anuṣṭhānaṁ hy upadeśāpekṣaṁ, prema tu tat-prasādāpekṣam iti |
(Tattva Sandarbha: 46)
“Practice [i.e., sādhana-bhakti] is dependent on instruction, but prema [i.e., prema-bhakti] is dependent on his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] grace.”
anukampā ca pūrṇe’pi svasmin nija-sevādy-abhilāṣaṁ sampādya sevakādiṣu sevādi-saubhāgya-sampādikā bhagavataś cittārdratāmayī tad-upakārecchā |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 84)
“Anukampā (compassion) is Bhagavān’s desire, constituted of meltedness of the heart, to favor his servants and so forth by producing desire [within their hearts] for their own service to him and then manifesting the fortune of that service and so forth even though he is complete [i.e., independent and self-satisfied].”
para-duḥkha-praharaṇecchā hi kṛpā |
(Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s ṭīkā on Stava-mālā: Prārthanā-paddhati, 7)
“Grace is desire to remove the suffering of another.”
para-duḥkhāsaho yas tu karuṇaḥ sa nigadyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sundhu: 2.1.132)
“One who cannot tolerate the suffering of others is called compassionate.”
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.”
ramaṇa-kavala-śiṣṭaṁ san-mṛṇālaṁ marālyaḥ
kiśalaya-kulam eṇyaḥ śrī-marandaṁ bhramaryaḥ |
amṛtam iva cakroyaś caindavaṁ rādhikādyā
mumudur adhikam annaṁ prāsya kṛṣṇāvaśiṣṭam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 20.71)
“Rādhikā and her companions felt abundant delight eating the remnants of Kṛṣṇa’s food just as female swans do by eating morsels of the remnants of fine lotus stems left by their husbands, deer do by eating young shoots, bees do by eating bright flower nectar, and cakorīs do by drinking the moon’s nectar.”
praṇayi-jana-visṛṣṭaṁ śrī-harer bhukta-śiṣṭaṁ
tad-adhara-madhu-miṣṭaṁ tat-kareṇābhimṛṣṭam |
nija-nikhila-gaṇeṣṭaṁ rādhayā netra-dṛṣṭaṁ
mitam api ca tad āsīd akṣayaṁ vaṇṭane’nnam ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 20.70)
“Although scant, as it was served, the food became [i.e., was felt to be] inexhaustible, since it was distributed by beloved friends [i.e., Tulasī and Kastūrī], it was the remnants of Śrī Hari, it was sweetened by the nectar from his lips, it was handled by his hand, it was desired by her [Rādhā’s] entire party, and it was glanced upon by Rādhā’s eyes.”
vrajātula-kulāṅganetara-rasāli-tṛṣṇā-hara-
pradīvyad-adharāmṛtaḥ sukṛti-labhya-phelā-lavaḥ |
sudhā-jid-ahivallikā-sudala-vīṭikā-carvitaḥ
sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti jihvā-spṛhām ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 8.8; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.16.119)
“[Rādhārāṇī to Viśākhā:] The amṛta of his most lustrous lips takes away the incomparable, noble women of Vraja’s thirst for [all] other rasas. A morsel of his remnants is attainable [only] by sukṛti [i.e., good fortune]. And the pan roll he has chewed made from fine leaves of betel defeats nectar. O sakhi, Madana-mohana increases the desire of my tongue.”
