yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau jāta-śraddhas tu yaḥ pumān |
na nirviṇṇo nātisakto bhakti-yogo’sya siddhidaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.8)
“The practice of bhakti of a person who independently becomes possessed of śraddhā in discussion and so forth of me yet is neither disinterested nor excessively attached is a granter of success.”
āmnāya-prathitānvayā smṛtimatī bāḍhaṁ ṣaḍ-aṅgojjvalā
nyāyenānugatā purāṇa-suhṛdā mīmāṁsayā maṇḍitā |
tvāṁ labdhāvasarā cirād guru-kule prekṣya sva-saṅgārthinaṁ
vidyā nāma vadhūś caturdaśa-guṇā govinda śuśrūṣate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.77; cited in Sāhitya-kaumudī: 6.3)
“[Siddhas and Cāraṇas praise Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Govinda,
The young bride named Knowledge,
Whose lineage is extended by the [four] Vedas,
Who is possessed of the Smṛtis,
Who is exceedingly bright with the six [Veda-] aṅgas,
Who is followed by Nyāya,
Who is decorated by Mīmāṁsā
The friends of which are the Purāṇas,
Who is [thus] possessed of fourteen attributes,
And who upon seeing you seeking her own company
At the house of a guru
Has found an opportunity after a long time,
Desires to serve [you].”
A second translation as per the second intended meaning of the verse:
“[Siddhas and Cāraṇas praise Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Govinda,
The young bride named Knowledge,
Whose family is renowned for [its] nobility,
Who is endowed with good memory,
Whose six parts are exceedingly bright,
Who is observant of good conduct,
Who is decorated with discernment
The supporters of which are elders,
Who is present in the home of [her] parents,
Who upon seeing you seeking her own company
Has found an opportunity after a long time,
And is [thus] possessed of fourteen qualities,
Desires to serve [you].”
yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṁ tava pāda-padma-
dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt |
sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt
kiṁ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṁ vimānāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.10; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.29)
“O Lord, that bliss which can arise for embodied beings from meditation upon your lotus feet or through hearing narratives of persons who are your own does not occur even in [realization of] Brahman, your own [all-pervading] greatness. How then could it occur for [the devas of Svarga,] those who [all eventually] fall from airplanes slashed by the sword of death [i.e., time]?”
karṇākarṇi sakhī-janena vijane dūtī-stuti-prakriyā
patyur vañcana-cāturī guṇanikā kuñja-prayāṇe niśi |
bādhiryaṁ guru-vāci veṇu-virutāv utkarṇateti vratān
kaiśoreṇa tavādya kṛṣṇa guruṇā gaurī-gaṇaḥ paṭhyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.333)
“[A messenger informs Kṛṣṇa:] Whispering ear to ear with a friend,
Fine technique in praising messengers in private,
Dexterity in deception of the husband,
Steady practice of sneaking out to an arbor at night,
Deafness to the speech of elders,
Keeping the ears pricked at the sound of the flute—
O Kṛṣṇa,
Today,
With the guru of your adolescence,
Fair young women [viz., the gopīs]
Are studying all these rites.”
īhā yasya harer dāsye karmaṇā manasā girā |
nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan-muktaḥ sa ucyate ||
(Nāradīya Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.187)
“One who has the desire for servitude to Hari in deed, mind, and speech even in all circumstances is called a jīvan-mukta [i.e., one who is liberated while living].”
jīvan-muktiḥ śarīra-dvayānāveśena sthitiḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.1.25)
“Jīvan-mukti [i.e., ‘liberation while living’] is existence without absorption in the two bodies [i.e., the gross and subtle bodies in which a jīvātma in saṁsāra is situated].”
bhuktiṁ muktiṁ harir dadyād arcito’nyatra sevinām |
bhaktiṁ tu na dadāty eva yato vaśyakarī hareḥ ||
sā tv añjasā harer bhaktir labhyate kārttike naraiḥ |
mathurāyāṁ sakṛd api śrī-dāmodara-sevanāt ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.222–223)
“Hari shall bestow enjoyment (bhukti) or liberation (mukti) upon his servants when worshipped elsewhere [i.e., outside of Mathurā], but he does not bestow bhakti [upon them] because it is captivating of Hari. That bhakti to Hari, however, is easily attained by people as a result of service to Śrī Dāmodara even once in Mathurā during Kārtika.”
yeṣāṁ kṛpā-lavaṁ prāpya rasābdhir durgamo mayā |
spṛṣṭaḥ kṣudra-mater me’pi te śrī-rūpa-gaṇā gatiḥ ||
(Artha-ratnālpa-dīpikā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.9.44)
“The followers of Śrī Rūpa,
As a result of receiving a particle of whose grace
The difficult to reach ocean of rasa
Has been touched by me—
May they be the refuge
Even of I of petty mind.”
aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṁ
truṭir yugāyate tvām apaśyatām |
kuṭila-kuntalaṁ śrī-mukhaṁ ca te
jaḍa udīkṣatāṁ pakṣma-kṛt dṛśām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.15)
“[The gopīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] ‘When you go out to the forest during the day, a truṭi [i.e., half a milisecond] seems like a yuga for we who do not see you [all day], and the creator of lids for the eyes of we who eagerly behold your wavy locks and beautiful face [when you return in the late afternoon] is [considered by us to be] a fool.”
yasyānanaṁ makara-kuṇḍala-cāru-karṇa-
bhrājat-kapola-subhagaṁ savilāsa-hāsam |
nityotsavaṁ na tatṛpur dṛśibhiḥ pibantyo
nāryo narāś ca muditāḥ kupitā nimeś ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.24.65; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 82, 111; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.123)
“Drinking with their eyes whose [i.e., his, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] face, which is a constant festival, filled with a charming smile, and lovely with shining cheeks and adorable ears [decorated] with makara earrings, delighted women and men were not satiated and became angry at Nimi.”
