e-tine lāgila mana, lobhe kare āsvādana … |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.135)
“His [i.e., Mahāprabhu’s] mind became fixed upon these three [i.e., the mādhurya of Kṛṣṇa’s figure, Kṛṣṇa’s face, and Kṛṣṇa’s smile], and out of intense desire (lobha) he tasted them.”
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ
krīyatāṁ yadi kuto’pi labhyate |
tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ
janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate ||
(Unknown sounce; cited in Padyāvalī: 14; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.70; attributed by some to Rāmānanda Rāya)
“Purchase awareness imbued with Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa if it is attainable [anywhere] by any means at all. Hankering is verily the only price for it, but that [hankering] is not attainable even by ten million lives of meritorious deeds.”
paṇḍitā bahavo rājan bahu-jñāḥ saṁśaya-cchidaḥ |
sadasas patayo’py eke asantoṣāt patanty adhaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.21)
“O King! Many paṇḍitas who have vast knowledge and can cut away [others’] doubts, and even numerous assembly leaders [i.e., paṇḍitas of the highest rank], fall down because of dissatisfaction [i.e., the inability to be satisfied, that is, because of greed].”
athāsya tad-veśyā-vaktrāc chrī-rādhāyāḥ śrī-kṛṣṇānurāgādi-śravaṇa-jāta-lobhatvād rāgānugā-mārgeṇaiva bhajanam | tatra rāgānugā-mārge’nutpanna-rati-sādhaka-bhaktair api svepsita-siddha-dehaṁ manasi parikalpya bhagavat-sevādikaṁ kriyate | jāta-ratīnāṁ tu svayam eva tad-deha-sphūrtiḥ | asya tūtpannā madhura-jātīyā ratiḥ krameṇānurāga-daśāṁ prāptāsti, atas tad-deha-sphūrtiḥ sadaiva |
(Sāraṅga-raṅgadā-ṭīkā on Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 2)
“His [i.e., Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s] bhajana was based solely on the rāgānugā-mārga because of his intense desirousness (lobhatva) produced by hearing about Śrī Rādhā’s anurāga and so forth for Śrī Kṛṣṇa from the mouth of the courtesan [i.e., Cintāmaṇi]. There in rāgānugā-mārga, even by sādhaka-bhaktas in whom rati has not [yet] manifested, service and so forth to Bhagavān is performed by meditating in the mind upon one’s desired siddha-deha. For those in whom rati has manifested, however, manifestation (sphūrti) of that deha [i.e., the siddha-deha] occurs of its own accord [i.e., without requiring any specific effort from the sādhaka to meditate upon it]. His [i.e., Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura’s] manifest rati of the madhura-type, however, gradually attained the stage of anurāga [even though this is normally impossible for anyone within saṁsāra apart from those who participate directly in Bhagavān’s prakaṭa-līlā], and thus manifestation of that deha [i.e., the siddha-deha] became constant [in his mind].”
yair etat paripīyate hṛdi lasat tṛṣṇātirekān muhur
brahmādyair api durgamaṁ vraja-vidhor līlāmṛtaṁ rādhayā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinī-kumudinī-vṛndasya bandhur vraje
kāruṇyād acireṇa vāñchita-tamaṁ teṣāṁ tanotu svayam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.96)
[Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confers a blessing upon readers of Govinda-līlāmṛta at the end of the text and thereby illustrates the ultimate aim and result of relishing the text:]
“May the Friend of the lilies
Of the charming women
In the forest of Vṛndā in Vraja
[viz., Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Beloved of the lily-like gopīs],
Out of compassion,
Personally,
And without delay,
Bestow that which is desired most [i.e., prema-sevā]
Upon those by whom this līlāmṛta
[i.e., this text Govinda-līlāmṛta,
And alt., this nectar of the līlā]
Of [himself] the Moon of Vraja with Rādhā
Is continuously imbibed in full
Out of an abundance of thirst
Rollicking in the heart
Although [such līlāmṛta is] inaccessible even to Brahmā and others.”
vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-hara-
pradīvyad-adharāmṛtaḥ sukṛti-labhya-phelā-lavaḥ |
sudhā-jid-ahivallikā-sudala-vīṭikā-carvitaḥ
sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti jihvā-spṛhām ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 8.8; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.16.119)
“[Rādhārāṇī to Viśākhā:] The amṛta of his most lustrous lips takes away the incomparable, noble women of Vraja’s thirst for [all] other rasas. A morsel of his remnants is attainable [only] by sukṛti [i.e., good fortune]. And the pan roll he has chewed made from fine leaves of betel defeats nectar. O sakhi, Madana-mohana increases the desire of my tongue.”
vinā bhavet kiṁ hari-dāsa-varya-
padāśrayaṁ bhaktir ataḥ śrayāmi |
yam eva saprema nijeśayoḥ śrī-
govardhano me diśatām abhīṣṭam ||
(Viśvanātha Cakravartīpāda’s Govardhanāṣṭakam: 8)
“Can bhakti [to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa] ever manifest without the shelter of the feet of the best of Hari’s servants?[Never.] Therefore, I take shelter In [Govardhana,] he who is endowed with prema for his own Īśas. May Śrī Govardhana fulfill my desire.”
śrī-rādhāyāḥ praṇaya-mahimā kīdṛśo vānayaivā-
svādyo yenādbhuta-madhurimā kīdṛśo vā madīyaḥ |
saukhyañ cāsyā mad-anubhavataḥ kīdṛśaṁ veti lobhāt
tad-bhāvāḍhyaḥ samajani śacī-garbha-sindhau harīnduḥ ||
(Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.6)
“‘What is the greatness of Śrī Rādhā’s love? What sort of astonishing sweetness of mine is relishable only by her through that [love]? And what sort of happiness does she feel as a result of experiencing me?’ Out of such intense desire [i.e., intensely desiring to experience these three mysteries], the moon Hari, endowed with her bhāva, arose from the ocean of Śacī’s womb.”
cirād āśā-mātraṁ tvayi viracayantaḥ sthira-dhiyo
vidadhyur ye vāsaṁ madhurima-gabhīre madhupure |
dadhānaḥ kaiśore vayasi sakhitāṁ gokula-pate
prapadyethās teṣāṁ paricayam avaśyaṁ nayanayoḥ ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭakam: 10.37)
“[Rādhā to Kṛṣṇa:] O Lord of Gokula, please appear bearing your companionship in your adolescent age [i.e., accompanied by your friends beginning with Śrīdāma in your form of an adolescent flute-player] before the eyes of those of steady mind who have long resided in profoundly sweet Madhupurī [i.e., Mathurā Maṇḍala] desiring only you.”
vrajendra-kula dugdha-sindhu kṛṣṇa tāhe pūrṇa indu
janmi kailā jagat ujora |
kānty-amṛta yebā piye nirantara piyā jiye
vraja-janera nayana-cakora ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.19.36)
“The family of Vraja’s King is an ocean of milk, and Kṛṣṇa is the full moon that has arisen from there and illuminated the world. The eyes of the people of Vraja are cakora birds who drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s luster and live by [only] drink it continuously.”
