mahākāruṇya-mahimā purāṇo nitya-nūtanaḥ |
tvadīyaḥ sac-cid-ānandas tasmai nityaṁ namo namaḥ ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: Dainyārti-vijñāpanam, 14)
“Obeisance and obeisance forever unto that great, primordial, [yet] ever-new, real, conscious, and blissful power of your [i.e., Bhagavān’s] compassion.”
satāṁ kṛpā ca duravasthā-darśana-mātrodbhavā, na svopāsanādy-apekṣā, yathā śrī-nāradasya nalakūvara-maṇigrīvayoḥ | tad āha—bhajanti ye yathā devān devā api tathaiva tān | chāyeva karma-sacivāḥ sādhavo dīna-vatsalāḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 183)
“The grace of sādhus arises just by [them] seeing someone in an adverse condition. It is not dependent on one’s worship or otherwise, as in the case of Śrī Nārada’s grace upon Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva. Thus it is said (in SB 11.2.6), “As one serves the devas, so too do the devās, the administers of karma, serve him, like a refection. Sādhus [however] are affectionate to the poor [i.e., sādhus bestow grace upon jīvas out of compassion rather than out of reciprocal obligation, and they may bless jīvas with something far superior to what such fortunate jīvas may presently understand or desire].”
aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī |
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato’nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.2.23; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.679; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.29, 2.5.106; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 103; Bhakti Sandarbha: 337; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.98)
“Aho! In what compassionate person could we possibly take shelter other than he whom Bakī [i.e., Pūtanā] fed lethal poison on her breast with the intent to kill [him] and [yet still], although she was wicked, attained a position appropriate for a nurse?”
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā vine nahe duḥkhera mocana |
thākila vā vidyā kula koṭi koṭi dhana ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 1.7.138)
“Without Kṛṣṇa’s grace, deliverance from suffering does not occur, even if one has learning, nobility, or crores and crores of wealth.”
anuṣṭhānaṁ hy upadeśāpekṣaṁ, prema tu tat-prasādāpekṣam iti |
(Tattva Sandarbha: 46)
“Practice [i.e., sādhana-bhakti] is dependent on instruction, but prema [i.e., prema-bhakti] is dependent on his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] grace.”
anukampā ca pūrṇe’pi svasmin nija-sevādy-abhilāṣaṁ sampādya sevakādiṣu sevādi-saubhāgya-sampādikā bhagavataś cittārdratāmayī tad-upakārecchā |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 84)
“Anukampā (compassion) is Bhagavān’s desire, constituted of meltedness of the heart, to favor his servants and so forth by producing desire [within their hearts] for their own service to him and then manifesting the fortune of that service and so forth even though he is complete [i.e., independent and self-satisfied].”
para-duḥkha-praharaṇecchā hi kṛpā |
(Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s ṭīkā on Stava-mālā: Prārthanā-paddhati, 7)
“Grace is desire to remove the suffering of another.”
para-duḥkhāsaho yas tu karuṇaḥ sa nigadyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sundhu: 2.1.132)
“One who cannot tolerate the suffering of others is called compassionate.”
yair etat paripīyate hṛdi lasat tṛṣṇātirekān muhur
brahmādyair api durgamaṁ vraja-vidhor līlāmṛtaṁ rādhayā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinī-kumudinī-vṛndasya bandhur vraje
kāruṇyād acireṇa vāñchita-tamaṁ teṣāṁ tanotu svayam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.96)
[Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confers a blessing upon readers of Govinda-līlāmṛta at the end of the text and thereby illustrates the ultimate aim and result of relishing the text:]
“May the Friend of the lilies
Of the charming women
In the forest of Vṛndā in Vraja
[viz., Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Beloved of the lily-like gopīs],
Out of compassion,
Personally,
And without delay,
Bestow that which is desired most [i.e., prema-sevā]
Upon those by whom this līlāmṛta
[i.e., this text Govinda-līlāmṛta,
And alt., this nectar of the līlā]
Of [himself] the Moon of Vraja with Rādhā
Is continuously imbibed in full
Out of an abundance of thirst
Rollicking in the heart
Although [such līlāmṛta is] inaccessible even to Brahmā and others.”
kṛṣṇasya vṛndā-vipine’tra rādhayā
līlā anantā madhurāś cakāsati |
kṣaṇe kṣaṇe nūtana-nūtanāḥ śubhā
diṅ-mātram etan mayakā pradarśitam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.93)
“The līlā of Kṛṣṇa with Rādhā here in the forest of Vṛndā, endless and sweet, shines from moment to moment newer and newer in splendor. A mere indication of this has been shown by me.”
