jālena sarasi mīnā hiṁsrair eṇā vane ca vāgurayā |
saṁsāre bhūtasṛjā snehena narāś ca badhyante ||
(Kāvyālaṅkāra: 8.104)
“Fish are caught by cruel persons in a lake with a net as are deer in a forest with traps; men [are caught] by the emanator of living beings in saṁsāra with affection.”
eteṣāṁ tu tathā-bhāve bhagavat-kāvya-nāṭyayoḥ |
sevām āhuḥ paraṁ hetuṁ kecit tat-pakṣa-rāgiṇaḥ ||
kintu tatra sudustarka-mādhuryādbhuta-sampadaḥ |
rater asyāḥ prabhāvo’yaṁ bhavet kāraṇam uttamam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.90–91)
“Some [paṇḍitas] who are fond of that view [i.e., the view of conventional kāvya (poetics) and nāṭya (dramaturgy)] say that honoring kāvya and nāṭya related to Bhagavān [i.e., listening to recitations of kāvya, watching performances of nāṭya, and so on] is the primary cause in their being such [i.e., of vibhāvas, anubhāvas, etc. manifesting], but therein [i.e., in regard to vibhāvas, anubhāvas, etc.] this [present] influence of rati for him [i.e., Bhagavān], which is endowed with the wondrous excellence of highly incomprehensible sweetness, is the ultimate cause.”
rāma—priye, kim etat |
viniścetuṁ śakyo na sukham iti vā duḥkham iti vā
pramoho nidrā vā kim u viṣa-visarpaḥ kim u madaḥ |
tava sparśe sparśe mama hi parimūḍhendriya-gaṇo
vikāraś caitanyaṁ bhramayati ca saṁmīlayati ca ||
sītā—sthira-prasādā yūyam ita idānīṁ kim aparam |
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 1.36)
[As Rāma takes Sītā into his arms to rest for some time:] “Rāma: ’My dear, what is this? I am not able to ascertain whether this is joy or sorrow. Is it stupor or sleep? Is it a diffusion of poison or inebriety? At your every touch, some feeling which bewilders my senses causes my consciousness to reel and fall faint.’ Sītā [replies]: ‘This is your everlasting graciousness [upon me]. What else could it be?’”
na ratnam anviṣyati mṛgyate hi tat |
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.45)
“A jewel does not seek. It is rather sought.”
ka īpsitārtha-sthira-niścayaṁ manaḥ
payaś ca nimnābhimukhaṁ pratīpayet ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.5)
“Who can oppose the mind firmly resolved upon a desired object or water flowing downwards?”
vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi mṛdūni kusumād api |
lokottarāṇāṁ cetāṁsi ko nu vijñātum īśvaraḥ ||
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 2.7; cited in Caitanya Caritāmṛta: 2.7.73)
“Who has the ability to understand hearts of extraordinary persons, which are [both] harder than a lightning bolt and softer than a flower?”
kiṁ kāvyena kaves tasya kiṁ kāṇḍena dhanuṣmataḥ |
parasya hṛdaye lagnaṁ na ghūrṇayati yac chiraḥ ||
(Nala-campū: 1.5; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.1.195)
“What good is a poet’s poetry or a bowman’s arrow which strikes the heart of another but do not cause the head [of the other] to spin?”
kāvya-śāstra-vinodena kālo gacchati dhīmatām |
vyasanena tu mūrkhāṇāṁ nidrayā kalahena vā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 1)
“The time of the wise is spent with the joy of kāvya-śāstra, whereas that of fools with vice, sleep, and quarrel.”
viśiṣṭāḥ śabdā viśiṣṭā arthāś ca militvā kāvyatāṁ yānti |
(Samudra-bandha on Bhāmahālaṅkāra 1.16)
“Special sounds and special meanings come together and become poetry.”
śabdārthau sahitau kāvyaṁ gadyaṁ padyaṁ ca tad dvidhā |
(Bhāmahālaṅkāra: 1.16)
“Kāvya (poetry) is united sound and meaning. It is of two types: prose and verse.”
