Prema

praṇata-dehināṁ pāpa-karṣaṇaṁ

praṇata-dehināṁ pāpa-karṣaṇaṁ
tṛṇa-carānugaṁ śrī-niketanam |
phaṇi-phaṇārpitaṁ te padāmbujaṁ
kṛṇu kuceṣu naḥ kṛndhi hṛc-chayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.7)

“Please put upon our breasts

Your lotus feet,

Which remove the sins of the embodied who have taken shelter,

Which follow the animals [of Vraja],

Which are the abode of śrī [i.e., beauty, or, Lakṣmī],

And which were placed on the hoods of the serpent [i.e., Kālīya].

Please cut away our lust [lit., ‘that which lies in the heart’].”

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tan-manaskās tad-alāpās tad-viceṣṭās tad-ātmikāḥ

tan-manaskās tad-alāpās tad-viceṣṭās tad-ātmikāḥ |
tad-guṇān eva gāyantyo nātmāgārāṇi sasmaruḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.30.43)

“Minds upon him, speaking about him, acting like him, and identifying as him, they sang of his qualities and did not remember their own houses.”

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namaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-candrāya nirupādhi-kṛpākṛte

namaḥ śrī-guru-kṛṣṇāya nirupādhi-kṛpākṛte |
yaḥ śrī-caitanya-rūpo’bhūt tanvan prema-rasaṁ kalau ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.10)

“Obeisance unto Śrī Guru—Kṛṣṇa,
The Embodiment of unconditional grace,
Who became the form of Śrī Caitanya
To distribute prema-rasa in [the Age of] Kali.”

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śrī-rādhikā-prabhṛtayo nitarāṁ jayanti

śrī-rādhikā-prabhṛtayo nitarāṁ jayanti
gopyo nitānta-bhagavat-priyatā-prasiddhāḥ |
yāsāṁ harau parama-sauhṛda-mādhurīṇāṁ
nirvaktum īṣad api jātu na ko’pi śaktaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.2)

“The gopīs led by Śrī Rādhikā—

Whose extraordinary dearness

To Bhagavān is renowned,

And the sweetnesses

Of whose supreme affection for Hari

No one can ever describe even slightly—

Eternally triumph!”

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jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo

jayati nija-padābja-prema-dānāvatīrṇo
vividha-madhurimābdhiḥ ko’pi kaiśora-gandhiḥ |
gata-parama-daśāntaṁ yasya caitanya-rūpād
anubhava-padam āptaṁ prema gopīṣu nityam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)

“Someone—

Who descended to bestow prema

For his own lotus feet,

Who is an ocean

Of various sweetnesses,

Who is fragrant with adolescence,

And whose everlasting prema for the gopīs,

Having attained the ultimate limit

Of the highest state,

Has reached the position of experience [for others]

Because of his form of Caitanya—
Triumphs!”

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prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena

prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena
samyag bhavet tad-rasikasya tasya |
tat sādhanaṁ śreṣṭhatamaṁ susevyaṁ
sadbhir mataṁ pratyuta sādhya-rūpam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.152)

“The sādhana related to him [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] of a relisher of him for which one’s complete affinity (__prīti__), and by which [one’s complete] satisfaction, shall come about is the best of all, [is] to be excellently performed, and [is] considered, rather, the goal and a form [of that goal] by the sat.”

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śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramaṁ tātparyam uṭṭaṅkitaṁ

śrīmad-bhāgavatasya yatra paramaṁ tātparyam uṭṭaṅkitaṁ
śrī-vaiyāsakinā duranvayatayā rāsa-prasaṅge’pi yat |
yad rādhā-rati-keli-nāgara-rasāsvādaika-sad-bhājanaṁ
tad-vastu-prathanāya gaura-vapuṣā loke’vatīrṇo hariḥ ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 122)

“Hari descended in golden form for the sake of extending that object [i.e., that prema] which is the ultimate intention (tātparya) of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which was [only] lightly indicated by Śrī Śukadeva even in the discussion of rāsa [-līlā] because of [its] being difficult to comprehend, and which is the only real means for relishing the rasa of [Śrī Kṛṣṇa,] the paramour engaged in amorous play with Rādhā.”

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bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter

bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter
ānandātiśaya-pradā viṣayajāt saukhyād vimuktir yayā |
śrī-rādhā-ramaṇaṁ padāmbuja-yugaṁ yasyā mahān-āśrayo
yā kāryā vraja-lokavat gurutara-premnaiva tasyai namaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)

“Obeisance unto her, Bhakti [Devī],

Who is the mother of all goals

[i.e., the cause of attaining all the puruṣārthas],

Who is the bestower of bliss

Surpassing [that of] Brahman realization,

By whom complete liberation from pleasure

Produced by the sense objects is attained,

Whose principal shelter

Is the two lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā Ramaṇa,

And who is to be performed with very strong prema

Like the people of Vraja.”

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atha śrī-bhagavat-prīti-lakṣaṇa-vākyānāṁ niṣkarṣaḥ

atha śrī-bhagavat-prīti-lakṣaṇa-vākyānāṁ niṣkarṣaḥ | nikhila-paramānanda-candrikā-candramasi-sakala-bhuvana-saubhāgya-sāra-sarvasva-sattva-guṇopajīvyānanta-vilāsa-mayāmāyika-viśuddha-sattvānavaratollāsād asamordhva-madhure śrī-bhagavati katham api cittāvatārād anapekṣita-vidhiḥ svarasata eva samullasantī viṣayāntarair anavacchedyā tātparyāntaram asahamānā hlādinī-sāra-vṛtti-viśeṣa-svarūpā bhagavad-ānukūlyātmaka-tad-anugata-tat-spṛhādi-maya-jñāna-viśeṣākārā tādṛśa-bhakta-mano-vṛtti-viśeṣa-dehā pīyūṣa-pūrato’pi sarasena svenaiva sva-dehaṁ sarasayantī bhakta-kṛtātma-rahasya-saṅgopana-guṇa-maya-rasanā-bāṣpa-muktādi-vyakta-pariṣkārā sarva-guṇaika-nidhāna-svabhāvā dāsīkṛtāśeṣa-puruṣārtha-sampattikā bhagavat-pātivratya-vrata-varyā-paryākulā bhagavan-manoharaṇaikopāya-hāri-rūpā bhāgavatī prītis tam upasevamānā virājata iti |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 78)

“Now, the essence of the [aforementioned] statements about the characteristics of prīti for Śrī Bhagavān [is summarized]. Śrī Bhagavān—the Moon refulgent with the moonlight of the totality of the highest bliss, he of unsurpassed and unparalleled sweetness (madhura) by virtue of the everlasting elation produced by [his] completely pure sattva [lit., ‘existence’] beyond māyā which is (1) filled with endless play (vilāsa), (2) the sustenance of [prākṛta] sattva-guṇa, and (3) the essence and entirety of [all] the good fortune [found] throughout all the worlds—divine (Bhāgavatī) prīti for Bhagavān [i.e., Bhagavān as he has thus been described]—(1) non-dependent on injunctions because of descending into the citta somehow [i.e., of its own accord by the gracious wish of Śrī Bhagavān], (2) fully elating entirely naturally [i.e., solely by virtue of her own nature and the nature of her object, Bhagavān], (3) inseparable [from him] by any other object, (4) intolerant of any other intention [alt., aim] (tātparya) [than him], (5) in constitution (svarūpa) a special vṛtti of the essence of hlādinī [i.e., of the hlādinī-vṛtti of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti], (6) in appearance (ākāra) a particular form of awareness (jñāna) constituted of favorability (ānukūlya) towards Bhagavān and filled with desire [for Bhagavān] and so forth following [in the wake of] that [favorability towards him; i.e., a particular form of awareness (jñāna) constituted of favorability (ānukūlya) towards Bhagavān that is filled with elation caused by experience of Śrī Bhagavān as a result of desire for Śrī Bhagavān arising from favorability (ānukūlya) towards Śrī Bhagavān], (7) in figure (deha) a particular vṛtti in the mind of such a bhakta, (8) imbuing her own figure (deha) with rasa [i.e., relishability] greater than even a dessert made of ambrosia [i.e., than even the finest sweets that can be found in Svarga] solely by means of her own rasa [i.e., her own inherent relishability], (9) bearing the visible decorations (pariṣkāra) of the pearls of tears, an ornamental girdle made of the quality exhibited by a bhakta of hiding one’s own secrets, and so on, (10) in nature (svabhāva) a superb reservoir of all qualities, (11) in affluence (sampattikā) having made all the puruṣārthas maidservants, (12) greatly excited as a varyā [i.e., a bride who chooses her own husband] devoted to her vow of fidelity (pātivratya) to Bhagavān, and (13) captivating in beauty (rūpā) the sole approach [i.e., undertaking] of which is captivation of Bhagavān’s mind—[as such, personified prīti for Bhagavān] dazzles as she adores him.”

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devānāṁ guṇa-liṅgānām ānuśravika-karmaṇām

devānāṁ guṇa-liṅgānām ānuśravika-karmaṇām |
sattva evaika-manaso vṛttiḥ svābhāvikī tu yā ||
animittā bhāgavatī bhaktiḥ siddher garīyasī ||

(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.32; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.614; Prīti Sandarbha: 61)

“The vṛtti [i.e., engagement] solely in relation to Sattva [i.e., Bhagavān], which is natural [i.e., not effected by force] and causeless [i.e., free from extraneous desire], of the illuminators [i.e., the senses], which make known their objects and whose actions are directed by the Veda, of one of singular [i.e., one-pointed] mind is [known as] bhakti related to Bhagavān, and [is] superior to siddhi [i.e., mokṣa].”

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