Prema

aho laukika-sad-bandhu-bhāvaṁ ca staumi yena hi

aho laukika-sad-bandhu-bhāvaṁ ca staumi yena hi |
gauravāder vilopena kṛṣṇe sat-prema tanyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.76)

“[Śrī Nārada along with Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] Aho! And certainly I praise that attitude (bhāva) [on the part of bhaktas] of [Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s being] an excellent worldly kinsman by which excellent prema for Kṛṣṇa is expanded as a result of the removal of reverence and so forth [in regard to him].”

Read on →

premodreka-parīpāka-mahimā kena varṇyatām

premodreka-parīpāka-mahimā kena varṇyatām |
yaḥ kuryāt parameśaṁ taṁ sad-bandhum iva laukikam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.75)

“[Śrī Nārada along with Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] By whom can be described the greatness of the complete maturation of an abundance of prema which can make him, the Supreme Īśa, [act] like an excellent kinsmen (bandhu) of the world?

Read on →

saprema-bhakteḥ paramānukūlaṁ

saprema-bhakteḥ paramānukūlaṁ
dainyaṁ mahāpuṣṭi-karaṁ sadā vaḥ |
tasyāpi tat-prema-vibhāvane’laṁ
bhogākula-grāmya-vihāra-jātaṁ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.74)

“[Śrī Nārada along with Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] The humility (dainya) of you all is always highly favorable for, and greatly nourishing of, bhakti [endowed] with prema, and the profusion of sport resembling [that of] a villager absorbed in enjoyment even on his [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān’s] part is well capable in regard to manifesting prema for him.”

Read on →

preyāṁs te’haṁ tvam api ca mama preyasīti pravādas

preyāṁs te’haṁ tvam api ca mama preyasīti pravādas
tvaṁ me prāṇā aham api tavāsmīti hanta pralāpaḥ |
tvaṁ me te syām aham iti yat tac ca no sādhu rādhe
vyāhāre nau na hi samucito yuṣmad-asmat-prayogaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 5.27)

“‘[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] [Our saying,] “I am your lover and you are my beloved” is [just] prattle. Oh! “You are my prāṇas and I am yours” is [just] chatter. O Rādhe! [Even] “You are mine and I am yours” is not correct, since usage [even] of [the words] “you” and “I” in our speech is not befitting.’

Read on →

vighnākulatve’pi mano-rati-paratā

vighnākulatve’pi mano-rati-paratā | …
yasya kṛcchra-gatasyāpi keśave ramate manaḥ |
na vicyutā ca bhaktir vai sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
āpad-gatasya yasyeha bhakir avyabhicāriṇī |
nānyatra ramate cittaṁ sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.67–68)

“[A third degree of one-pointedness (ekāntitā) upon Śrī Bhagavān is described:] Being devoted with rati in the mind even while being disturbed by obstructions [is described in Skanda Purāṇa]: ‘A person whose mind rejoices in Keśava and whose bhakti does not digress even when one is beset with hardship is verily a Bhāgavata. A person beset with adversity here [in this world] whose bhakti is unwavering and whose mind does not rejoice elsewhere [i.e., apart from in Śrī Bhagavān] is verily a Bhāgavata.”

Read on →

Uddhava-gītā

Uddhava-gītā

Six verses in praise of the Vraja-gopīs expressed by Śrī Uddhava after delivering Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s messages from Mathurā.

Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.58–63.

Read on →

aho yūyaṁ sma pūrṇārthā bhavatyo loka-pūjitāḥ

aho yūyaṁ sma pūrṇārthā bhavatyo loka-pūjitāḥ |
vāsudeve bhagavati yāsām ity arpitaṁ manaḥ ||
dāna-vrāta-tapo-homa-japa-svādhyāya-saṁyamaiḥ |
śreyobhir vividhaiś cānyaiḥ kṛṣṇe bhaktir hi sādhyate ||
bhagavaty uttamaḥ-śloke bhavatībhir anuttamā |
bhaktiḥ pravartitā diṣṭyā munīnām api durlabhā ||
diṣṭyā putrān patīn dehān svajanān bhavanāni ca |
hitvāvṛṇīta yūyaṁ yat kṛṣṇākhyaṁ puruṣaṁ param ||
sarvātma-bhāvo’dhikṛto bhavatīnām adhokṣaje |
viraheṇa mahābhāgā mahān me’nugrahaḥ kṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.23–27)

“[Uddhava to the gopīs:] Aho! You all, whose minds are offered to Bhagavān Vāsudeva in this way, are verily successful and worshipable to the world. Bhakti to Kṛṣṇa is certainly accomplished by means of charity, rites, austerities, sacrifices, japa, study, and sense control, as well as by various other meritorious acts. Unexcelled bhakti to Bhagavān, he of highest praise (Uttamaḥśloka), that is rare to attain even for the sages, [however,] has been performed [alt., will be propagated] by you all by great fortune. That you all have forsaken [your] sons, husbands, bodies, relatives, and homes and accepted the Supreme Puruṣa [alt., ‘another man’] known as Kṛṣṇa is by great fortune. Bhāva in full form for he who is transcendent (Adhokṣaja) has been attained by [alt., conferred upon] you all, and by separation [i.e., by your experience of separation from Kṛṣṇa with that most complete form of bhāva], O you all of great fortune, tremendous favor has been shown to me.”

Read on →

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca |
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 14.27)

“Since I am the basis of Brahman, of the imperishable nectar, of the eternal dharma, and of the bliss of the one-pointed.”

Read on →

vihāya pitṛ-devādīn pariniṣṭhāṅ gato harau

vihāya pitṛ-devādīn pariniṣṭhāṅ gato harau |
tad-gāḍha-premabhiḥ pūrṇa ekāntīti nigadyate ||
(Unknown source; cited in the Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.46.2)

“One who forsakes the forefathers, devas, and so forth, is given to complete fixity upon Hari, and is fulfilled by virtue of an abundance of intense prema for him is called ‘one-pointed’ (ekānti).”

Read on →

ādi-purāṇe ca śrīmad-arjuna-vākyaṁ

ādi-purāṇe ca śrīmad-arjuna-vākyaṁ—
trailokye bhagavad-bhaktāḥ ke tvāṁ jānanti marmaṇi |
keṣu vā tvaṁ sadā tuṣṭaḥ keṣu prema tavātulam ||
śrī-bhagavad-vākyaṁ—
na tathā me priyatamo brahmā rudraś ca pārthiva |
na ca lakṣmīr na cātmā ca yathā gopī-jano mama ||
bhaktā mamānuraktāś ca kati santi na bhū-tale |
kintu gopī-janaḥ prāṇādhika-priyatamo mama ||
na māṁ jānanti munayo yoginaś ca parantapa |
na ca rudrādayo devā yathā gopyo vidanti mām ||
na tapobhir na vedaiś ca nācārair na ca vidyayā |
vaśo’smi kevalaṁ premṇā pramāṇaṁ tatra gopikāḥ ||
man-māhātmyaṁ mat-saparyāṁ mac-chraddhāṁ man-manogatam |
jānanti gopikāḥ pārtha nānye jānanti marmaṇi ||
nijāṅgam api yā gopyo mameti samupāsate |
tābhyaḥ paraṁ na me pārtha nigūḍha-prema-bhājanam ||
(Ādi Purāṇa; cited in Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.34–40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.184, 213)

“Also a statement of Śrīmad Arjuna [to Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in Ādi Purāṇa: ‘Which bhaktas of Bhagavān throughout the three worlds know you in truth? With whom are you always pleased? For whom do you have unparalleled prema? The reply of Śrī Bhagavān: ‘O royal, neither Brahmā, nor Rudra, nor Lakṣmī, nor myself are so beloved to me as the gopīs. How many devoted bhaktas do I have on the surface of the earth? [So many.] The gopīs, however, are beloved to me more so than [even] my life [so, it goes without saying they are more dear to me than all my other bhaktas]. The sages and yogīs do not know me, O tormenter of enemies. Not even Rudra or any of the other devas know me as the gopīs do. I am not captivated by austerities, by [study of] the Vedas, by observances of conduct, or by knowledge. [Rather, I am captivated] Only by prema. The gopīs are the evidence (pramāṇa) of this. The gopīs know my greatness, my service, my desire, and my intent. O Pārtha, no one else knows [these] in truth. O Pārtha, there are no greater vessels of highly confidential prema for me than the gopīs, who care even for their own bodies as my own [i.e., they care for their own bodies only because they consider them instruments for my service].”

Read on →

Scroll to Top