saṅkīrtanārambha-kṛte’pi gaure
dhāvanti jīva-śravaṇe guṇāni |
aśuddha-cittāḥ kim u śuddha-cittāḥ
śrutvā pramattāḥ khalu te nanartuḥ ||
(Caitanya-śataka: 32)
“Even when Gaura had just begun his saṅkīrtana, the qualities [of the name] purified the ears of the jīvas. Those of impure mind, and all the more those of pure mind, upon hearing [the saṅkīrtana], became indeed maddened and danced.”
śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ śrī-mūrter aṅghri-sevane |
śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha ||
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare |
nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ śrīman-mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.90–2)
“(60) Śraddhā and special affinity (prīti) for serving the feet of the śrī-mūrti, (61) tasting the meanings of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam with relishers of rasa (rasikas), (62) associating with sādhus who are of like aspiration, affectionate, and superior to oneself, (63) saṅkīrtana of the name, and (64) residing in the beautiful district of Mathurā.”
mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ tvañ ca rāsa-rasāmbudhim |
tat-prema-mohitābhiḥ śrī-gopībhir abhito vṛtam ||
amūṣāṁ dāsyam icchantī tādṛśa-prema-bhaṅgibhiḥ |
nityaṁ bhajasva tan-nāma-saṅkīrtana-parāyaṇā ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.154–5)
“The Adolescent Cowherd, the Ocean of the rasa of rāsa, surrounded on all sides by the beautiful gopīs enchanted by prema for him—O Mother, you too should always worship him with similar means of prema [i.e., with means of prema similar to those of the gopīs’ prema], desiring servitude to them [i.e., to the gopīs] and being absorbed in saṅkīrtana of his name.”
tad dhi tat-tad-vraja-krīḍā-dhyāna-gāna-pradhānayā |
bhaktyā sampadyate preṣṭha-nāma-saṅkīrtanojjvalam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.218)
“That [i.e., the prema that leads to attainment of the Beloved, one’s Iṣṭa-deva, in Goloka], bright with saṅkīrtana of the names of the Beloved, is certainly manifested through bhakti in which meditation on and singing of the [Beloved’s] various acts of play in Vraja are primary.”
nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam ārti-bhārān
meghaṁ vinā prāvṛṣi cātakānām |
rātrau viyogāt sva-pate rathāṅgi-
vargasya cākroṣaṇavat pratīhi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.167)
“Know saṅkīrtana of the names [of Bhagavān] to arise from a profusion of heartache like the loud cries of cātakas during a monsoon devoid of clouds or [the loud cries] of cakravākīs at night separated from their husbands.”
