Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta

prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena

prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena
samyag bhavet tad-rasikasya tasya |
tat sādhanaṁ śreṣṭhatamaṁ susevyaṁ
sadbhir mataṁ pratyuta sādhya-rūpam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.152)

“The sādhana related to him [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] of a relisher of him for which one’s complete affinity (__prīti__), and by which [one’s complete] satisfaction, shall come about is the best of all, [is] to be excellently performed, and [is] considered, rather, the goal and a form [of that goal] by the sat.”

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bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter

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.”

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namaś caitanyacandrāya sva-nāmāmṛta-sevine

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.”

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kṛṣṇa-bhaktyaiva sādhutvaṁ sādhanaṁ paramaṁ hi sā

kṛṣṇa-bhaktyaiva sādhutvaṁ sādhanaṁ paramaṁ hi sā |
tayā sādhyaṁ tad-aṅghry-abja-yugalaṁ paramaṁ phalam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.202)

“Sādhutva [i.e., the state of being sādhu] comes about only by Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, since that [i.e., Kṛṣṇa-bhakti] is the supreme sādhana, and by that the supreme goal, his two lotus feet, is attainable.”

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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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