Sūkti Sudhākara

namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase

namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase |
rādhādhara-sudhā-sindhau namo nitya-vihāriṇe ||
rādhāṁ kṛṣṇa-svarūpāṁ vai kṛṣṇaṁ rādhā-svarūpiṇaṁ |
kalātmānaṁ nikuñjasthaṁ guru-rūpaṁ sadā bhaje ||
(Mahāvāṇī: Sakhī-rūpācārya-nāma-ratnāvalī-stava, 1–2)

“Obeisance unto him,
Bhagavān,
Kṛṣṇa,
He of unblunted brilliance.
Obeisance unto the constant Frolicker
In the ocean of the nectar
Of Rādhā’s lips.
Forever I worship
Rādhā,
She whose essence is Kṛṣṇa
[Alt., she who is the essential nature of Kṛṣṇa],
And Kṛṣṇa,
He whose essence is Rādhā,
[Alt., he who is the essential nature of Rādhā]—
They whose spirit is the arts
[Alt., they who are the essence of expertise, or, they who are the constitution of the seed syllable klīṁ]
And the form of the guru situated in the bower.”

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mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān
gopānāṁ sva-jano’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ |
mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ
vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.43.17)

“Being perceived as
A lighting bolt by the wrestlers,
The best of men by the menfolk,
Kāmadeva embodied by women,
A kinsmen by the cowherds,
A punisher by the kings,
A child by his parents,
Death by the ruler of the Bhogas [viz., Kaṁsa],
A [mere, ordinary human] kṣatriya by the ignorant,
The Supreme Reality by the yogīs,
And the Supreme Devatā by the Vṛṣṇis,
He entered the area
Along with his elder brother.”

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govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān

govardhana-girim upetya kaṭākṣa-bāṇān
karṇa-sphuran-maṇi-śilopari saṅkṣuvānā |
kā bhrū-dhanur-dhuvana-sūcita-luñcaneyaṁ
vyagrīkaroty ahaha mām api sambhrameṇa ||
(Dāna-keli-kaumudī: 30; cited in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.3)

“Reaching Govardhana Hill
And sharpening the arrows of her side-long glances
Atop the sparkling jewel-slabs on her ears,
Who is this
By whom thievery is intimated
By the quivering of the bows of her brows,
That, ahaha,
Makes even me restless with excitement?”

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śṛṅgaṁ hi manmathodbhedas tad-āgamana-hetukaḥ

śṛṅgaṁ hi manmathodbhedas tad-āgamana-hetukaḥ |
uttama-prakṛti-prāyo rasaḥ śṛṅgāra iṣyate ||
(Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 3.183; cited in the Locana-rocanī-ṭīkā on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 1.21)

“Since [the word] śṛṅga [lit., ‘peak’] refers to the emergence of amorous passion [lit., ‘the Mind-churner’] (Manmatha) [viz., Kāmadeva], the rasa the cause of which is the arising of that [i.e., of the emergence of amorous passion] and the basis of which primarily is the exalted [i.e., a nāyaka and nāyikā of exalted character] is called śṛṅgāra.”

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sā vāg yayā tasya guṇān gṛṇīte

sā vāg yayā tasya guṇān gṛṇīte
karau ca tat-karma-karau manaś ca |
smared vasantaṁ sthira-jaṅgameṣu
śṛṇoti tat-puṇya-kathāḥ sa karṇaḥ ||
śiras tu tasyobhaya-liṅgam ānamet
tad eva yat paśyati tad dhi cakṣuḥ |
aṅgāni viṣṇor atha taj-janānāṁ
pādodakaṁ yāni bhajanti nityam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.3–4)

“That by which his qualities are praised is speech. Further, those which perform actions for him are hands. Further, that which shall remember [his] dwelling in the stationary and the moving is a mind. That which listens to purifying narrations of him is an ear. Indeed that which shall bow to both images of him is a head. That which beholds specifically those [i.e., images of him] is certainly an eye. Likewise, those which regularly honor the foot-wash of Viṣṇu and his devotees are limbs.”

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Śrī Keśavāṣṭakam

Śrī Keśavāṣṭakam

Eight verses in praise of Śrī Keśava’s return to Vraja from the forest in the evening

By Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda

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aṅga-śyāmalima-cchaṭābhir abhito mandīkṛtendīvaraṁ

aṅga-śyāmalima-cchaṭābhir abhito mandīkṛtendīvaraṁ
jāḍyaṁ jāguḍa-rociṣāṁ vidadhataṁ paṭṭāmbarasya śriyā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinaṁ hṛdi lasad-dāmābhir āmodaraṁ
rādhā-skandha-niveśitojjvala-bhujaṁ dhyāyema dāmodaram ||
(Stava-mālā)

“He by whom blue lotuses are belittled
With the radiance of the swarthiness of his limbs,
He by whom the splendors of saffron are rendered dull
With the loveliness of his silken garments,
He who sports in the forest of Vṛndā,
He who is fragrant with shining garlands across his chest,
He whose lustrous arm is set on Rādhā’s shoulder—
Let us meditate on Dāmodara.”

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jayati jana-nivāso devakī-janma-vādo

jayati jana-nivāso devakī-janma-vādo
yadu-vara-pariṣat svair dorbhir asyann adharmam |
sthira-cara-vṛjina-ghnaḥ susmita-śrī-mukhena
vraja-pura-vanitānāṁ vardhayan kāma-devam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.90.48; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.23; Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.154; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1; Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.430; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 63, 116, 136, 182; Prīti Sandarbha: 52; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.13.79; Ānanda-candrikā-ṭīkā on Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 15.185)

“He who is the abode of all beings [alt., he whose abode is all beings],
He whose birth is said to be from Devakī,
He whose retinue is the best of the Yadus,
He who destroys adharma with his own arms,
He who dispels the distress of the stationary and the moving—
Enkindling divine desire in the women of the abode of Vraja
With his beautiful, sweetly smiling face—
Triumphs!”

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kathaṁ vinā romaharṣaṁ dravatā cetasā vinā

kathaṁ vinā romaharṣaṁ dravatā cetasā vinā |
vinānandāśru-kalayā śudhyed bhaktyā vināśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.23)

“How without horripilation, without meltedness of the heart, without a teardrop of bliss—without bhakti—could the heart be purified?”

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