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ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn

ahaṁ kāntā kāntās tvam iti na tadānīṁ matir abhūn
mano-vṛttir luptā tvam aham iti nau dhīr api hatā |
bhavān bhartā bhāryāham iti yad idānīṁ vyavasitis
tathāpi prāṇānāṁ sthitir iti vicitraṁ kim aparam ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.15)

[Rādhā speaks to Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā through a messenger:] “‘I am the female lover, and you are the male lover.’ I did not have this notion then [when you were here in Vraja]. This mentality was absent, and even our awareness of ‘you’ and ‘I’ was lost. Although we now [again] have the certainty that you are the man and I am the woman, still my prāṇas are present [in my body]. What is more astonishing than this?”

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sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste

sakhi na sa ramaṇo nāhaṁ ramaṇīti bhidāvayor āste |
prema-rasenobhaya-mana iva madano niṣpipeṣa balāt ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam: 7.14)

“[Rādhā:] O sakhī, he was not the male lover, and I was not the female lover, as any distinction between us had ceased; it was as though Madana had forcibly ground our minds [together] with prema-rasa.”

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tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ

tataḥ sa gītaṁ sarasāli-gītaṁ
vidagdhayor nāgarayoḥ parasya |
premno’tikāṣṭhā-pratipādanena
dvayoḥ paraikya-pratipādy avādīt ||
(Caitanya-carita-mahākāvya: 13.45)

“Then he [i.e., Rāmānanda Rāya] sang a song full of rasas which, by explaining the ultimate climax of the expert lovers’ supreme prema, explained their supreme oneness.”

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sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā

sa-premakā bhaktir atīva-durlabhā
svargādi-bhogaḥ sulabho’bhavaś ca saḥ |
cintāmaṇiḥ sarva-janair na labhyate
labhyeta kācādi kadāpi hāṭakam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.232)

“Bhakti endowed with prema is extremely rare to attain. Enjoyment of Svarga and so forth, and even non-birth [i.e., non-rebirth], are [relatively] easy to attain. A thought-jewel is not attained by everyone. [Rather,] Glass and so forth is attained, and sometimes gold.”

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imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api

imau gaurī-śyāmau manasi viparītau bahir api
sphurat tat-tad-vastrāv iti budha-janair niścitam idam |
sa ko’py accha-premā vilasad-ubhaya-sphūrtikatayā
dadhan mūrti-bhāvaṁ pṛthag apṛthag apy āvirudabhūt ||
(Gopāla-campū: 15.8)

“These two, fair and dark [in complexion], are the opposite [in “color”] in their minds and externally also manifest such respective cloth [i.e., cloth opposite in color to their complexions, that is, corresponding in color to one another’s complexions]. Thus it has been ascertained by the wise that some sort of pure prema, on account of its being a playful revealer of them both [in one another’s hearts], has appeared donning a state of form that is both separated [i.e., dual, bearing the two separate forms of bearer and receiver] and unseparated [i.e., non-dual, being one in nature and function as the medium of exchange between them].”

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api kalpānilasyaiva taraṅgasya mahodadheḥ

api kalpānilasyaiva taraṅgasya mahodadheḥ |
śakyate prasaro roddhuṁ nānuraktasya cetasaḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2009)

“Even the course of strong winds and the waves of a great ocean can be checked, but not that of a loving heart.”

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loka-dvayāt svajanataḥ parataḥ svato vā

loka-dvayāt svajanataḥ parataḥ svato vā
prāṇa-priyād api sumeru-samā yadi syuḥ |
kleśās tad apy atibalī sahasā vijitya
premaiva tān harir ibhān iva puṣṭim eti ||
(Prema-sampuṭa: 54)

“Even if hardships equal to [the size of] Mount Sumeru arise from this world and the next, from relatives, from others, from oneself, and from even the beloved of one’s heart, prema, being most powerful, forcibly defeats them and gains nourishment [from them] just as a lion defeats elephants and gains nourishment [by eating them].”

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vanaṁ gṛhaṁ no’bhavad ālayo vanaṁ 

vanaṁ gṛhaṁ no’bhavad ālayo vanaṁ 
dviṣat suhṛd bandhu-gaṇaś ca vairiṇaḥ |
viṣaṁ ca pīyūṣam utāmṛtaṁ viṣaṁ 
yad-artham asmāt tvād ṛte mriyāmahe ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.292)

“[The gopīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Without you, for the sake of whom the forest has become our home and our abode the forest, our enemies well-wishers, and our friends enemies, poison ambrosia and even nectar poison, we are dying.”

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prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ

prāg yady api prema-kṛtāṁ priyāṇāṁ
viccheda-dāvānala-vegato’ntaḥ |
santāpa-jātena duranta-śokā-
veśena gāḍhaṁ bhavatīva duḥkham ||
tathāpi sambhoga-sukhād api stutaḥ
sa ko’py anirvācya-tamo mano-ramaḥ |
pramoda-rāśiḥ pariṇāmato dhruvaṁ
tatra sphuret tad-rasikaika-vedyaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.125–126)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Although at first it is as if there occurs intense sorrow, created by prema, arising from absorption in endless grief produced by anguish within as a result of the onslaught of the forest fire of separation from those who are dear, still, this [sorrow] ultimately and certainly manifests some most ineffable heart-satisfying abundance of bliss which is praised more so than the joy of union and knowable only by rasikas.”

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anirvācyam anirbhinnam aparicchinnam avyayam

anirvācyam anirbhinnam aparicchinnam avyayam |
brahmeva sujana-prema duḥkha-mūla-nikṛntanam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha; Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)

“Like Brahman, the prema of a virtuous person is indescribable, undivided [i.e., unbreakable], uninterrupted [i.e., everlasting], and imperishable, and it cuts out the [very] root of suffering.”

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