prema-sevā sādhya yei, gāḍha-lobhe mile sei,
varaja-vāsi-carita tatpara ||
(Yadunandana Ṭhākura’s rendering of Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.3)
“One devoted to the ways of the residents of Vraja attains prema-sevā, the sādhya [i.e., the goal], [only] with intense hankering.”
guṇaiḥ svair hīnā me yadapi kavitā nātimadhurā
satāṁ svādyāthāpy acyuta-guṇa-yutatvena bhavitā |
ayaḥ-śastrī spṛṣṭā mṛgayu-gṛha-gā sparśa-maṇinā
suvarṇatvaṁ prāptā bhavati mahatāṁ bhūṣaṇa-kṛte ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 16.5)
[On the order of Vṛndā following the indication of Rādhā, a parrot begins to speak in praise of Kṛṣṇa:] “Although my poetry is deficient in its own attributes and not very sweet, still it shall be relishable to sādhus because of it being endowed with [descriptions of] the qualities of Acyuta, since [even] an iron knife situated in the home of a hunter that has been touched by a touchstone and attained the state of being golden becomes suitable for decorating a great person.”
yat pālitaṁ tāta-mukhair vardhitaṁ
līlā-rasair mitra-gaṇair niṣevitam |
bhaktaiḥ sadāsvāditam etad ālibhiḥ
śrī-rādhayā kṛṣṇa-rasāmṛtaṁ phalam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.92)
“This fruit—Kṛṣṇa, the nectar of rasa [i.e., Kṛṣṇa, who is the nectar of prema personified]—which is continuously nourished with the rasas of līlās [i.e., with līlās full of varieties of rasa] by his father and so forth, [continuously] increased [with the rasas of līlās] by his friends, and [continuously] served [with the rasas of līlās] by his bhaktas [i.e., his servants], is [continuously] tasted [through the rasas of līlās] by Śrī Rādhā and friends.”
yat pītaṁ śruti-vāṅ-manobhir aniśaṁ tṛṣṇā-pradam adbhutaṁ
saṁsārāmaya-hāry api praṇayajonmādāndhya-mohādi-kṛt |
śaśvac carvitam apy analpa-rasadaṁ dehādi-hṛt-puṣṭidaṁ
taj jīyād amṛta-spṛhā-haram idaṁ govinda-līlāmṛtam ||
(Govinda Līlāmṛta: 1.5)
“May this wonderful Govinda-līlāmṛtam triumph! [Why is it wonderful?] Even when it is drunk with the ears, tongue, and mind, it incessantly produces thirst [for more of itself] and [simultaneously] gives nourishment to the body, heart, and so forth; even though it cures the disease of saṁsāra, it gives rise to the madness, blindness, delusion, and so forth manifest by love (praṇāya) [i.e., the “disease” of Kṛṣṇa-prema]; even when it is chewed constantly [as it wonderfully can continually be both drunk and chewed], it produces no small amount of rasa [i.e., as sugarcane does, but rather again and again produces an abundance of sweet prema-rasa]; and even though it is itself amṛta (nectar), it removes all desire for amṛta [i.e., be it the nectarean beverage drunk by the devas to remain ever-youthful sought by the karmīs or the various forms of liberation from māyā sought by the jñānīs and yogīs].”
The ten essential verses of Śrī Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta
By Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmīpāda
yair etat paripīyate hṛdi lasat tṛṣṇātirekān muhur
brahmādyair api durgamaṁ vraja-vidhor līlāmṛtaṁ rādhayā |
vṛndāraṇya-vilāsinī-kumudinī-vṛndasya bandhur vraje
kāruṇyād acireṇa vāñchita-tamaṁ teṣāṁ tanotu svayam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.96)
[Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confers a blessing upon readers of Govinda-līlāmṛta at the end of the text and thereby illustrates the ultimate aim and result of relishing the text:]
“May the Friend of the lilies
Of the charming women
In the forest of Vṛndā in Vraja
[viz., Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Beloved of the lily-like gopīs],
Out of compassion,
Personally,
And without delay,
Bestow that which is desired most [i.e., prema-sevā]
Upon those by whom this līlāmṛta
[i.e., this text Govinda-līlāmṛta,
And alt., this nectar of the līlā]
Of [himself] the Moon of Vraja with Rādhā
Is continuously imbibed in full
Out of an abundance of thirst
Rollicking in the heart
Although [such līlāmṛta is] inaccessible even to Brahmā and others.”
kṛṣṇasya vṛndā-vipine’tra rādhayā
līlā anantā madhurāś cakāsati |
kṣaṇe kṣaṇe nūtana-nūtanāḥ śubhā
diṅ-mātram etan mayakā pradarśitam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.93)
“The līlā of Kṛṣṇa with Rādhā here in the forest of Vṛndā, endless and sweet, shines from moment to moment newer and newer in splendor. A mere indication of this has been shown by me.”
tatas te bhojayitvānyā vayasyā dāsikā api |
sa-gaṇaiḥ saha saṁhṛṣṭaiḥ sveśā-śeṣānnam ādatuḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 20.74)
“Thereafter, they [i.e., Tulasī and Rūpa Mañjarī] fed their contemporaries and servants and then with their companions delightedly ate their Īśā’s [i.e., Rādhā’s] remnants.”
