ hi yad vastuni bhāti lobhas
te tadvatāṁ bhāgya-balaṁ vidanti |
gopyo mukundādhara-pāna-lubdhā
gāyanti saubhāgya-bharaṁ muralyāḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.157)
“One intensely desirous of drinking the nectar of the lotus of Kṛṣṇa’s feet knows the paramount greatness of those who taste that rasa; Brahmā certainly [knows that] of those born in Gokula and he, Uddhava, [knows that] of the gopīs, since they both long for those two [i.e., since Brahmā longs for the rasa relished by those born in Gokula and Uddhava longs for the rasa relished by the gopīs]. Those who have intense desire for an object speak of the strength of the fortune of those possessed of that [object]. Intensely desirous of drinking from the lips of Mukunda, the gopīs sing of the abundance of good fortune of the flute.”
rāgātmika-bhaktimatāṁ durabhisandhināpy anukaraṇa-mātreṇa tādṛśatva-prāptiḥ śrūyate, yathā dhātrītvānukaraṇena pūtanāyāḥ | tad uktam—‘sad-veśād iva pūtanāpi sakulā’ iti | kim uta tadīya-rucimadbhis tādṛśa-nirantara-samyag-bhakty-anuṣṭhānena |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 312)
“Attainment of being such [i.e., of being a rāgātmikā-bhakta] is heard of [occurring] just by means of emulation of those possessed of rāgātmikā-bhakti even [when done] out of ill-intent, as in the case of Pūtanā’s emulation of a nursemaid. This is stated [in SB 10.14.35], ‘Even Pūtanā along with her family was caused to attain you just because of [her wearing] fine dress [i.e., just because of her having donned the beautiful garb of a cowherd woman which is very dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as a disguise in an attempt to murder him].’ So how much more so [must the attainment of being a rāgātmikā-bhakta occur] as a result of continuous, genuine [alt., pleasing] engagement in bhakti of such nature by those possessed of taste (ruci) for that [i.e., for a particular type of rāgātmikā-bhakti]?”
bhagavad-bhakti-rasikā namasyā mādṛśāṁ sadā ||
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇāmbhojārpitātmāno hi ye kila |
tad-eka-prema-lābhāśā tyaktārtha-jana-jīvanāḥ ||
aihikāmuṣmikāśeṣa-sādhya-sādhana-nispṛhāḥ |
jāti-varṇāśramācāra-dharmādhīnatva-pāragāḥ ||
ṛṇa-trayād anirmuktā veda-mārgātigā api |
hari-bhakti-balāvegād akutaścid-bhayāḥ sadā ||
nānyat kim api vāñchanti tad-bhakti-rasa-lampaṭāḥ |
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ ||
bhagavān iva satyaṁ me ta eva parama-priyāḥ |
parama-prārthanīyaś ca mama taiḥ saṅgamaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.3.54–59)
“[Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Nārada Ṛṣi:] Bhagavad-bhakti-rasikas are always to be offered obeisance to for those such as myself. Of self offered to the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa; of desire for excellent prema thereto; having relinquished wealth, people [i.e., relatives and others], and livelihood; desireless of all objects to be attained and [all] means of attainment [of those objects] existent in this life and the next; having crossed beyond subjection to the conduct (ācāra) and duties (dhama) of class, varṇa, and āśrama; being ever free from fear from anywhere by virtue of the driving force of the power of bhakti to Hari even though [they are] not fully liberated from the three debts [to the devas, sages, and ancestors] and transgressors of the path of the Vedas, they, who are filled with hankering for bhakti-rasa, desire nothing else whatsoever, and are seers of the same object amid Svarga, liberation, and even Naraka, truly are supremely dear to me just as Bhagavān is, and association with them is the supreme object to be prayed for by me.”
aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ
truṭir yugāyate tvām apaśyatām |
kuṭila-kuntalaṁ śrī-mukhaṁ ca te
jaḍa udīkṣatāṁ pakṣma-kṛt dṛśām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.15)
“[The gopīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] ‘When you go out to the forest during the day, a truṭi [i.e., half a milisecond] seems like a yuga for we who do not see you [all day], and the creator of lids for the eyes of we who eagerly behold your wavy locks and beautiful face [when you return in the late afternoon] is [considered by us to be] a fool.”
tat-tad-vinodāmṛta-sāgarāntaraṁ
bibhety alaṁ me rasanāvagāhitum |
sadaiva tat-tan-madhura-priyāpi yat
karmaṇy aśakye na janaḥ pravartate ||
pītaṁ sakṛt karṇa-puṭena tat-tal-
līlāmṛtaṁ kasya haren na cetaḥ |
pravartituṁ vāñchati tatra tasmāl
lajjāṁ na rakṣet kila lolatā hi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.114–115)
“My tongue is extremely afraid of plunging into the ocean of the nectar of those pastimes [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vraja] even though those sweets [i.e., those pastimes] are indeed always dear [alt., pleasing] to it because a person does not engage in an impossible task. [But] Whose heart shall the nectar of those līlās, drunk once through hollows of the ears, not steal? Therefore, [my tongue] desires to engage in that since intense desire (lolatā, syn., laulya) certainly cannot hold to shyness.”
gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ
lāvaṇya-sāram asamorddhvam ananya-siddham |
dṛgbhiḥ pibanty anusavābhinavaṁ durāpam
ekānta-dhāma yaśasaḥ śriya aiśvarasya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.44.14; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.135; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 101, 183; Prīti Sandarbha: 99, 111; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.112)
“What austerity did the gopīs perform as a result of which they drink through their eyes his form which is the essence of loveliness, unequalled and unsurpassed, not accomplished otherwise, new at every moment, difficult to attain, and the ultimate reservoir of fame, splendor, and mastery?”
