Prema

prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ

prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ
viccheda-dāvānala-vegato’ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-
veśena gāḍhaṁ bhavatīva duḥkham ||
tathāpi sambhoga-sukhād api stutaḥ
sa ko’py anirvācyatamo mano-ramaḥ |
pramoda-rāśiḥ pariṇāmato dhruvaṁ
tatra sphuret tad-rasikaika-vedyaḥ ||
tac-choka-duḥkhoparamasya paścāc
cittaṁ yataḥ pūrṇatayā prasannam |
samprāpta-sambhoga-mahāsukhena
sampannavat tiṣṭhati sarvadaiva ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.125–127)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Nārada:]
Although at first intense suffering—
Arising from absorption in endless grief
Produced by anguish within
As a result of an onslaught, created by prema,
Of the forest fire of separation
From those who are dear—
As though occurs,
Still in that ultimately
Some most ineffable and heart-satisfying
Abundance of delight,
Praised even more so than the happiness of enjoyment together (sambhoga),
And knowable only by a relisher of rasa,
Shall certainly manifest
Since after the cessation of the grief and suffering of that [i.e., of separation]
The heart becomes indeed ever satisfied
And dwells with completeness
As though endowed with the great happiness
Of fully attained enjoyment together (sambhoga).”

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dṛṣṭe’pi śāmyen mayi tan na duḥkhaṁ

dṛṣṭe’pi śāmyen mayi tan na duḥkhaṁ
viccheda-cintākulitātmanāṁ vai |
harṣāya teṣāṁ kriyate vidhir yo
duḥkhaṁ sa sadyo dviguṇīkaroti ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.96)

“Even if I am seen [by them at last],
That suffering shall not cease
For they whose hearts are indeed overwhelmed
By unrest because of separation [from me].
The means which are enacted [by me]
For the sake of their elation
Immediately double their suffering.”

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evaṁ yad dhyāna-pūjādāv ekāntibhyaḥ prarocate

evaṁ yad dhyāna-pūjādāv ekāntibhyaḥ prarocate |
kṛṣṇāya rocate’tyantaṁ tad eva ca satāṁ matam ||
tathā ca tṛtīya-skandhe śrī-kardama-stutau—
tāny eva te’bhirūpāṇi rūpāṇi bhagavaṁs tava |
yāni yāni ca rocante sva-janānām arūpiṇaḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 7.381–382)

“In this way, specifically that which in meditation, ritual worship, and so forth is highly pleasing to the one-pointed is exceedingly pleasing to Kṛṣṇa and [thus] approved by the sat. Accordingly also, in the praise by Śrī Kardama in the Third Canto [i.e., SB 3.24.31, it is said], ‘O Bhagavān, specifically those forms of yours—of you who are beyond form—which are pleasing to your own persons are suitable for you.’”

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citrāticitrai rucirair vihārair

citrāticitrai rucirair vihārair
ānanda-pāthodhi-taraṅga-magnaḥ |
nājñāsiṣaṁ rātri-dināni tāni
tat-tan-mahāmohana-loka-saṅgāt ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.107)

“Submerged in the waves of an ocean of bliss
By the most wonderful of wonderful,
Relishable sports,
I did not notice those nights and days [pass]
Because of the company of those most enchanting people.”

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yā bhartṛ-putrādi vihāya sarvaṁ

yā bhartṛ-putrādi vihāya sarvaṁ
loka-dvayārthān anapekṣyamāṇāḥ |
rāsādibhis tādṛśa-vibhramais tad-
rītyābhajaṁs tatra tam enam ārtāḥ ||
ato hi yā no bahu-sādhanottamaiḥ
sādhyasya cintyasya ca bhāva-yogataḥ |
mahāprabhoḥ prema-viśeṣa-pālibhiḥ
sat-sādhana-dhyāna-padatvam āgatāḥ ||
tāsv etasya hi dharma-karma-suta-pautrāgāra-kṛtyādiṣu
vyagrābhyo’smad athādaraiḥ patitayā sevā-karībhyo’dhikaḥ |
yukto bhāva-varo na matsara-padaṁ codvāha-bhāgbhyo bhavet
saṁślāghyo’tha ca yat prabhoḥ priya-janādhīnatva-māhātmya-kṛt ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.82–84)

“[Rukmiṇī Devī speaks in praise of the Vraja-gopīs:]
[They] Who being heart-stricken,
Forsaking everything—husband, son, and so on,
And disregarding the objects of the two worlds,
Worshiped him—he there—in that manner
By means of such graceful movements as rāsa and the like,
And who thus indeed attained in full the state of being
The object of paramount adoration and meditation
Accompanied by series of special expressions of prema
For our Great Master,
He who has been an object of attainment for us
By means of a profusion of the most excellent adorations
And an object of contemplation
By means of bhāva—
His greater, most beautiful bhāva for them [viz., the gopīs]
In comparison to us—
We who are his marital partners,
His servants with reverences
Because of his being our husband,
And intently concerned
About propriety (dharma), rites (karma), sons,
Grandsons, home, and duties—
Shall be appropriate,
Not an object of envy,
And rather fit to be highly praised [by us]
Since it is a cause for our Master
Of the greatness of being subservient to dear persons.”

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puruṣottamasya parito

puruṣottamasya parito
gokula-caritāmṛtena kṛta-sekaḥ |
prema-maranda-syandaṁ
tanotu mama citta-mākandaḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Nandotsavādi-caritam, 40)

“Sprinkled all around
With the ambrosia of Puruṣottama’s
Activities in Gokula,
May the mango tree of my heart
Exude a stream
Of the nectar of prema.”

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lokātītam ajāṇḍa-koṭigam api traikālikaṁ yat sukhaṁ

lokātītam ajāṇḍa-koṭigam api traikālikaṁ yat sukhaṁ
duḥkhaṁ ceti pṛthag yadi sphuṭam ubhe te gacchataḥ kuṭatām |
naivābhāsa-tulāṁ śive tad api tat kuṭa-dvayaṁ rādhikā-
premodyat-sukha-duḥkha-sindhu-bhavayor vindeta bindvor api ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.171)

“[Bhagavān Śiva:] The happiness and the sorrow which exist beyond the world [i.e., in Vaikuṇṭha and in sāyujya-mukti] and across the three phases of time throughout crores of universes—if separately both of these were to become visibly stacked [beside each other so that their ultimate magnitudes could be measured], still O Śivā [i.e., O Pārvatī] those two stacks would certainly not be equal to a semblance of even two drops [of the nectar] produced by the ocean of the happiness and sorrow arising from Rādhikā’s prema.”

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tat tu laukika-sad-bandhu-buddhyā prema bhayādi-jam

tat tu laukika-sad-bandhu-buddhyā prema bhayādi-jam |
vighnaṁ nirasya tad-gopa-gopī-dāsyepsayārjayet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.217)

“With the mentality of an excellent kinsmen of the world in relation to him [viz., Kṛṣṇa], one should overcome the obstruction [to prema for Kṛṣṇa] produced by fear and so forth, and with the desire to attain the servitude of those gopas and gopīs [who are so dear to Kṛṣṇa], one should verily acquire prema [for him].”

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yat-pāda-paṁśur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato

yat-pāda-paṁśur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato
dhṛtātmabhir yogibhir apy alabhyaḥ |
sa eva yad-dṛg-viṣayaḥ svayaṁ sthitaḥ
kiṁ varṇyate diṣṭam aho vrajaukasām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.12.12; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.122; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 100)

“Aho! How can the fortune be described of these residents of Vraja, the sole object of whose vision present directly [before them] is he the dust of whose feet is unattainable even by yogīs who have painstakingly controlled their minds for many births?”

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