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mama pratyakṣam evedaṁ yadā kṛṣṇo vraje’vrajat

mama pratyakṣam evedaṁ yadā kṛṣṇo vraje’vrajat |
tato hi pūtanādibhyaḥ keśy-antebhyo muhur muhuḥ ||
daityebhyo varuṇendrādi-devebhyo’jagarāditaḥ |
tathā cirantana-svīya-śakaṭārjuna-bhaṅgataḥ |
ko vā nopadravas tatra jāto vraja-vināśakaḥ ||
tatratyās tu janāḥ kiñcit te’nusandadhate na tat ||
mohitā iva kṛṣṇasya maṅgalaṁ tatra tatra hi |
icchanti sarvadā svīyaṁ nāpekṣante ca karhicit ||
svabhāva-sauhṛdenaiva yat kiñcit sarvam ātmanaḥ |
asyopakalpayante sma nanda-sūnoḥ sukhāya tat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.6.39–40)

“[Rohiṇī Devī to Devarṣi Nārada:] This is verily my experience: when Kṛṣṇa went to Vraja, from right then on, and again and again, what calamity devastating to Vraja—starting from Pūtanā and ending with Keśī—[coming] from asuras, from devas like Varuṇa and Indra, from pythons and so on [i.e., and other fearsome creatures], and from [even] the breaking of a cart and arjuna trees that had long been our own—did not arise? Still, the people situated there [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs] did not consider any of that [i.e., still, their love for Kṛṣṇa did not wane, and rather, only increased (Vraja-janānāṁ Kṛṣṇe prītir na jātu kṣīṇā, api tu vivṛddhaiva, DDT)]. As if beguiled, in all those cases [i.e., calamities], they [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs] always desired Kṛṣṇa’s well-being, and they never considered their own [well-being]. Purely out of natural cordiality, they offered everything that was their own for his—the Son of Nanda’s—pleasure.”

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uddhavo’tyanta-sambhrānto drutam utthāya tat-padau

uddhavo’tyanta-sambhrānto drutam utthāya tat-padau |
vidhāyāṅke samāliṅgya tasyābhipretya hṛd-gatam ||
hṛt-prāpta-bhagavat-tat-tat-prasāda-bhara-bhāg-janaḥ |
tadīya-prema-sampatti-vibhava-smṛti-yantritaḥ ||
rodanair vivaśo dīno yatnād dhairyaṁ śrito munim |
avadhāpyāha mātsaryāt sāttvikāt pramudaṁ gataḥ ||
śrīmad-uddhava uvāca—
sarvajña satyavāk-śreṣṭha mahāmuni-vara prabho |
bhagavad-bhakti-mārgādi-gurunoktaṁ tvayeha yat ||
tat sarvam adhikaṁ cāsmāt satyam eva mayi sphuṭam |
varteteti mayā jñātam āsīd anyair api dhruvam ||
idānīṁ yad vraje gatvā kim apy anvabhavaṁ tataḥ |
mahāsaubhāgyamāno me sa sadyaś cūrṇatāṁ gataḥ ||
tata eva hi kṛṣṇasya tat-prasādasya cādbhutā |
tat-premṇo’pi mayā jñātā mādhurī tadvatāṁ tathā ||
tad-darśanenaiva gato’tidhanyatāṁ
tarhy eva samyak prabhuṇānukampitam |
tasya prasādātiśayāspadaṁ tathā
matvā svam ānanda-bharāpluto’bhavam ||
gāyaṁ gāyaṁ yad abhilaṣatā yat tato’nuṣṭhitaṁ yat
tat sarveṣāṁ suviditam itaḥ śakyate’nyan na vaktum |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.6.19–27)

“Becoming greatly perfervid, Uddhava quickly arose, placed his [viz., Nārada’s] feet upon his own chest, fully embraced them, and, inferring that which was present in his [viz., Nārada’s] heart, holding in his own heart those persons [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs] possessed of an abundance of that particular [ineffable] grace of Bhagavān, becoming pained by remembrance of the greatness of the attainment of prema of they [so possessed of his grace] who are his own [alt., of the appearance—in the form of distress, weeping, and so on—of the fortune of prema of those so possessed of his grace who are his own], overwhelmed with tears, [thus] humble, [thereafter] with effort [from Nārada or Balarāma and others] reposed with composure, and given over to great delight out of sāttvika jealousy, he addressed the sage [viz., Nārada] and spoke. Blessed Uddhava said, ‘O all-knowing one, O best of truth-speakers, O foremost of great sages, O master, everything which was stated by you, the original guru of the path of bhakti to Bhagavān, and more than that, is verily true and clearly evident to me. Thus, it was certainly [already] known to me and to others. That pride in my great fortune [which you have described, which was known to me, and which was as big as Mount Sumeru] was immediately pulverized as a result of that [wonder] which I experienced recently after going to Vraja. Specifically from that [experience], the astonishing sweetness of Kṛṣṇa, of his grace, of prema for him, and of those possessed of that has become known to me. I have become greatly fortunate only by the sight of them [viz., the Vraja-vāsīs, alt., only by that experience]. Considering myself fully blessed by Prabhu and a recipient a profusion of his grace only then [i.e., after I had that experience], I have became submerged in an abundance of bliss. That which thus [i.e., because of my being so blissful] was sung [by me] repeatedly [in etāḥ paraṁ tanubhṛto … (SB 10.47.58) …], which was desired [by me in āsām aho caraṇa-reṇu-juṣām … (SB 10.47.61) …], and which was done [by me i.e., the obeisance I offered in vande nanda-vraja-strīṇāṁ … (SB 10.47.63)] is well known to everyone. Anything more than this is not able to be spoken [by me here now].’”

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astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe

astācalaṁ cumbati bhānu-bimbe
gṛhe gṛhe gokula-sundarīṇām |
divyānulepābharaṇāmbarāṇi
kṛṣṇāhriyante paritaḥ sakhībhiḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 8.101)

“O Kṛṣṇa,
When the orb of the sun
Kisses the western horizon,
In house after house
The splendid unguents, ornaments, and garments
Of the beauties of Gokula
Are brought from all sides by [their] friends
[So that these beauties can be well-dressed when they meet Kṛṣṇa as he re-enters the village in the early evening from his day of cow-herding out in the forest].”

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phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā

phalam api phalaṁ mākandānāṁ sitā api tāḥ sitā
amṛtam amṛtaṁ drākṣā drākṣā madhūni madhūny api |
saha tulayituṁ tenaiteṣāṁ na kiñcana yujyate
subala yad ayaṁ sāraṅgākṣyā bhavaty adharo’dharaḥ ||
(Alaṅkāra-kaustubha: 3.5)

“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Even the fruit of mango trees
Is [just] fruit.
Even candied sugar
Is [just] candied sugar.
[Even] Nectar is [just] nectar.
[Even] Grapes are [just] grapes.
Even honey is [just] honey.
O Subala,
None of these are fit
To be compared with that,
Since [that, viz.,] this lower lip of she of doe-eyes [viz., Śrī Rādhikā]
Is [really] a lower lip (adharaḥ)
[i.e., Something that excels all else].”

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hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo

hantāyam adrir abalā hari-dāsa-varyo
yad rāma-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa-sparaśa-pramodaḥ |
mānaṁ tanoti saha-go-gaṇayos tayor yat
pānīya-sūyavasa-kandara-kanda-mūlaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.21.18)

“Hanta!
O ladies!
This mountain is the best of Hari’s servants
Since he is possessed of great delight
At the touch of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa’s feet,
And since he offers honor to them,
Along with their cows and company,
With beverages, fine grass, hollows, bulbs, and roots.”

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sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra

sthānaṁ gopī-gaṇa-kuca-taṭī-kuṅkuma-śrī-bharārdra-
śrīmat-padāmbuja-yuga-sadā-prīti-saṅga-prādāyi |
jijñāsos te janani kathito’śeṣa-sandeha-ghāṭī
goloko’yaṁ madhura-gahana-praśna-bhāvānusārāt ||
vaikuṇṭhasyāpy upari nitarāṁ rājate yo nitānta-
śrīmad-gopī-ramaṇa-caraṇa-prema-pūraika-labhyaḥ |
vāñchā-vāñchopari-guru-phala-prāpti-bhūmir yadīyā
lokā dhyātā dadhati paramāṁ prema-sampatti-niṣṭhām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.77–78)

“O Mother,
In accord with the sweet and deep mood (bhāva)
Of the inquiry of you who are desirous to know
The place which is a bestower
Of eternal loving connection
With the two blessed lotus feet [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Moistened by a beautiful mass of kumkum
From the slopes of the gopīs’ breasts,
And which is a destroyer of all doubts,
This [place, known as] Goloka—
Which shines profoundly beyond even Vaikuṇṭha,
Which is attainable
Only by means of an extraordinary abundance of prema
For the feet of blessed gopīs’ Beloved,
Which is the land of the attainment
Of the great aim
Of our desires and [that is] beyond our desires,
And the people belonging to which,
As they are meditated upon,
Grant paramount fixity in the wealth of prema—
Has been described [by me to you].”

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pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī

pīyūṣa-dyutibhiḥ stanādri-patitaiḥ kṣīrotkarair jāhnavī
kālindī ca vilocanābja-janitair jātāñjana-śyāmalaiḥ |
ārān madhyama-vedim āpatitayoḥ klinnā tayoḥ saṅgame
vṛttāsi vraja-rājñi tat suta-mukha-prekṣāṁ sphuṭaṁ vāñchasi ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.58)

“[When Mother Yaśodā travelled to Kurukṣetra on the pretext of a solar eclipse with great desire to see Śrī Kṛṣṇa, a feminine ascetic previously known to her says the following upon meeting her there:]
The Gaṅgā has appeared from the streams of milk (kṣīra)
Endowed with luster like nectar
Falling from the mountains of your breasts,
And the Kālindī [has appeared from the streams of water (kṣīra), that is, tears]
Produced by your lotus eyes
That are black because of your mascara [running off into them].
You have been bathed at the confluence of these two [rivers]
That have descended from above
Onto the altar of your midsection
[alt., They—the Gaṅgā and Kālindī—have in this way descended
And joined at Prayāga].
Thus, O Queen of Vraja!
You clearly desire to behold the face of your son
[Since it is well known
That people only go to bath at Prayāga
When they desire to attain the sight of Śrī Bhagavān].”

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vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā

vinyasta-śruti-pālir adya muralī-nisvāna-śuśrūṣā
bhūyaḥ prasrava-varṣiṇī dviguṇitotkaṇṭhā pradoṣodaye |
gehād aṅganam aṅganāt punar asau gehaṁ viśanty ākulā
govindasya muhur vrajendra-gṛhiṇī panthānam ālokate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.55)

“Today [i.e., throughout the day]
Wishing with her ears pricked
To hear the sound of the flute,
And again at the onset of evening,
With doubled longing
And milk streaming [from her breasts]
As she repeatedly entered the courtyard from the house
And the house from the courtyard,
The anxious queen of Vraja
Looked again and again at Govinda’s path
[i.e., the path by which he was expected to soon return home from the forest].”

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niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān

niculita-giri-dhātu-sphīta-patrāvalīkān
akhila-surabhi-reṇūn kṣālayadbhir yaśodā |
kuca-kalasa-vimuktaiḥ sneha-mādhvīka-medhyais
tava navam abhiṣekaṁ dugdha-pūraiḥ karoti ||
(Lalita-mādhava-nāṭaka: 1.46; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sidhu: 3.4.47)

“[O Kṛṣṇa!]
Yaśodā conducts your first bath [after you return from the forest in the afternoon]
With the supremely pure streams of milk
Replete with the honey of her affection
Released from the urns of her breasts
That wash away all the dust from [i.e., raised by] the cows,
By which your leaves [i.e., the decorative leaf designs drawn on your body] made of minerals
Become covered over.”

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tanau mantra-nyāsaṁ praṇayati harer gadgadamayī

tanau mantra-nyāsaṁ praṇayati harer gadgadamayī
sabāṣpākṣī rakṣā-tilakam alike kalpayati ca |
snuvānā pratyūṣe diśati ca bhuje kārmaṇam asau
yaśodā mūrteva sphurati suta-vātsalya-paṭalī ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.4.14)

“Early in the morning,
Stuttering,
Her eyes filled with tears,
Milk flowing [from her breasts],
She performs mantra-nyāsa on Hari’s body,
Draws a tilaka for protection on his forehead,
And places a spell-infused root on his arms;
Yaśodā shines
Like the embodiment
Of a profusion of affection for a son.”

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