kṛṣi-śabdaś ca sattārtho ṇaś cānanda-svarūpakaḥ |
sukha-rūpo bhaved ātmā bhāvānanda-mayatvataḥ ||
(Gautamīya-tantra; cited in Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkā to Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
“The word kṛṣ means existence, and [the word] ṇa means that which is of the nature of bliss. The Ātmā is the very form of joy because he is constituted of the bliss of bhāva [i.e., existence, alt., prema].”
kṛṣir bhū-vācakaḥ śabdo ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ |
tayor aikyaṁ paraṁ brahma kṛṣṇa ity abhidhīyate ||
(Mahābhārata: Udyoga-parva: 71.4; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.9.30 and Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkā on Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
“The word [i.e., root] kṛṣ is a signifier of existence, and [the suffix] ṇa is a signifier of bliss. The oneness of the two [i.e., of the referrents of kṛṣ and ṇa, that is, existence and bliss], Parabrahman, is thus referred to as Kṛṣṇa.”
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ |
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
“The Controller, the Supreme Being, Kṛṣṇa, is the embodiment of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, the origin without origin, Govinda, and the cause of all causes.”
labdhātmikā satī rūḍhir bhaved yogāpahāriṇī |
kalpanīyā tu labhate nātmānaṁ yoga-bādhataḥ ||
(Kumārila Bhaṭṭa; cited in Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkā to Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
“The acquired conventional meaning (rūḍhi-artha) [of a word] overrides its etymological meaning (yoga-artha). A word meaning should not be supposed [through etymology] when there is an obstruction to its own etymological meaning [by the conventional meaning in the context of the word’s usage].”
yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi-
koṭiṣv aśeṣa-vasudhādi-vibhūti-bhinnam |
tad brahma niṣkalam anantam aśeṣa-bhūtaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi ||
(Brahmā-saṁhitā: 5.40; cited in Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.224; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 80; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.2.14, 2.20.160)
“I serve him, Govinda, the Original Person, whose effulgence is the indivisible, unlimited, and all-pervading Brahman distinct from the opulence of the innumerable earths and so forth throughout the billions of material universes.”
dharmo’tha pāpa‑nicayaḥ śrutayas tapāṁsi
brahmādi‑kīṭa‑patagāvadhayaś ca jīvāḥ |
yad‑datta‑mātra‑vibhava‑prakaṭa‑prabhāvā
govindam ādi‑puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.53)
“I serve him, Govinda, the Original Person, by whose granted power alone are dharma, sins, the Śrutis, austerities, and all living beings beginning from Brahmā on down to worms and insects possessed of manifest influence.”
