ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’tha bhajana-kriyā |
tato’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ |
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati |
sādhakānām ayaṁ premnaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.15–16)
“First śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga, then bhajana-kriyā, then anartha-nivṛtti, then niṣṭhā, then ruci, then āsakti, then bhāva, and then prema appear. These are the stages in the appearance of prema in a sādhaka.”
ātmendriya-prīti-icchā—tāre bali ‘kāma’ |
kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-ichchā —dhare ‘prema’ nāma ||
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara |
kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema nirmala bhāskara ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.165, 172)
“The desire to please one’s own senses—that we call ‘kāma,’ and the desire to please Kṛṣṇa’s senses bears the name ‘prema.’ … Therefore, there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is [like] blinding darkness, and prema is [like] a taintless sun.”
samyaṅ-masṛṇita-svānto mamatvātiśayāṅkitaḥ |
bhāvaḥ sa eva sāndrātmā budhaiḥ premā nigadyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.1)
“That particular bhāva, intense in nature, because of which the heart is completely melted, and [thus] marked by a profusion of my-ness (mamatva) [i.e., loving attachment to Kṛṣṇa], is called prema by the wise.”
śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā prema-sūryāṁśu-sāmya-bhāk |
rucibhiś citta-māsṛṇya-kṛd asau bhāva ucyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.1)
“That [i.e., that aspect of uttamā-bhakti] which is constituted of a special aspect of śuddha-sattva, is a bearer of resemblance to a ray of the sun of prema, and is a melter of the heart with hankerings, is called bhāva [-bhakti].”
śrī-bhāgavate’smin bhagavat-premaiva sarva-puruṣārtha-śiromaṇitvenodghuṣyate | tasya mūla-bhūtāśrayāṇāṁ bhaktānāṁ madhye nitya-siddhatva eva tasya nitya-sthitiḥ sambhavet, teṣv api madhye gokula-vartinas tan-mātādaya eva śreṣṭhāḥ yeṣāṁ vātsalyādi-bhāva-viṣayī-bhūtaḥ kṛṣṇas tad-anugamana-bhaktimadbhir eva sulabho nānyair …|
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.21)
“In this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam only Bhagavat-prema is proclaimed to be the crown jewel of all puruṣārthas. Its [i.e., prema’s] eternal existence is possible within its substrata, bhaktas, only because of their being nitya-siddha. Among them, furthermore, the best are the residents of Gokula, such as his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] mother, the object of whose bhāvas of vātsalya and so forth—Kṛṣṇa—is easily attainable only by devotees who follow them [i.e., those residents of Gokula] and not by others [i.e., those who practice bhakti without following the residents of Gokula].”
tat-prema-śarmaṇāṁ sarvātiśayi-dharmatāyām aham api marma-vettā, yataḥ—
harir gopa-kṣauṇī-pati-mithunam anye ca vibudhā
na naḥ krūraṁ cittaṁ mṛdulayitum īśā lavam api |
aho teṣāṁ premā vilasati harau yas tu balavān
harer vā yas teṣu drutayati sa eva pratipadam ||
(Gopāla-Campū: Pūrva, 1.81; 64)
“Even I [who have a most hard heart] am able to understand the secret of the super-excellence of the bliss of that prema [found between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his companions]: Neither Hari, nor the King and Queen of the land of the cowherds [i.e., Nanda and Yaśodā], nor any other wise persons [of Vraja] are able to soften my hard heart even one bit. But aho! The powerful prema they express for Hari and that Hari expresses for them melts my heart at every step.”
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.”
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema sādhya kabhu naya |
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.104)
“Eternally existent Kṛṣṇa-prema is never something to be produced [i.e., created, lit., accomplished]. It [being eternal existent] manifests into a heart purified by śravaṇa and so forth [i.e., by the practices of sādhana-bhakti].”
kair api prema-vaivaśya-bhāgbhir bhāgavatavottamaiḥ |
adyāpi dṛśyate kṛṣṇaḥ krīḍan vṛndāvanāntare ||
(Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.392)
“Even by some highly elevated Bhāgavatas who are overwhelmed by prema, Kṛṣṇa is seen playing in Vṛndāvana still today.”
avijñātākhila-kleśāḥ sadā kṛṣṇāśrita-kriyāḥ |
siddhāḥ syuḥ santata-prema-saukhyāsvāda-parāyaṇāḥ ||
samprāpta-siddhayaḥ siddhā nitya-siddhāś ca te dvidhā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.280–281)
“[The characteristics of siddha Kṛṣṇa-bhaktas are described:] Those to whom all affliction is unknown, whose actions are always sheltered in Kṛṣṇa, and who are constantly absorbed in relishing the happiness of prema are siddhas. These siddhās are of two types: those who have attained siddhi and those who are eternally siddha.”
