aśeṣa-saṅkleśa-śamaṁ vidhatte
guṇānuvāda-śravaṇaṁ murāreḥ |
kiṁ vā punas tac-caraṇāravinda-
parāga-sevā-ratir ātma-labdhā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.7.14)
“Hearing and recounting the qualities of Murāri produces destruction of suffering completely, so how much more does attachment (rati), attained of its own accord, to service to the pollen of his lotus feet [produce]?”
preme kṛṣṇāsvāda haile bhava nāśa pāya |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.141)
“When one has a taste of Kṛṣṇa through prema, then worldly existence gets destroyed.”
kiṁ varṇaye tava vibho yad-udīrito’suḥ
saṁspandate tam anu vāṅ-mana-indriyāṇi |
spandanti vai tanu-bhṛtām aja-śarvayoś ca
svasyāpy athāpi bhajatām asi bhāva-bandhuḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.8.40)
“O Pre-eminent One, how do I praise you indeed by whom the life air is impelled and functions, and following that, the speech, minds, and senses function for the embodied, for Aja and Śarva [i.e., Brahmā and Śiva], and for myself as well? Still, you are the Friend out of love (Bhāva-bandhu) of [your] worshipers.”
ahaṅkārasya dve vṛttī ahantā mamatā ca iti | tayor jñānena layo mokṣaḥ, deha-gehādi-viṣayatve bandhaḥ, ahaṁ prabhor janaḥ sevako’smi sevyo me prabhur bhagavān saparikara eva rūpa-guṇa-mādhurī-mahodadhir iti pārṣada-rūpa-vigraha-bhagavad-vigrahādi-viṣayatve premā | sa hi bandha-mokṣābhyāṁ vilakṣaṇa eva puruṣārtha-cūḍāmaṇir ity ucyate |
tatra kramaḥ | ahantā-mamatayor vyavahārikyām eva vṛttāv atisāndrāyāṁ satyāṁ saṁsāra eva | ahaṁ vaiṣṇavo bhūyāsaṁ prabhur me bhagavān sevyo bhavatv iti yādṛcchikyāṁ śraddhā-kaṇikāyāṁ satyāṁ tad-vṛtteḥ pāramārthikatva-gandhe bhaktāv adhikāraḥ | tataḥ sādhu-saṅge sati pāramārthikatva-gandhasya sāndratvaṁ | tato bhajana-kriyāyām aniṣṭhitāyāṁ satyāṁ tayoḥ paramārthe vastuny ekadeśa-vyāpinī vṛttiḥ vyavahāre pūrṇaiva | tasyāṁ niṣṭhitāyāṁ paramārthe bahula-deśa-vyāpinī vyavahāre prāyiky eva | rucāv utpannāyāṁ paramārthe prāyiky eva vṛttir vyavahāre tu bahu-deśa-vyāpinī | āsaktau jātāyāṁ paramārthe pūrṇā vyavahāre tu gandha-mātrī | bhāve tu paramārtha evātyantikī vṛttir vyavahāre tu bādhitānuvṛtti-nyāyenābhāsa-mayī | premaṇi tayor ahantā-mamatayor vṛttiḥ paramārthe paramātyantikī vyavahāre tu naikāpīti |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 8)
“The ahaṅkāra has two vṛttis (functions): ahantā [i.e., I-ness, or identification) and mamatā [i.e., my-ness, or, possessiveness]. Dissolution of these two through jñāna is [called] mokṣa. Their being fixed upon objects of the senses, such as the body and home, is [called] bondage. ‘I am Prabhu’s person [i.e., I belong to Prabhu]. I am a servant, and Prabhu is my object of service. Bhagavān [i.e., Prabhu] along with his companions is verily a vast ocean of sweetness in form and qualities”—their [i.e., these two functions of the ahaṅkāra] being fixed upon the figure of a body of an associate [of Bhagavān] and upon the figure and so forth of Bhagavān [i.e., the vṛtti of ahantā functioning so as to produce identification with the body of an associate of Bhagavān, and the vṛtti of mamatā functioning so as to produce an affectionate sense of my-ness in relation to the figure, qualities, activities, and so forth of Bhagavān] is [called] prema. That [i.e., prema] is distinct from bondage and mokṣa, and is said to be the crown-jewel of puruṣārthas.
“The course [of development] in this regard [is as follows]: when the vṛttis of ahantā and mamatā are present very densely only in worldly affairs, there is only [the condition known as] saṁsāra. When a fortuitous (yādṛcchikī) particle of śrāddhā comes about, [such that one has the resolve,] ‘I shall become a Vaiṣṇava, and my master, Bhagavān, shall be my object of service,’ then those vṛttis have a trace of relation to Ultimate Reality (Paramārtha) and one has eligibility (adhikāra) for bhakti. Then, when association with sādhus occurs, density of that trace of relation to Ultimate Reality develops. Then, when unfixed (aniṣṭhitā) engagement in bhajana occurs, their [i.e., ahantā and mamatā’s] vṛttis are partially in the object, Ultimate Reality, and fully in worldliness. When that [i.e., engagement in bhajana] is fixed (niṣṭhitā), then they are extensively in Ultimate Reality and only mostly in worldliness. When ruci arises, then the vṛttis are mostly in Ultimate Reality, but [still] extensively in worldliness. When āsakti appears, then they are fully in Ultimate Reality, but [still] bearing just a trace in worldliness. In bhāva, however, the vṛttis are absolutely in Ultimate Reality, but possessed of a semblance in worldliness like the continuance of a negated entity. In prema, these vṛttis of ahantā and mamatā are absolutely to the fullest extent in Ultimate Reality and not in worldliness at all.”
yasyaiva pādāmbuja-bhakti-labhyaḥ
premābhidhānaḥ paramaḥ pum-arthaḥ |
tasmai jagan-maṅgala-maṅgalāya
caitanyacandrāya namo namas te ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 9; cited in Sādhanāmṛta-candrikā: 1.7)
“Obeisance and obeisance unto him, Caitanyacandra, the auspiciousness of the auspiciousness of the world, he by bhakti to whose lotus feet the supreme goal of human life, namely prema, is surely attainable.”
kṛṣṇere nācāya prema bhaktere nācāya |
āpane nācaye—tine nāce eka-ṭhā̐ya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.18.18)
“Prema makes Kṛṣṇa dance, makes bhaktas dance, and itself dances; three [i.e., Kṛṣṇa, his bhaktas, and prema itself thus] dance together.”
kṛṣṇe gate madhupurīṁ bata ballavīnāṁ
bhāvo’bhavat sapadi yo laya-vahni-tīvraḥ |
premāsya hetur uta tattvam idaṁ hi tasya
mā tad-viśeṣam aparaṁ bata boddhum iccha ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.232)
“The cause of the gopīs’ bhāva, intense like the fire of [universal] destruction, that immediately arose when Kṛṣṇa went to Madhupurī is prema, and this [i.e., this state] is indeed its [i.e., prema’s] very nature. Bata! Do not desire to understand anything other than this description.”
pīḍābhir nava-kāla-kūṭa-kaṭutā-garvasya nirvāsano
nisyandena mudāṁ sudhā-madhurimāhaṅkāra-saṅkocanaḥ |
premā sundari nanda-nandana-paro jāgarti yasyāntare
jñāyante sphuṭam asya vakra-madhurās tenaiva vikrāntayaḥ ||
(Vidagdha-mādhava-nāṭaka: 2.18; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.2.52)
“Banishing of the pride
Of the severity of a young snake’s venom
With its pains,
And constricting of the ego
Of the sweetness of nectar
With its exudation of delight,
O beautiful one,
The crooked and sweet strides [alt., prowesses]
Of prema for the Son of Nanda
Are clearly known
Only by one in whose heart it awakens.”
idaṁ bhagavatā pūrvaṁ brahmaṇe nābhi-paṅkaje |
sthitāya bhava-bhītāya kāruṇyāt samprakāśitam ||
ādi-madhyāvasāneṣu vairāgyākhyāna-saṁyutam |
hari-līlā-kathā-vrātāmṛtānandita-sat-suram ||
sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam |
vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.10–12)
“At the beginning, middle, and end replete with narrations productive of non-attachment (vairāgya); filled with the amṛta of discussion of Hari’s līlā by which the sādhu suras [i.e., Hari’s bhaktas, or, the self-satisfied (ātmārāmas)] become blissful; focused on that non-dual Reality (advitīya Vastu) which is the essence of the entire Vedānta [i.e., of the Upaniṣads] and has the characteristic of oneness of [i.e., the characteristic of non-excessive non-difference between] the ātmā with Brahman; and possessed of the singular aim of kaivalya [i.e., purity, meaning, pure bhakti, Bhagavat-prema, or, direct perception of Supreme Entity]—this [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] was previously manifested in full [i.e., taught] out of compassion by Bhagavān [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] to Brahmā, who was situated on the navel-lotus [of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] and frightened of material existence.”
bhakti-siddhās trividhāḥ—prāpta-bhagavat-pārṣada-dehāḥ, nirdhūta-kaṣāyāḥ, mūrcchita-kaṣāyāś ca | yathā śrī-nāradādayaḥ, śrī-śukadevādayaḥ, prāg-janma-gata-nāradādayaś ca … | … tad evaṁ samāna-premṇi trividhe pūrva-pūrvādhikyaṁ jñeyam | kvacit sthite’pi prākṛta-dehāditve yadi premṇaḥ parimāṇataḥ svarūpato vādhikyaṁ dṛśyate, tadā premādhikyenaivādhikyaṁ jñeyam | tac ca bhajanīyasya bhagavato’ṁśāṁśitva-bhedena bhajataś ca dāsya-sakhyādi-bhedena svarūpādhikyaṁ, premāṅkura-premādi-bhedena parimāṇādhikyaṁ ca prīti-sandarbhe vivṛtya darśayiṣyāmaḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.44; Bhakti Sandarbha: 187)
“Siddhas in bhakti [i.e., those who have achieved success on the path of bhakti] are of three types: (1) those who have attained the forms of associates of Bhagavān, (2) those who have been completely purged of impurities, and (3) those whose impurities are ineffective [lit., ‘fainted’], as in the case of (1) Śrī Nārada and others, (2) Śrī Śukadeva and others, and (3) Nārada in his previous life and others. … Thus, in this way, the superiority of the former and the former [thereof] is to be understood in regard to these three types [of siddha-bhaktas] similar with respect to their possessing prema [i.e., the three types of siddha-bhaktas, all endowed with prema for Bhagavān, have been listed in order from greater to lesser]. If sometimes, even while the material body and so forth remain, a superiority in the measure or nature of [a bhakta’s] prema is seen, then superiority [of that bhakta in whom it is seen] based solely on [that] superiority in prema is to be understood. Furthermore, this superiority in nature [i.e., in the nature of prema], based on a distinction in regard to Bhagavān, the object of worship, being [manifest in reciprocation with the prema of a particular bhakta in either] a partial manifestation (aṁśa) or [his] complete manifestation (aṁśī), and based on a distinction in regard to the worshipper’s [particular type of rati, namely,] dāsya, sakhya, and so forth, and [the] superiority in measure [of a bhakta’s prema] based on a distinction between a sprout of prema [i.e., rati], prema, and so forth [i.e., on which stage of prema is manifest in the bhakta, that is, the initial stage of rati, the general stage of prema, or any of the further advanced stages of prema beginning with sneha], will be shown and described in detail in Prīti Sandarbha [Anucchedas 98–104].”
