Prema

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.25; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.273; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.12; Tattva Sandarbha: 33; Bhakti Sandarbha: 11, 172, 202, 340; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.60, 2.22.83, 2.23.16)

“As a result of extensive association with sādhus, discussions [of me] become full perceptions of my potency and elixirs for the heart and the ears. By cherishing them, swiftly śraddhā, rati (bhāva), and bhakti (prema) to I who am the path to liberation will manifest in succession.”

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rāma—priye, kim etat

rāma—priye, kim etat |
viniścetuṁ śakyo na sukham iti vā duḥkham iti vā
pramoho nidrā vā kim u viṣa-visarpaḥ kim u madaḥ |
tava sparśe sparśe mama hi parimūḍhendriya-gaṇo
vikāraś caitanyaṁ bhramayati ca saṁmīlayati ca ||
sītā—sthira-prasādā yūyam ita idānīṁ kim aparam |
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 1.36)

[As Rāma takes Sītā into his arms to rest for some time:] “Rāma: ’My dear, what is this? I am not able to ascertain whether this is joy or sorrow. Is it stupor or sleep? Is it a diffusion of poison or inebriety? At your every touch, some feeling which bewilders my senses causes my consciousness to reel and fall faint.’ Sītā [replies]: ‘This is your everlasting graciousness [upon me]. What else could it be?’”

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hlādinīra sāra ‘prema’, prema-sāra ‘bhāva’

hlādinīra sāra ‘prema’, prema-sāra ‘bhāva’ |
bhāvera parama-kāṣṭhā, nāma ‘mahābhāva’ ||
mahābhāva-svarūpā śrī-rādhā-ṭhākurāṇī |
sarva-guṇa-khani kṛṣṇa-kāntā-śiromaṇi ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.68–9)

“The essence of hlādinī is prema, the essence of prema is bhāva, and the acme of bhāva is known as mahābhāva. The embodiment of mahābhāva is Śrī Rādhā Ṭhākurāṇī. She is the mine of all good qualities and the crest-jewel of Kṛṣṇa’s lovers.”

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pahilahi rāga nayana-bhaṅga bhela

pahilahi rāga nayana-bhaṅga bhela |
anudina bāḍhala—avadhi nā gela ||
nā so ramaṇa nā hāma ramaṇī |
du̐hu mana manobhava peṣala jāni |
e sakhi! se-saba prema-kāhinī |
kānu-ṭhāme kahabi, vichuraha jāni ||
nā kho̐jalu̐ dūtī, nā kho̐jalu̐ āna |
du̐hukeri milane madhya ta pā̐cabāṇa ||
aba soi virāga, tu̐hu bheli dūtī |
supurukha-premaki aichana rīti ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.193)

[Rādhā:] “Rāga first arose with a sidelong glance;
It increased daily,
And reached no limit.
He was not the male lover,
And I was not the female lover;
It was as though Manobhava ground our minds [together].
O sakhī! Tell Kānu this whole tale of prema;
May you not forget.
We did not seek a messenger;
We did not seek anyone;
In our [first] meeting [only]
Pā̐cabāṇa was the intermediary.
Now he is void of rāga,
And you have [thus] become the messenger.
Such is the nature of that fine man’s prema.”

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ity unmatta-vaco gopyaḥ kṛṣṇānveṣaṇa-kātarāḥ

ity unmatta-vaco gopyaḥ kṛṣṇānveṣaṇa-kātarāḥ |
līlā bhagavatas tās tā hy anucakrus tad-ātmikāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.30.14)

“Having spoken such maddened words, the gopīs, distraught as they searched for Kṛṣṇa, acted out the various līlās of Bhagavān, their minds absorbed in him.”

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rādhāyā bhavataś ca citta-jatunī svedair vilāpya kramād

rādhāyā bhavataś ca citta-jatunī svedair vilāpya kramād
yuñjann adri-nikuñja-kuñjara-pate nirdhūta-bheda-bhramam |
citrāya svayam anvarañjayad iha brahmāṇḍa-harmyodare
bhūyobhir nava-rāga-hiṅgula-bharaiḥ śṛṅgāra-kāruḥ kṛtī ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.155; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 81; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.194)

[Vṛndā addresses Kṛṣṇa:] “O elephant king of the mountain arbors, the expert artisan of amorous love has gradually melted the lac of the hearts of Rādhā and yourself with heat, stirred them, removed any appearance of separation [between them, i.e., made them one], and then personally dyed them with a rich abundance of fresh red vermillion dye to decorate [alt., to paint a picture within] the interior of the palace of the universe.”

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atra kṛtānukaraṇaṁ nāma līlākhyo nāyikānubhāvaḥ

atra kṛtānukaraṇaṁ nāma līlākhyo nāyikānubhāvaḥ | tad uktaṁ kriyānukaraṇaṁ līleti | prakṛtiṁ svabhāvam | tādṛśa-premāveśo jātaḥ | yena tat-svabhāva-nija-svabhāvayor aikyam eva tāsu jātam ity arthaḥ | yathā śrīmad-ujjvala-nīlamaṇau mahā-bhāvodāharaṇam—rādhāyā bhavataś ca … |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 81)

“Here [in reference to the līlā described in SB 1.9.40 and 10.30.14–23], imitation of deeds, which is called līlā, is an ensuant (anubhāva) of a nāyikā [i.e., the gopīs]. This is stated [in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 10.28]: kriyānukaraṇaṁ līlā [“imitating actions [of one’s beloved] is [called] līlā”]. ‘Nature’ (prakṛti) means svabhāva. Absorption in such prema arose [in the gopīs] whereby a oneness arose in them of his svabhāva with their own svabhāvas, as [is described] in the illustration of mahābhāva in Śrīmad Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: rādhāyā bhavataś ca ….”

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vijaya-ratha-kuṭumba ātta-totre

vijaya-ratha-kuṭumba ātta-totre
dhṛta-haya-raśmini tac-chriyekṣaṇīye |
bhagavati ratir astu me mumūrṣor
yam iha nirīkṣya hatā gatāḥ sva-rūpam ||
lalita-gati-vilāsa-valguhāsa-
praṇaya-nirīkṣaṇa-kalpitoru-mānāḥ |
kṛtam anukṛtavatya unmadāndhāḥ
prakṛtim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.9.39–40; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 81)

[Bhīṣmadeva:] “Let me, desiring death, have rati for Bhagavān, who is sightly on account of his splendor, holding the reins of horses [in his left hand] and grasping a whip [with his right] as he protects the chariot of Vijaya [i.e., Arjuna]; by seeing whom the dead [in the battle of Kurukṣetra] attained their own forms [i.e., mukti]; and whose nature the wives of the gopas verily attained as they were highly honored by [his] charming movements, play, attractive smiles, and loving glances, [thus] blinded by [the] madness [of prema], and [so became] engaged in imitating his deeds.”

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rādhā’jānād asaṅge danuja-vijayinaḥ saṅgam ārād asaṅgaṁ

rādhā’jānād asaṅge danuja-vijayinaḥ saṅgam ārād asaṅgaṁ
saṅge caivaṁ samantād gṛha-samaya-sukha-svapna-śītādikāni |
etasyā vṛttir eṣājani sapadi yadānyad vicitraṁ tadāsīt
kāntā-kānta-svabhāvo’py ahaha yad anayor vaiparītyāya jajñe ||
(Gopāla-campū: Pūrva, 33.6)

“Rādhā experiences union with the Victor over the Dānavas [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in separation, and separation in the midst of union, and in this way she also experiences her house, the time, happiness, dreams, cold, and other things all around her [i.e., she experiences her house to be the forest and the forest to be her house, the present time to be another time and another time to be the present time, happiness to be suffering and suffering to be happiness, dreams to be wakefulness and wakefulness to be dreams, cold to be heat and heat to be cold, and so on]. When this condition of hers manifested, then immediately another wonder occurred. Ahaha! Even the dispositions of the female lover and male lover manifested in reverse.”

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