kṛṣṇaṁ smaran janaṁ cāsya preṣṭhaṁ nija-samīhitam |
tat-tat-kathā-rataś cāsau kuryād vāsaṁ vraje sadā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.294)
“Remembering beloved Kṛṣṇa and his companion of one’s own longing, one absorbed in narrations of them should always dwell in Vraja.”
tat-prema-śarmaṇāṁ sarvātiśayi-dharmatāyām aham api marma-vettā, yataḥ—
harir gopa-kṣauṇī-pati-mithunam anye ca vibudhā
na naḥ krūraṁ cittaṁ mṛdulayitum īśā lavam api |
aho teṣāṁ premā vilasati harau yas tu balavān
harer vā yas teṣu drutayati sa eva pratipadam ||
(Gopāla-Campū: Pūrva, 1.81; 64)
“Even I [who have a most hard heart] am able to understand the secret of the super-excellence of the bliss of that prema [found between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his companions]: Neither Hari, nor the King and Queen of the land of the cowherds [i.e., Nanda and Yaśodā], nor any other wise persons [of Vraja] are able to soften my hard heart even one bit. But aho! The powerful prema they express for Hari and that Hari expresses for them melts my heart at every step.”
lobhanīya-vastuni śrute dṛṣṭe vā svata eva lobha utpadyate |
(Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 1.5)
“Lobha (intense desire) is manifest entirely of its own accord when highly desirable objects are heard about or seen.”
tat-tad-bhāvādi-mādhurye śrute dhīr yad apekṣate |
nātra śāstraṁ na yuktiṁ ca tal-lobhotpatti-lakṣaṇam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.292)
“That the intellect relies neither upon injunctions (śāstra) nor upon reasoning [to act] after hearing of the sweetness of their [i.e., the rāgātmikā-bhaktas’] respective bhāvas and so forth [i.e., their forms, qualities, līlā, etc.]—this is the characteristic of the arising of lobha in this regard [i.e., in regard to rāgānugā-bhakti].”
rāgātmikāika-niṣṭhā ye vraja-vāsi-janādayaḥ |
teṣāṁ bhāvāptaye lubdho bhaved atrādhikāravān ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.291)
“One who is intensely desirous of attaining the bhāva of the residents of Vraja or elsewhere, who are fixed exclusively in rāgātmikā-bhakti, shall be possessed of eligibility (adhikāra) here [i.e., for rāgānugā-bhakti].”
lobhe vraja-vāsi-bhāve kare anugati |
śāstra-yukti nāhi māne—rāgānugāra prakṛti ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.148)
“Out of intense desire, one [i.e., a fortunate person who has heard about rāgātmikā-bhakti] follows the bhāva of a Vraja-vāsī and does not consider śāstra [i.e., injunctions] or reasoning. This is the nature of rāgānugā [-bhakti].”
rāgamayī bhaktira haya ‘rāgātmikā’ nāma |
tāhā śuni lubdha haya kona bhāgyavān ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.147)
“Bhakti constituted of rāga is called rāgātmikā. Hearing of it, some fortunate person becomes intensely desirous [of it].”
yasya śrī-bhagavat-prāptāv utkaṭecchā yato bhavet |
sa tatraiva labhetāmuṁ na tu vāso’sya lābha-kṛt ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.4.34)
[Prahlāda to Nārada:] “Where one may develop intense desire to attain Śrī Bhagavān, there itself [i.e., only there] one can attain him, and his residence, on the contrary, does not cause attainment [of him].”
