Longing

aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ

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.”

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yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa

yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa-
bhrājat-kapola-subhagaṁ savilāsa-hāsam |
nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyo
nāryo narāś ca muditāḥ kupitā nimeś ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.24.65; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 82, 111; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.123)

“Drinking with their eyes whose [i.e., his, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] face, which is a constant festival, filled with a charming smile, and lovely with shining cheeks and adorable ears [decorated] with makara earrings, delighted women and men were not satiated and became angry at Nimi.”

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tat-tad-vinodāmṛta-sāgarāntaraṁ

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.”

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gopyas tapaḥ kim acaran yad amuṣya rūpaṁ

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?”

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vraja-bhūmāv ayaṁ jātas tasyāṁ gopatvam ācarat

vraja-bhūmāv ayaṁ jātas tasyāṁ gopatvam ācarat |
gopālopāsanā-niṣṭho viśiṣṭo’sman mahāśayaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.62)

“[Śrī Uddhava along with Śrī Nārada to Gopa Kumāra:] He was born in the land of Vraja, he has engaged in cowherding (gopatva) there, and he has fixity in worship (upāsanā) of Gopāla. This great soul is superior to us.”

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evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā

evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ |
hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty
unmādavan nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.40; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.641; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.6 Bhakti Sandarbha: 188, 263; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.7.94, 2.9.260, 2.23.41, 2.25.141, 3.3.179)

“One whose rite is so, in whom anurāga [i.e., prema] has manifest by chanting the name of one’s Beloved, and who is [thus] of melted heart, loudly laughs, cries, shouts, sings, and dances as though mad, oblivious to society.”

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hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati

hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati |
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ durdarśo’haṁ kuyoginām ||
sakṛd yad darśitaṁ rūpam etat kāmāya te’nagha |
mat-kāmaḥ śanakaiḥ sādhu sarvān muñcati hṛc-chayān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.6.22–23)

“[Bhagavān as a disembodied voice to Śrī Nārada in his previous life after once giving him darśana:] Hanta! You will not be able to see me [again] in this life. I am imperceptible to immature yogīs, whose impurities are not burnt away. O sinless one! This form which was once shown [to you by me] was for the sake of your desire [i.e., to intensify your desire for me]. A sādhu with desire for me gradually gives up all that lie in the heart.”

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kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ

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.”

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