Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta

śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo

śriyaḥ kāntāḥ kāntaḥ parama-puruṣaḥ kalpa-taravo
drumā bhūmiś cintāmaṇi-gaṇa-mayī toyam amṛtam |
kathā gānaṁ nāṭyaṁ gamanam api vaṁśī priya-sakhī
cid-ānandaṁ jyotiḥ param api tad āsvādyam api ca ||
sa yatra kṣīrābdhiḥ sravati surabhībhyaś ca sumahān
nimeṣārdhākhyo vā vrajati na hi yatrāpi samayaḥ |
bhaje śvetadvīpaṁ tam aham iha golokam iti yaṁ
vidantas te santaḥ kṣiti‑virala‑cārāḥ katipaye ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.55–56; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 5.143; Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.94–95; Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.500–501; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 172, 177, 186; Prīti Sandarbha: 111; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.14.227)

“That [place] where the lovers [alt., women] are Śrīs [i.e., resemblant of Lakṣmī], the beloved is the Supreme Puruṣa [i.e., he who is superior even to Nārāyaṇa and expands himself to reciprocate with every lover], the trees are desire-trees, the land is made of thought-jewels, the water is nectar, the speech is song, the movement is dance, the vaṁśī [i.e., flute] is a dear sakhī [i.e., is a friend to Kṛṣṇa as his constant companion and a friend to the residents of Vraja by making Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure and whereabouts known], the conscious, blissful, superb light is supremely relishable, an ocean of milk flows from the cows [i.e., where the cows become absorbed in the sound of the flute and yield unlimited milk], and where even the time [i.e., the time span] known as half of the most immense [i.e., half of the lifespan of Brahmā] or [the time span known as half of] the blink of the eye [i.e., an instant] does not pass [i.e., where the troublesome effects of time are absent and the residents are unaware of time on account of their absorption]—I worship [i.e., take shelter in] that Śvetadvīpa [lit., ‘white island’] which [only] a few sādhus in this world, who move about in seclusion on the earth [out of attachment to Kṛṣṇa and non-attachment to everything of the world; alt., who are extremely rare], know to be Goloka.”

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kṛṣṇe gate madhupurīṁ bata ballavīnāṁ

kṛṣṇe gate madhupurīṁ bata ballavīnāṁ 
bhāvo’bhavat sapadi yo laya-vahni-tīvraḥ |
premāsya hetur uta tattvam idaṁ hi tasya
mā tad-viśeṣam aparaṁ bata boddhum iccha ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.232)

“The cause of the gopīs’ bhāva, intense like the fire of [universal] destruction, that immediately arose when Kṛṣṇa went to Madhupurī is prema, and this [i.e., this state] is indeed its [i.e., prema’s] very nature. Bata! Do not desire to understand anything other than this description.”

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tad vai tasya priya-krīḍā-vana-bhūmau sadā rahaḥ

tad vai tasya priya-krīḍā-vana-bhūmau sadā rahaḥ |
nivasaṁs tanuyād evaṁ sampadyetācirād dhruvam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.220)

“Always residing in seclusion in the land of his dear play forests, one should develop that [i.e., prema]. In this way, it certainly and without delay becomes manifest.”

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kathañcana smāraṇam eva teṣām

kathañcana smāraṇam eva teṣām
avehi taj-jīvana-dānam eva |
teṣāṁ yato vismaraṇaṁ kadācit
prāṇādhikānāṁ maraṇāc ca nindyam ||
na sambhaved asmaraṇaṁ kadāpi
sva-jīvanānāṁ yad api priyāṇām |
tathāpi kenāpi viśeṣaṇena
smṛtiḥ praharṣāya yathā su-jīvitam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.129–130)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Understand that somehow producing remembrance of them [i.e., those who are dear] is to give [those endowed with prema] life itself because any sort of forgetfulness of them who are more [dear] than one’s very life is more contemptible than dying [for those endowed with prema]. Although forgetting those who are as dear as one’s very life is never possible, still any sort of special remembrance [of them] is as great a joy as an abundant life.”

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icchet punas tādṛśam eva bhāvaṁ

icchet punas tādṛśam eva bhāvaṁ
kliṣṭaṁ kathañcit tad-abhāvataḥ syāt |
yeṣāṁ na bhātīti mate’pi teṣāṁ
gāḍhopakārī smṛti-daḥ priyāṇām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.128)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “The heart will want such bhāva [i.e., such apparent sorrow] again, and will become distressed by any sort of absence of it. This bhāva, even in the view of those in whom it does not arise, is the greatest benefactor, since it is a producer of remembrance of those who are dear.”

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tac-choka-duḥkhoparamasya paścāc

tac-choka-duḥkhoparamasya paścāc
cittaṁ yataḥ pūrṇatayā prasannam |
samprāpta-sambhoga-mahā-sukhena
sampanna-vat tiṣṭhati sarvadaiva ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.127)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “This is so because after the cessation of the sorrow of such grief [i.e., that produced by separation], the heart remains completely satisfied as though it is endowed constantly with the great joy of attained union.”

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asmākaṁ tu mataṁ tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ

asmākaṁ tu mataṁ tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ ity-ādi-vacanatas tathā bhakter anāyāsa-siddhatva-śravaṇāt tathā bhaktir eva bhaktim utpādayati iti nyāyāc ca śrī-bhagavat-kṛpayā tad-eka-mātrāpekṣasya sukhaṁ sampadyate |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta Dig-darśinī­-ṭīkā: 2.2.213)

“Our view, however, is that in accord with statements such as tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ [in SB 10.14.8], because it is heard that bhakti is established without difficulty, and in accord with the principle that bhakti itself produces bhakti, the happiness [i.e., the superlative happiness of niṣṭhā in bhakti] of one who depends only on him [i.e., Bhagavān] manifests [just by] by the grace of Śrī Bhagavān [i.e., taking up any other process, such as karma or jñāna, for the sake of citta-śuddhi is unnecessary].”

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matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām |
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ||
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ |
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.30–32)

“[Śrī Prahlāda to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Inclination towards Kṛṣṇa cannot arise on account of another, on its own, or on account of both [i.e., on its own and on account of another] for those intent upon household life, who have entered darkness because of uncontrolled senses and whose chewing is [only] of the chewed [therein] again and again. They, of debased mind, who honor only those whose aim is in the external, certainly do not understand Viṣṇu, he who is the object to be reached [only] for those whose aim is related to the Self. They also become bound by the strong strands of Īśa’s cord like the blind being led by the blind. Their inclination, the need of which is the cessation of the insubstantial, does not touch the feet of he of great stride [i.e., Bhagavān] so long as one shall not accept a bath in the foot-dust of the divested—the great ones.”

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tac ca śrī-ballavī-prāṇanātha-pāda-sarojayoḥ

tac ca śrī-ballavī-prāṇanātha-pāda-sarojayoḥ |
premaiva tad-vraja-prema-sājātīyaṁ na cetarat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.214)

“That [i.e., your sādhana to attain your Iṣṭadeva], moreover, is simply prema for the lotus feet of the beautiful ballavī’s Beloved [lit., the Lord of the gopīs’ prāṇas, that is, hearts, lives, or vital airs] which resembles the [highly celebrated] prema for him [found] in Vraja, and is not otherwise.”

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