rāga-dveṣa-vimuktais tu viṣayān indriyaiś caran |
ātma-vaśyair vidheyātmā prasādam adhigacchati ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.64)
“Perceiving objects of the senses
With senses freed from attachment and aversion
And subdued by the mind,
One of controlled mind attains peace.”
sahanaṁ sarva-duḥkhānām apratīkāra-pūrvakam |
cintā-vilāpa-rahitaṁ sā titikṣā nigadyate ||
(Viveka-cūḍāmaṇi: 24)
“Endurance of all hardships
Preceded by non-counteraction
[i.e., non-resistance, non-remediation, or non-retaliation to such hardships]
And free from anxiety and lamentation
Is called forbearance (titikṣā).”
gauḍendrasya sabhā-vibhūṣaṇa-maṇis tyaktvā ya ṛddhāṁ śriyaṁ
rūpasyāgraja eṣa eva taruṇīṁ vairāgya-lakṣmīṁ dadhe |
antar-bhakti-rasena pūrṇa-hṛdayo bāhyāvadhūtākṛtiḥ
śaivālaiḥ pihitaṁ mahāsara iva prīti-pradas tad-vidām ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nātaka: 9.34)
“He who was the jewel
Adorning the court of Gauḍa’s king—
Rūpa’s elder brother [viz., Sanātana]—
Rejected immense wealth
And embraced the youthful fortune-goddess of non-attachment.
Internally of heart filled with bhakti-rasa
And externally of the appearance of a mendicant (avadhūta),
Like a great lake covered with duckweed,
He is a bestower of delight
For those who recognize him.”
prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān |
ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55)
“O Pārtha,
When one completely casts away
All desires situated in the mind,
Being satisfied in the self specifically
By means of the self,
Then one is said to be
One of steady wisdom (sthita-prajña).”
savāsanānāṁ sabhyānāṁ rasasyāsvādanaṁ bhavet |
nirvāsanās tu raṅgāntaḥ-kāṣṭha-kuḍyāśma-sannibhāḥ ||
(Dharmadatta; cited in Sāhitya-darpaṇa: 3.10)
“Assessors possessed of the [necessary] inclination (vāsanā) can have the taste of rasa. Those devoid of the inclination (vāsanā), on the contrary, are like the wood, walls, and stone inside the theater.”
labdha-kṛṣṇa-rater eva suṣṭhu pūtaṁ manaḥ sadā |
kṣubhyaty ahṛdya-leśe’pi tato’syāṁ raty-anugrahaḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.7.12)
“Specifically because of having attained rati for Kṛṣṇa, a deeply and continuously purified mind is disturbed in the presence of even a trace of something disagreeable. Thus, there is support from rati in this [i.e., thus a bhakta’s primary rati—sthāyī-bhāva—supports the secondary rati of jugupsā (disgust).”
anarpita-carīṁ cirāt karuṇayāvatīrṇaḥ kalau
samarpayitum unnatojjvala-rasāṁ sva-bhakti-śriyam |
hariḥ puraṭa-sundara-dyuti-kadamba-sandīpitaḥ
sadā hṛdaya-kandare sphuratu vaḥ śacī-nandanaḥ ||
(Vidagdha-mādhava-nāṭakam: 1.1.2; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.4)
“Having descended in the Age of Kali
To graciously impart in full
The wealth of bhakti to himself
Replete with elevated ujjvala-rasa
Which for a long time
Had not been imparted before,
May Hari,
The [lion-like] Son of Śacī,
Fully illuminated with a profusion radiance
More beautiful than gold,
Appear always in the cave of the hearts of you all.”
sarvathaiva durūho’yam abhaktair bhagavad-rasaḥ |
tat-pādāmbuja-sarvasvair bhaktair evānurasyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.131; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.23.100)
“This Bhagavad-rasa is in all cases difficult to comprehend for non-bhaktas. It is relished only by bhaktas whose all is his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] lotus feet.”
puruṣottamasya parito
gokula-caritāmṛtena kṛta-sekaḥ |
prema-maranda-syandaṁ
tanotu mama citta-mākandaḥ ||
(Stava-mālā: Nandotsavādi-caritam, 40)
“Sprinkled all around
With the ambrosia of Puruṣottama’s
Activities in Gokula,
May the mango tree of my heart
Exude a stream
Of the nectar of prema.”
karma vikṣepakaṁ tasyā vairāgyaṁ rasa-śoṣakam |
jñānaṁ hāni-karaṁ tat-tac-chodhitaṁ tv anuyāti tām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.205)
“Karma [i.e., observance of the practices enjoined for those following the path of karma] is a cause of distraction from it [i.e., from bhakti]. Vairāgya is a cause of desiccation of rasa [for it]. Jñāna is cause of detriment [to it]. [When] Rectified, however, these attend to it.”
