iṣṭe gāḍha-tṛṣṇā ‘rāga’—ei svarūpa-lakṣaṇa |
iṣṭe āviṣṭatā—ei taṭastha-lakṣaṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.146)
“Intense thirst for the object of one’s desire is the intrinsic characteristic of rāga. Absorption in the object of one’s desire is the extrinsic characteristic of rāga.”
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema sādhya kabhu naya |
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.104)
“Eternally existent Kṛṣṇa-prema is never something to be produced [i.e., created, lit., accomplished]. It [being eternal existent] manifests into a heart purified by śravaṇa and so forth [i.e., by the practices of sādhana-bhakti].”
yadā yam anugṛhṇāti bhagavān ātma-bhāvitaḥ |
sa jahāti matiṁ loke vede ca pariniṣṭhitām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.46; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.64; Bhakti Sandarbha: 284; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 11.115)
“[Nārada to Prācīnabarhi:] When Bhagavān, being meditated upon within the heart, favors one, then one abandons resolute regard for the world [i.e., social conventions] and the Veda [i.e., injunctions given in the Vedas].”
bhakta-citte bhakta-gṛhe sadā avasthāna |
kabhu gupta, kabhu vyakta, svatantra bhagavān ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.124)
“Independent Bhagavān is always situated in the hearts of his devotees and the homes of his devotees, sometimes hiddenly and sometime openly.”
īśvara-svarūpa bhakta tā̐ra adhiṣṭhāna |
bhaktera hṛdaye kṛṣṇera satata viśrāma ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.61)
“A bhakta is a form of Īśvara, as a bhakta is his dwelling-place. Kṛṣṇa always resides in his bhakta’s heart.”
bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās tīrtha-bhūtāḥ svayaṁ prabho
tīrthī-kurvanti tīrthāni svāntaḥsthena gadā-bhṛtā
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.13.10; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.63)
[Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira to Vidura:] “O master, devotees like you are themselves manifest tīrthas. They make the tīrthas tīrthas by the presence of the Club-bearer [i.e., Bhagavān] within their hearts.”
sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ sādhūnāṁ hṛdayaṁ tv aham |
mad-anyat te na jānanti nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg api ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.4.68; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 93, Prīti Sandarbha: 65; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.62)
[Viṣṇu to Durvāsā:] “Sādhus are my heart, and I am the sādhus’ heart. They do not know anyone other than me, and I do not know anyone other than them at all.”
jñāna-karma-yoga-dharme nahe kṛṣṇa vaśa |
kṛṣṇa-vaśa-hetu eka—prema-bhakti-rasa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.75)
“Captivation of Kṛṣṇa does not occur through the dharmas of jñāna, karma, or yoga. The cause of captivation of Kṛṣṇa is one: the rasa of prema-bhakti.”
na me‘bhaktaś catur-vedī mad-bhaktaḥ śva-pacaḥ priyaḥ |
tasmai deyaṁ tato grāhyaṁ sa ca pūjyo yathā hy aham ||
(Itihāsa-samuccaya; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.127 and Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.50, 2.20.58)
“One who knows the four Vedas but is not my bhakta is not dear to me, whereas my bhakta, even if he is a dog-cooker [i.e., an outcaste], is [dear to me]. To him, things are fit to be given, and from him, things are fit to be accepted. He is indeed as worshippable as I am.”
anya-kāmī yadi kare kṛṣṇera bhajana |
nā māgileo kṛṣṇa tāre dena sva-caraṇa ||
kṛṣṇa kahe—āmā bhaje, māge viṣaya-sukha |
amṛta chāḍi’ viṣa māge—ei baḍa mūrkha ||
āmi vijña, ei mūrkhe viṣaya kene diba? |
sva-caraṇāmṛta diyā viṣaya bhulāiba ||
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.37–39)
“If someone with other desires [i.e., someone who desires anything other than Kṛṣṇa] engages in worship of Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa gives them his own feet even though they did not ask [for them]. Kṛṣṇa says [i.e., considers], ‘They worship me but ask for the pleasure of sense objects; they reject nectar and ask for poison. They are a great fool. I [on the contrary] am wise. [So,] Why should I give this fool objects of the senses? I will give them the nectar of my own feet and make them forget about objects of the senses.’”
