śāstreṣv iyān eva suniścito nṛṇāṁ
kṣemasya sadhryag-vimṛśeṣu hetuḥ |
asaṅga ātma-vyatirikta ātmani
dṛḍhā ratir brahmaṇi nirguṇe ca yā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.22.21)
“In the śāstras of united deliberation the means to well-being for human beings has been fully determined exactly to this extent: non-attachment to all that is not the Ātmā which is also [of the nature of] firm attachment to the unqualified, absolute Ātmā.”
mādhuryādy-āśrayatvena kṛṣṇādīṁs tanute ratiḥ |
tathānubhūyamānās te vistīrṇāṁ kurvate ratim ||
atas tasya vibhāvādi-catuṣkasya rater api |
atra sāhāyakaṁ vyaktaṁ mitho’jasram avekṣyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.98–99)
“Rati reveals Kṛṣṇa and so forth [i.e., his companions, paraphernalia, abode, etc.] as vessels of [the qualities of] sweetness (mādhurya) and so forth. Being [then] experienced as such, they expand rati. Therefore, continuous mutual assistance of rati and the quad of the vibhāvas and so forth [i.e., the four primary ingredients of rasa other than the sthāyi-bhāva (rati), namely, the vibhāvas, anubhāvas, sāttvika-bhāvas, and sañcarī-bhāvas] is clearly seen here [i.e., in this aforementioned process of rasa manifesting].”
viyoge tv adbhutānanda-vivartatvaṁ dadhaty api |
tanoty eṣā pragāḍhārti-bharābhāsatvam ūrjitā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.109)
“In separation [i.e., when a dear one of Kṛṣṇa is separated from him], however, although retaining the nature of being a transformation of astonishing bliss, this powerful [rati] produces the state of a semblance of an abundance of intense distress.”
alaukikī tv iyaṁ kṛṣṇa-ratiḥ sarvādbhutādbhutā |
yoge rasa-viśeṣatvaṁ gacchanty eva hari-priye ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.108)
“This otherworldly rati for Kṛṣṇa, an astonishment beyond all [other] astonishments, however, certainly in union [i.e., when a meeting with Kṛṣṇa occurs] reaches the distinctive state of rasa in a dear one of Hari.”
lokottara-padārthānāṁ prabhāvaḥ ko’py anargalaḥ |
ratiṁ tad-viṣayaṁ cāsau bhāsayet tūrṇam ekadā ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.16)
“Otherworldly objects have extraordinary unchecked potency, and one [such object] can immediately at once manifest rati [for Śrī Kṛṣṇa] and the object thereof [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself, the object of rati].”
vimuktākhila-tarṣair yā muktir api vimṛgyate |
yā kṛṣṇenātigopyāśu bhajadbhyo’pi na dīyate ||
sā bhukti-mukti-kāmatvāc chuddhāṁ bhaktim akurvatām |
hṛdaye sambhavaty eṣāṁ kathaṁ bhāgavatī ratiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.42–43)
“That which is sought even by the liberated who are completely free from all [extraneous] desires, which is highly confidential and [which is] not given by Kṛṣṇa quickly even to worshippers [of himself]—how can [that] rati for Bhagavān appear in the heart of those who do not perform pure bhakti on account of being possessed of desire for enjoyment or liberation?”
na cāntar na bahir yasya na pūrvaṁ nāpi cāparam |
pūrvāparaṁ bahiś cāntar jagato yo jagac ca yaḥ ||
taṁ matvātmajam avyaktaṁ martya-liṅgam adhokṣajam |
gopikolūkhale dāmnā babandha prākṛtaṁ yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.13–14)
“Who has neither interior, nor exterior, nor anterior, nor posterior, who is the anterior, posterior, interior, and exterior of the universe, who is the universe, and who is beyond sensory perception, unmanifest, and possessed of human characteristics—considering him her son, the gopīkā bound [him] with a rope to a mortar like an ordinary child.”
aho laukika-sad-bandhu-bhāvaṁ ca staumi yena hi |
gauravāder vilopena kṛṣṇe sat-prema tanyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.76)
“[Śrī Nārada along with Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] Aho! And certainly I praise that attitude (bhāva) [on the part of bhaktas] of [Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s being] an excellent worldly kinsman by which excellent prema for Kṛṣṇa is expanded as a result of the removal of reverence and so forth [in regard to him].”
ratir aniśa-nisargoṣṇa-prabalatarānanda-pūra-rūpaiva |
uṣmāṇam api vamantī sudhāṁśu-koṭer api svādvī ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.61)
“Verily of the nature of a flood of bliss that is very strong and hot as a result of [its] incessant nature, rati, although [thus] emitting heat, is relishable more so than even a crore of nectar-rayed moons.”
vighnākulatve’pi mano-rati-paratā | …
yasya kṛcchra-gatasyāpi keśave ramate manaḥ |
na vicyutā ca bhaktir vai sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
āpad-gatasya yasyeha bhakir avyabhicāriṇī |
nānyatra ramate cittaṁ sa vai bhāgavato naraḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.67–68)
“[A third degree of one-pointedness (ekāntitā) upon Śrī Bhagavān is described:] Being devoted with rati in the mind even while being disturbed by obstructions [is described in Skanda Purāṇa]: ‘A person whose mind rejoices in Keśava and whose bhakti does not digress even when one is beset with hardship is verily a Bhāgavata. A person beset with adversity here [in this world] whose bhakti is unwavering and whose mind does not rejoice elsewhere [i.e., apart from in Śrī Bhagavān] is verily a Bhāgavata.”
