kāvya-śāstra-vinodena kālo gacchati dhīmatām |
vyasanena tu mūrkhāṇāṁ nidrayā kalahena vā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 1)
“The time of the wise is spent with the joy of kāvya-śāstra, whereas that of fools with vice, sleep, and quarrel.”
saṁsāra-viṣa-vṛkṣasya dve phale hy amṛtopame |
kāvyāmṛta-rasāsvādaḥ saṅgamaḥ sajjanaiḥ saha ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“On the poisonous tree of saṁsāra only two fruits are like nectar: tasting the rasa of the nectar of poetry (kāvya) and associating with sādhus.”
viśiṣṭāḥ śabdā viśiṣṭā arthāś ca militvā kāvyatāṁ yānti |
(Samudra-bandha on Bhāmahālaṅkāra 1.16)
“Special sounds and special meanings come together and become poetry.”
śabdārthau sahitau kāvyaṁ gadyaṁ padyaṁ ca tad dvidhā |
(Bhāmahālaṅkāra: 1.16)
“Kāvya (poetry) is united sound and meaning. It is of two types: prose and verse.”
apāre kāvya-saṁsāre kavir ekaḥ prajāpatiḥ |
yathāsmai rocate viśvaṁ tathā vai parivartate ||
(Agni Purāṇa: 339.10; cited in Dhvany-āloka 3.42 Vṛtti)
“In the boundless world of kāvya, the kavi is the only creator. As is pleasing to him, so indeed this world [of his creation] turns.”
śrutam apy aupaniṣadaṁ dūre hari-kathāmṛtāt |
yan na santi dravac-citta-kampāśru-pulakādayaḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Padyāvalī: 39; Bhakti Sandarbha: 69)
“Even that which I have heard in the Upaniṣads [about nirviśeṣa Brahman] is also far from the amṛta of Hari-kathā, as by [hearing] it no melting of the heart, trembling, tears, horripilation, and so forth occur.”
uvāsa katicin māsān gopīnāṁ vinudan śucaḥ |
kṛṣṇa-līlā-kathāṁ gāyan ramayām āsa gokulam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.54)
“He [i.e., Uddhava] resided [there, i.e., in Vraja] for some months and dispelled the gopīs’ sorrow. By singing narrations of Kṛṣṇa’s līlā, he delighted Gokula.”
yat-saṅga-labdhaṁ nija-vīrya-vaibhavaṁ
tīrthaṁ muhuḥ saṁspṛśatāṁ hi mānasam |
haraty ajo’ntaḥ śrutibhir gato’ṅgajaṁ
ko vai na seveta mukunda-vikramam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.18.11)
“He who is unborn [i.e., Bhagavān], having entered within [i.e., into the subtle body of the jīva] through the ears [alt., through hearing], removes the desire [alt., the contamination] in the mind [alt., attracts the mind and desires] of those who consistently sip the sacred water of the magnificence of his own potency, which is attained in their association [i.e., in the association of those dear to Bhagavān]. Indeed who would not honor the prowess of Mukunda [i.e., the kathā about Mukunda spoken by his dear bhaktas]?”
so’cirād eva rājarṣe syād acyuta-kathāśrayaḥ |
śṛṇvataḥ śraddadhānasya nityadā syād adhīyataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.38)
“O royal sage! That [i.e., fully performed bhakti-yoga—prema-bhakti] will certainly manifest soon for one who shall take shelter in Acyuta-kathā, hearing and studying it with śraddhā continuously.”
sudhānām cāndrīṇāṁ mādhurīmonmāda-damanī
dadhānā rādhādi-praṇaya-ghana-sāraiḥ surabhitām |
samantāt santāpodgama-viṣama-saṁsāra-saraṇī-
praṇītāṁ te tṛṣṇāṁ haratu hari-līlā-śikhariṇī ||
(Vidagdha-mādhava: 1.1)
“Bearing the fragrance of the camphor of Rādhā and others’ love, may the śikhariṇī of Hari’s līlā, the subduer of the pride of the sweetness of the moon’s nectars, completely remove your thirst arising from [travelling along] the rugged, distressing path of saṁsāra [just as śikhariṇī subdues the mania produced by an excess of vāta and aches produced by an excess of pitta].”
