Nāma

premā nāmādbhutārthaḥ śravaṇa-patha-gataḥ kasya nāmnāṁ mahimnaḥ

premā nāmādbhutārthaḥ śravaṇa-patha-gataḥ kasya nāmnāṁ mahimnaḥ
ko vettā kasya vṛndāvana-vipina-mahā-mādhurīṣu praveśaḥ |
ko vā jānāti rādhāṁ parama-rasa-camatkāra-mādhurya-sīmām
ekaś caitanyacandraḥ parama-karuṇayā sarvam āviścakāra ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 130)

“Who would have heard of that amazing object [i.e., the supreme puruṣārtha] known as prema? Who would know of the name’s glory? Who would have entered the absolute sweetness of Vṛndāvana’s groves? Who would have known Rādhā, the [personified] climax of the astonishing sweetness of the supreme rasa? Only Caitanyacandra, out of his supreme compassion, has revealed all of this.”

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śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ

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.”

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kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ

kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ viraktir māna-śūnyatā |
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ ||
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne prītis tad-vasati-sthale |
ity ādayo’nubhāvāḥ syur jāta-bhāvāṅkure jane ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: Pūrva-vibhāga, 3.25–26)

“(1) Forbearance, (2) not wasting time, (3) non-attachment, (4) pridelessness, (5) hopefulness, (6) longing, (7) constant taste for chanting the name, (8) attachment to discussion of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] qualities, and (9) fondness for his abode—these and other indications shall manifest in a person in whom the sprout of bhāva has arisen.”

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mātar gopa-kiśoraṁ taṁ

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.”

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tad dhi tat-tad-vraja-krīḍā

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.”

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nāmnāṁ tu saṅkīrtanam arti-bhārān

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.”

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