sakhyāṁ sva-sneho, yathā—
śaila-mūrdhni hariṇā viharantī
roma-kuḍmala-karmabita-mūrtiḥ |
rādhikā salalitaṁ lalitāyāḥ
paśya mārṣṭi lulitālakam āsyam ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 13.104)
“Personal [i.e., a nāyikā’s own] affection for sakhīs is [described] as follows: ‘[Rūpa Mañjarī says to a sakhī of Lalitā:] Look! While sporting with Hari atop the mountain, her figure inlaid with budding pores [i.e., horripilation], Rādhikā wipes Lalitā’s charming face with disheveled locks.”
sañcārī syāt samāno vā kṛṣṇa-ratyāḥ suhṛd-ratiḥ |
adhikā puṣyamāṇā ced bhāvollāsā ratiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.128)
“Rati for a friend (suhṛt) that is equal or otherwise to [i.e., lesser than] rati for Kṛṣṇa shall be [considered] a sañcāri [-bhāva]. If it is [sometimes] greater and flourishing [more so than one’s Kṛṣṇa-rati], [then] it is [called] bhāvollāsa-rati.”
aghahara tava vīrya-proṣitāśeṣa-cintāḥ
parihṛta-gṛha-vāstu-dvāra-bandhānubaddhāḥ |
nija-nijam iha rātrau prāṅganaṁ śobhayantaḥ
sukham avicalad-aṅgāḥ śerate paśya gopāḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.174)
“O Aghahara, look at the gopas, who have cast away all worries by virtue of your vigor, given up the obligation of locking the doors of their households, finely decorated their own courtyards, and comfortably, with unmoving bodies, gone to sleep at night here [in Vraja].”
māṅgalyaṁ jagatām eva viśvāsāspadatā matā ||
yathā—
anyāyyaṁ na harāv iti vyapagata-dvārārgalā dānavā
rakṣī kṛṣṇa iti pramattam abhitaḥ krīḍāsu raktāḥ surāḥ |
sākṣī vetti sa bhaktim ity avanata-vrātāś ca cintojjhitāḥ
ke viśvambhara na tvad-aṅghri-yugale viśrambhitāṁ bhejire ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.259–260)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s quality of] Being the object of the entire world’s faith is considered [his quality of] auspiciousness (māṅgalya), [which is illustrated] as follows: ‘Because “There is no injustice in Hari,” the Dānavas [i.e., asuras] leave theirs doors unbolted, because “Kṛṣṇa is our protector,” the suras [i.e., devas] are carelessly absorbed in play all around, and because “He, the witnesser, knows our bhakti,” the humble [lit., “those who are bent down,” i.e., bhaktas] are worry-free. O Maintainer of the world! Who has not fostered confidence in your feet?”
hari-līlā-sudhā-sindhos taṭam apy adhitiṣṭhataḥ |
mano mama caturvargaṁ tṛṇāyāpi na manyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.147)
“Situated even on the shore of the ocean of the nectar of Hari’s līlā, my mind does not consider the caturvarga [i.e., the four puruṣārthas of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa] even to be straw.”
viṣṇu-bhaktiṁ pravakṣyāmi yayā sarvam avāpyate |
yathā bhaktyā haris tuṣyet tathā nānyena kenacit ||
bhaja ity eṣa vai dhātuḥ sevāyāṁ parikīrtitaḥ |
tasmāt sevā budhaiḥ proktā bhaktiḥ sādhana-bhūyasī ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.227.1, 3; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 216)
“I shall now describe Viṣṇu-bhakti, by which everything is attained. Hari is not as satisfied by anything else as he can be by bhakti. The dhātu √bhaj [i.e., the verbal root from which the word bhakti is derived] is widely said to mean service (sevā). Therefore, the great sādhana [known as] bhakti is said to be service (sevā) by the wise.”
oṁ pārthāya pratibodhitāṁ bhagavatā nārāyaṇena svayaṁ
vyāsena grathitāṁ purāṇa-muninā madhye mahābhārate |
advaitāmṛta-varṣiṇīṁ bhagavatīm aṣṭādaśādhyāyiṇīm
amba tvām anusandadhāmi bhagavad-gīte bhava-dveṣiṇīm ||
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Gītā-dhyāna: 1)
“Oṁ, I meditate upon you of divine nature, O Mother, O Bhagavad-gītā, destroyer of material existence and showerer of the nectar of non-duality, constituted of eighteen chapters, composed by the ancient sage Vyāsa within the Mahābhārata, and taught to Arjuna by Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself.”
bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter
ānandātiśaya-pradā viṣayajāt saukhyād vimuktir yayā |
śrī-rādhā-ramaṇaṁ padāmbuja-yugaṁ yasyā mahān-āśrayo
yā kāryā vraja-lokavat gurutara-premnaiva tasyai namaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)
“Obeisance unto her, Bhakti [Devī],
Who is the mother of all goals
[i.e., the cause of attaining all the puruṣārthas],
Who is the bestower of bliss
Surpassing [that of] Brahman realization,
By whom complete liberation from pleasure
Produced by the sense objects is attained,
Whose principal shelter
Is the two lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā Ramaṇa,
And who is to be performed with very strong prema
Like the people of Vraja.”
atha śrī-bhagavat-prīti-lakṣaṇa-vākyānāṁ niṣkarṣaḥ | nikhila-paramānanda-candrikā-candramasi-sakala-bhuvana-saubhāgya-sāra-sarvasva-sattva-guṇopajīvyānanta-vilāsa-mayāmāyika-viśuddha-sattvānavaratollāsād asamordhva-madhure śrī-bhagavati katham api cittāvatārād anapekṣita-vidhiḥ svarasata eva samullasantī viṣayāntarair anavacchedyā tātparyāntaram asahamānā hlādinī-sāra-vṛtti-viśeṣa-svarūpā bhagavad-ānukūlyātmaka-tad-anugata-tat-spṛhādi-maya-jñāna-viśeṣākārā tādṛśa-bhakta-mano-vṛtti-viśeṣa-dehā pīyūṣa-pūrato’pi sarasena svenaiva sva-dehaṁ sarasayantī bhakta-kṛtātma-rahasya-saṅgopana-guṇa-maya-rasanā-bāṣpa-muktādi-vyakta-pariṣkārā sarva-guṇaika-nidhāna-svabhāvā dāsīkṛtāśeṣa-puruṣārtha-sampattikā bhagavat-pātivratya-vrata-varyā-paryākulā bhagavan-manoharaṇaikopāya-hāri-rūpā bhāgavatī prītis tam upasevamānā virājata iti |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 78)
“Now, the essence of the [aforementioned] statements about the characteristics of prīti for Śrī Bhagavān [is summarized]. Śrī Bhagavān—the Moon refulgent with the moonlight of the totality of the highest bliss, he of unsurpassed and unparalleled sweetness (madhura) by virtue of the everlasting elation produced by [his] completely pure sattva [lit., ‘existence’] beyond māyā which is (1) filled with endless play (vilāsa), (2) the sustenance of [prākṛta] sattva-guṇa, and (3) the essence and entirety of [all] the good fortune [found] throughout all the worlds—divine (Bhāgavatī) prīti for Bhagavān [i.e., Bhagavān as he has thus been described]—(1) non-dependent on injunctions because of descending into the citta somehow [i.e., of its own accord by the gracious wish of Śrī Bhagavān], (2) fully elating entirely naturally [i.e., solely by virtue of her own nature and the nature of her object, Bhagavān], (3) inseparable [from him] by any other object, (4) intolerant of any other intention [alt., aim] (tātparya) [than him], (5) in constitution (svarūpa) a special vṛtti of the essence of hlādinī [i.e., of the hlādinī-vṛtti of Bhagavān’s svarūpa-śakti], (6) in appearance (ākāra) a particular form of awareness (jñāna) constituted of favorability (ānukūlya) towards Bhagavān and filled with desire [for Bhagavān] and so forth following [in the wake of] that [favorability towards him; i.e., a particular form of awareness (jñāna) constituted of favorability (ānukūlya) towards Bhagavān that is filled with elation caused by experience of Śrī Bhagavān as a result of desire for Śrī Bhagavān arising from favorability (ānukūlya) towards Śrī Bhagavān], (7) in figure (deha) a particular vṛtti in the mind of such a bhakta, (8) imbuing her own figure (deha) with rasa [i.e., relishability] greater than even a dessert made of ambrosia [i.e., than even the finest sweets that can be found in Svarga] solely by means of her own rasa [i.e., her own inherent relishability], (9) bearing the visible decorations (pariṣkāra) of the pearls of tears, an ornamental girdle made of the quality exhibited by a bhakta of hiding one’s own secrets, and so on, (10) in nature (svabhāva) a superb reservoir of all qualities, (11) in affluence (sampattikā) having made all the puruṣārthas maidservants, (12) greatly excited as a varyā [i.e., a bride who chooses her own husband] devoted to her vow of fidelity (pātivratya) to Bhagavān, and (13) captivating in beauty (rūpā) the sole approach [i.e., undertaking] of which is captivation of Bhagavān’s mind—[as such, personified prīti for Bhagavān] dazzles as she adores him.”
namaś caitanyacandrāya sva-nāmāmṛta-sevine |
yad-rūpāśrayaṇād yasya bheje bhaktim ayaṁ janaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)
“Obeisance unto the moon Caitanya, the relisher of the nectar of his own name, by taking shelter of whose form this person received bhakti for him.”
