Alaṅkāra-kaustubha

kā vidyā hari-bhaktir eva na punar vedādi-niṣṇātatā

kā vidyā hari-bhaktir eva na punar vedādi-niṣṇātatā
kīrtiḥ kā bhagavat-paro’yam iti yā khyātir na dānādijā |
kā śrīḥ tat-priyatā na vai dhana-jana-grāmādi-bhūyiṣṭhatā |
kiṁ duḥkhaṁ bhagavat-priyasya viraho no hṛd-vraṇādi-vyathā ||8||
bhagavān: bhadram | ke muktāḥ?
rāmānandaḥ: pratyāsattir hari-caraṇayoḥ sānurāge na rāge
prītiḥ premātiśayini harer bhakti-yoge na yoge |
āsthā tasya praṇaya-rabhasasyopadehe na dehe
yeṣāṁ te hi prakṛti-sarasā hanta muktā na muktāḥ ||9||
bhagavān : bhavatu |
kiṁ geyaṁ vraja-keli-karma kim iha śreyaḥ satāṁ saṅgatiḥ
kiṁ smartavyam aghāri-nāma kim anudhyeyaṁ murāreḥ padam |
kva stheyaṁ vraja eva kiṁ śravaṇayor ānandi vṛndāvana-
krīḍaikā kim upāsyam atra mahasī śrī-kṛṣṇa-rādhābhidhe ||10||
bhagavān: bhadram |
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.8–10; cited in Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.233–234, 236)

“Bhagavān: What is knowledge?
“Rāmānanda: Hari-bhakti alone [is knowledge], and not, rather, expertise in the Vedas and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is glory?
“Rāmānanda: The renown, ‘He is devoted to Bhagavān’ [is glory] and not that produced by giving and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is wealth?
“Rāmānanda: Fondness for him [i.e., Bhagavān, is wealth], and certainly not an abundance of money, people [i.e., relatives, friends, followers, man-power, or otherwise], villages [i.e., land, property, social influence, etc.] and so on.
“Bhagavān: What is suffering?
“Rāmānanda: The separation of one dear to Bhagavān [is suffering], and not the pain of a wound in the heart or otherwise.
“Bhagavān: Very well. Who is liberated?
“Rāmānanda: Hanta! Those of rasa-laden disposition [alt., nature] who have close contact with [alt., affinity (āsakti) for] those possessed of loving attachment (anurāga) to Hari’s feet and not [rather close contact with or affinity for] attachment (rāga) [to objects of the senses (viṣaya)], [who] have fondness (prīti) for bhakti-yoga filled with a profusion of prema related to Hari, and not [rather] for yoga [i.e., jñāna-, karma-, or aṣṭāṅga-yoga, etc.], and [who] have conviction in the body suitable for he of fervent love (praṇaya) and not [rather conviction] in the [worldly] body, are liberated, and not [rather] the liberated [i.e., those who think themselves liberated].
“Bhagavān: Let it be. What is to be sung?
“Rāmānanda: The acts of play in Vraja.
“Bhagavān: What is the highest good (śreyas) here [in this world]?
“Rāmānanda: The association of the sat.
“Bhagavān: What is to be remembered?
“Rāmānanda: The name of Agha’s Foe.
“Bhagavān: What is to be meditated upon?
“Rāmānanda: The feet of Mura’s Foe.
“Bhagavān: Where is one to be stationed?
“Rāmānanda: In Vraja alone.
“Bhagavān: What is delighting to the ears?
“Rāmānanda: The play in Vṛndāvana alone.
“Bhagavān: What is the object to be approached [i.e., worshiped] here?
“Rāmānanda: The object of worship is the [two-fold] brilliance known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā.
“Bhagavān: Very well.”

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preyāṁs te’haṁ tvam api ca mama preyasīti pravādas

preyāṁs te’haṁ tvam api ca mama preyasīti pravādas
tvaṁ me prāṇā aham api tavāsmīti hanta pralāpaḥ |
tvaṁ me te syām aham iti yat tac ca no sādhu rādhe
vyāhāre nau na hi samucito yuṣmad-asmat-prayogaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 5.12)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] [Our saying,] ‘I am your lover and you are my beloved’ is [just] prattle. Oh! ‘You are my prāṇas and I am yours’ is [just] chatter. O Rādhe! [Even] ‘You are mine and I am yours’ is not correct, since usage [even] of [the words] ‘you’ and ‘I’ in our speech is not befitting.”

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nirupādhi-prīti-parā sadṛśī sukha-duḥkhayoḥ

nirupādhi-prīti-parā sadṛśī sukha-duḥkhayoḥ |
vayasya-bhāvād anyonyaṁ hṛdaya-jñā sakhī bhavet ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 5.157 (121))

“One who is endowed with unconditional prīti [for the nāyikā, her yūtheśvarī], is correlated in happiness and sorrow [with her yūtheśvarī], and, because of being a contemporary, has a mutual awareness of heart [with her yūtheśvarī] is a sakhī.”

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vinā rādhāṁ kṛṣṇo na khalu sukhadaḥ sā na sukhadā

vinā rādhāṁ kṛṣṇo na khalu sukhadaḥ sā na sukhadā
vinā kṛṣṇaṁ dvābhyām api vinānyā na sarasāḥ |
vinā rātriṁ nendus tam api na vinā sā’pi ruci-bhāk
vinā tābhyāṁ jṛmbhāṁ dadhati kumudinyo’pi na tarām ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.193)

“Certainly, without Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa is not delightful, and she is not delightful without Kṛṣṇa. And alas, without both of them, others [i.e., the sakhīs] are not beautiful [alt., impassioned, lit., imbued with rasa]. Neither the moon without the night, nor it without that [i.e., nor the night without the moon] are resplendent. And without them both, white water lillies do not fully blossom.”

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