yad dyati kleśa-karmādīn īkṣayaty akhilam padam |
kṣapayitvā malaṁ sarvaṁ dadāti ca paraṁ padam |
dīkṣeti tena tattvajñair varṇayate veda-pāragaiḥ ||
(Lakṣmī Tantra: 41.5–6)
“Dīkṣā is described by those cognizant of essence (tattva) and adept in the Veda by [i.e., as] that which destroys all contamination, cuts away afflictions and karmas, causes perception of the entire abode [i.e., world], and bestows the supreme abode.”
asāre ghora-saṁsāre sāraṁ kṛṣṇa-padārcanam |
(Gautamīya Tantra; cited in Rādhā-Kṛṣṇārcana-dīpikā: 6)
“In essenceless, fearsome saṁsāra, the essence is worship of Kṛṣṇa’s feet.”
smerāṁ śrī-kuṅkumābhāṁ sphurad-aruṇa-paṭa-prānta-kḷptāvaguṇṭhāṁ
ramyāṁ veśena veṇī-kṛta-cikura-śikhālambi-padmāṁ kiśorīm |
tarjjany-aṅguṣṭha-yuktyā hari-mukha-kamale yuñjatīṁ nāgavallī-
parṇaṁ karṇāyatākṣīṁ tri-jagati madhurāṁ rādhikām arcayāmi ||
(Gaurī Tantra; cited in the Gaura-Govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhati of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Gosvāmī)
“Gently smiling,
Bright with beautiful kumkum,
Veiled by the edge of her lustrous, red silken garment,
Delightful in appearance,
A lotus dangling from the peak of her braided hair,
Adolescent,
Placing a betel leaf in the lotus mouth of Hari
With her forefinger and thumb,
Her eyes extending to her ears
[i.e., her lotus eyes so wide so as to almost extend to her ears],
Charming the three worlds—
Śrī Rādhikā—
I worship.”
sarveṣāṁ mantra-varyāṇāṁ śreṣṭho vaiṣṇava ucyate |
viśeṣāt kṛṣṇa-manavo bhoga-mokṣaika-sādhanam ||
yasya yasya ca mantrasya yo yo devas tathā punaḥ |
abhedāt tan-manūnāṁ ca devatā saiva bhāṣyate ||
kṛṣṇa eva paraṁ brahma sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ |
smṛti-mātreṇa teṣāṁ vai bhukti-mukti-phala-pradaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya Tantra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.156–158)
“Among all excellent mantras, the Vaiṣṇava [mantras] are said to be the best, and in particular Kṛṣṇa-mantras are the primary means of attaining enjoyment and mokṣa. Because of the non-difference between whichever deva and whichever mantra, the particular devatā of those mantras is also addressed [in the mantra, i.e., the mantra related to any particular deva is non-different from that deva, and thus whenever the mantra related to a particular deva is chanted, the deva of the mantra is directly addressed]. Kṛṣṇa is verily the Supreme Brahman, the embodiment of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, and the bestower of the results of enjoyment and mukti upon them [i.e., upon the seekers of those objects] just by means of remembrance [i.e., just as a result of his being remembered by those seekers of enjoyment or mukti when they chant a mantra related to him].”
ka-kāraḥ puruṣaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ |
ī-kāraḥ prakṛtī rādhā nitya-vṛndāvaneśvarī ||
laś cānandātmakaṁ prema-sukhaṁ tayoś ca kīrtitam |
cumbanāśleṣa-mādhuryaṁ bindu-nādaḥ samīritaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya-tantra; cited in the Mantrārtha-dīpikā)
“The letter k is the Puruṣa, Kṛṣṇa, who is possessed of a form of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss. The letter ī is Prakṛti, Rādhā, the Īśvarī of Eternal Vṛndāvana. [The letter] L, furthermore, is said to be the blissful joy of their prema [for one another], and the nāda and drop [i.e., the half-moon shape and dot within the candrabindu (̐)] are said to refer of the sweetness (mādhurya) of [their] kissing and embracing.”
A meditation on Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa referred to in the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa and Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.
barhāpīḍābhirāmaṁ mṛgamada-tilakaṁ kuṇḍalākrānta-gaṇḍaṁ
kañjākṣaṁ kambu-kaṇṭhaṁ smita-subhaga-mukhaṁ svādhare nyasta-veṇum |
śyāmaṁ śāntaṁ tri-bhaṅgaṁ ravi-kara-vasanaṁ bhūṣitaṁ vaijayantyā
vande vṛndāvana-sthaṁ yuvati-śata-vṛtaṁ brahma gopāla-veśam ||
(Gautamīya Tantra: Gopāla-kavaca, 1)
“Charming with a peacock-plume chaplet,
His tilaka [made of] musk,
His cheeks flanked by earrings,
His eyes like lotuses,
His throat like a conchshell,
His face lovely with a smile,
A veṇu fixed at his lips,
Swarthy,
Tranquil,
Thrice-bent,
His cloth like the rays of the sun,
[And] Decorated with a vaijayantī [i.e., a victory garland]—
I worship Brahman,
Situated in Vṛndāvana,
Surround by hundreds of young women,
In the garb of a cowherd.”
ānukūlyasya saṅkalpaḥ prātikūlya-vivarjanam |
rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāso goptṛtve varaṇaṁ tathā ||
ātma-nikṣepa-kārpaṇye ṣaḍ-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ ||
(Vaiṣṇava Tantra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.676; Bhakti Sandarbha: 173, 236; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.100; Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.66)
“A resolve of favorability, letting go of unfavorability, conviction that he [i.e., Bhagavān] will protect, accepting [his] guardianship, pledging oneself [to him], and humility [alt., wretchedness, neediness, heartache] are the six aspects of śaraṇāgati.”
devī kṛṣṇamayī proktā rādhikā para-devatā |
sarva-lakṣmīmayī sarva-kāntiḥ sammohinī parā ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya Tantra; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.83, 2.23.68)
“She is known as Devī, Kṛṣṇamayī, Rādhikā, Paradevatā, Sarvalakṣmīmayī, Sarvakānti, Sammohinī, and Parā.”
devo bhūtvā yajed devaṁ nādevo devam arcayet |
(Tantra-śāstra; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 22, Bhagavat Sandarbha: 64, and Bhakti Sandarbha: 306)
“Becoming a deva, worship the deva. A non-deva cannot worship a deva.”
