rūpaṁ kim apy anirvācyaṁ tanor mādhuryam ucyate
rūpaṁ kim apy anirvācyaṁ tanor mādhuryam ucyate ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 10.36)
[Mādhurya as an uddīpana-vibhāva:] “Some sort of indescribable appearance [i.e., beauty] of the body is called mādhurya.”
Mādhurya
tan mādhuryaṁ bhaved yatra ceṣṭādeḥ spṛhaṇīyatā
tan mādhuryaṁ bhaved yatra ceṣṭādeḥ spṛhaṇīyatā ||
yathā—
varām adhyāsīnas taṭa-bhuvam avaṣṭambha-rucibhiḥ
kadambaiḥ prālambaṁ pravalita-vilambaṁ viracayan |
prapannāyām agre mihira-duhitus tīrtha-padavīṁ
kuraṅgī-netrāyāṁ madhu-ripur apāṅgaṁ vikirati ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.257)
“That wherein desirability of movement and so forth shall occur is [called] mādhurya, as in [the following illustration]: ‘While sitting on the splendid bank of the Daughter of Sun [i.e., the Yamunā] and making a long-delayed garland that hangs to the breast with golden-hued kadambas, Murāri cast a side-long glance before she of doe-eyes [i.e., Śrī Rādhā] arriving on the path to the ghat.’”
madhuraṁ madhuraṁ vapur asya vibhor
madhuraṁ madhuraṁ vapur asya vibhor
madhuraṁ madhuraṁ vadanaṁ madhuram |
madhu-gandhi mṛdu-smitam etad aho
madhuraṁ madhuraṁ madhuraṁ madhuram ||
(Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 92; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.136)
“Sweet, swee Is this Lord’s figure.
Sweet, sweet, swee Is his face.
[And] Aho! Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet
Is this gentle, honey-scented smile.”
nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam
nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam |
anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.16)
[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] “I always follow one who is indifferent, contemplative, peaceful, free from enmity, and of equal vision so that I may be purified by the dust of his feet.”
yayā vācehayā dainyaṁ matyā ca sthairyam eti tat
yayā vācehayā dainyaṁ matyā ca sthairyam eti tat |
taṁ yatnena bhajed vidvāṁs tad-viruddhāni varjayet ||
dainyaṁ tu paramaṁ premṇaḥ parīpākeṇa janyate |
tāsāṁ gokula-nārīṇām iva kṛṣṇa-viyogataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.223–224)
“One who is wise should carefully cultivate speech, activity, and thought by which that [i.e., humility] attains steadfastness and should avoid contrarieties [i.e., all speech, activity, and thought contrary] to that. Paramount humility, however, manifests with the full maturation of prema like that of them—the ladies of Gokula—as a result of separation from Kṛṣṇa.”
gopī-preme kare kṛṣṇa-mādhuryera puṣṭi
gopī-preme kare kṛṣṇa-mādhuryera puṣṭi |
mādhurya bāḍāya prema hañā mahātuṣṭi ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.198)
“The gopīs’ prema nourishes Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya, and his mādhurya, becoming greatly satisfied, increases the prema [of the gopīs].”
pibanti ye bhagavata ātmanaḥ satāṁ
pibanti ye bhagavata ātmanaḥ satāṁ
kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṇa-puṭeṣu sambhṛtam |
punanti te viṣaya-vidūṣitāśayaṁ
vrajanti tac-caraṇa-saroruhāntikam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.37; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.441; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.124; Paramātma Sandarbha: 108; Bhakti Sandarbha: 30, 86)
“Those who drink, held in the cups of their ears, the nectar of kathā about Bhagavān, the Ātmā of the sādhus, purify their hearts contaminated by viṣaya and reach the presence of his lotus feet.”
heloddhūnita-khedayā viśadayā pronmīlad-āmodayā
heloddhūnita-khedayā viśadayā pronmīlad-āmodayā
śāmyac-chāstra-vivādayā rasa-dayā citārpitonmādayā |
śaśvad-bhakti-vinodayā samadayā mādhurya-maryādayā
śrī-caitanya dayā-nidhe tava dayā bhūyād amandodayā ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 8.14; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.10.119)
“O ocean of grace, Śrī Caitanya! May your grace arising in abundance with the limit of mādhurya—[mādhurya] by which lamentation is easily cast away, which is brilliant [i.e., pure], which fully expands delight, which resolves dispute over śāstra, which bestows rasa, by which unmāda [i.e., madness] is cast into the mind, which manifests eternal delight in bhakti, and which is endowed with mada [i.e., jubilation]—be [bestowed upon me].”
caitanya-līlā-amṛta-pūra
caitanya-līlā-amṛta-pūra, kṛṣṇa-līlā-sukarpūra,
do̐he meli haya sumādhurya |
sādhu-guru-prasāde, tāhā yei āsvāde,
se-i jāne mādhurya-prācurya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.25.270)
“Caitanya-līlā is [like] an abundance of condensed milk [lit., nectar], and Kṛṣṇa-līlā is [like] fine camphor. By combining, the two become extremely sweet. One who tastes this [combination] by the grace of the sādhus and guru knows its abundance of sweetness.”
karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna
karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyāna,
ihā haite mādhurya durlabha |
kevala ye rāga-mārge, bhaje kṛṣṇe anurāge,
tāre kṛṣṇa-mādhurya sulabha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.119)
“Karma [i.e., observing the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama], tapa (austerity), yoga, jñāna [i.e., deliberation on the meaning of the Upaniṣads], vidhi-bhakti [i.e., devotion motivated by śāstric injunctions], japa (repetition of a mantra), dhyāna (meditation)—through these [Kṛṣṇa’s] mādhurya is difficult to attain. Only for one who worships Kṛṣṇa with anurāga (loving attachment) according to the path of rāga is Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya easy to attain.”