vrajendra-kula dugdha-sindhu kṛṣṇa tāhe pūrṇa indu
janmi kailā jagat ujora |
kānty-amṛta yebā piye nirantara piyā jiye
vraja-janera nayana-cakora ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.19.36)
“The family of Vraja’s King is an ocean of milk, and Kṛṣṇa is the full moon that has arisen from there and illuminated the world. The eyes of the people of Vraja are cakora birds who drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s luster and live by [only] drink it continuously.”
tena gopikādy-anugatimaya-sva-nyūnatā-duḥkhāṅgīkāras tu viriñca-bhava-lakṣmy-ādibhir īśvarābhimānibhiḥ sva-sva-loka-sthitair duḥśaka eva, anyeṣāṁ tu tādṛśopadeśasyālābhād arocakatvād vā tad-anugaty-abhāva eva … |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.21)
“Acceptance of the hardship of their own inferiority in following the gopikās and others [i.e., other residents of Gokula], is not possible for Brahmā, Śiva, Lakṣmī, and others who are situated in their own domains and have the mentality of being īśvaras. In the case of others, however, an absence of following them [i.e., the residents of Gokula] is because of not having received such instruction [to do so] or having no taste for it.”
śrī-bhāgavate’smin bhagavat-premaiva sarva-puruṣārtha-śiromaṇitvenodghuṣyate | tasya mūla-bhūtāśrayāṇāṁ bhaktānāṁ madhye nitya-siddhatva eva tasya nitya-sthitiḥ sambhavet, teṣv api madhye gokula-vartinas tan-mātādaya eva śreṣṭhāḥ yeṣāṁ vātsalyādi-bhāva-viṣayī-bhūtaḥ kṛṣṇas tad-anugamana-bhaktimadbhir eva sulabho nānyair …|
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.21)
“In this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam only Bhagavat-prema is proclaimed to be the crown jewel of all puruṣārthas. Its [i.e., prema’s] eternal existence is possible within its substrata, bhaktas, only because of their being nitya-siddha. Among them, furthermore, the best are the residents of Gokula, such as his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] mother, the object of whose bhāvas of vātsalya and so forth—Kṛṣṇa—is easily attainable only by devotees who follow them [i.e., those residents of Gokula] and not by others [i.e., those who practice bhakti without following the residents of Gokula].”
sevā sādhaka-rūpeṇa siddha-rūpeṇa cātra hi |
tad-bhāva-lipsunā kāryā vraja-lokānusārataḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.295)
“With the sādhaka-form and with the siddha-form here itself [i.e., in Vraja], service is to be performed by one desirous of that bhāva [of one’s longing] following the residents of Vraja.”
tat-prema-śarmaṇāṁ sarvātiśayi-dharmatāyām aham api marma-vettā, yataḥ—
harir gopa-kṣauṇī-pati-mithunam anye ca vibudhā
na naḥ krūraṁ cittaṁ mṛdulayitum īśā lavam api |
aho teṣāṁ premā vilasati harau yas tu balavān
harer vā yas teṣu drutayati sa eva pratipadam ||
(Gopāla-Campū: Pūrva, 1.81; 64)
“Even I [who have a most hard heart] am able to understand the secret of the super-excellence of the bliss of that prema [found between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his companions]: Neither Hari, nor the King and Queen of the land of the cowherds [i.e., Nanda and Yaśodā], nor any other wise persons [of Vraja] are able to soften my hard heart even one bit. But aho! The powerful prema they express for Hari and that Hari expresses for them melts my heart at every step.”
rāgātmikāika-niṣṭhā ye vraja-vāsi-janādayaḥ |
teṣāṁ bhāvāptaye lubdho bhaved atrādhikāravān ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.291)
“One who is intensely desirous of attaining the bhāva of the residents of Vraja or elsewhere, who are fixed exclusively in rāgātmikā-bhakti, shall be possessed of eligibility (adhikāra) here [i.e., for rāgānugā-bhakti].”
lobhe vraja-vāsi-bhāve kare anugati |
śāstra-yukti nāhi māne—rāgānugāra prakṛti ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.148)
“Out of intense desire, one [i.e., a fortunate person who has heard about rāgātmikā-bhakti] follows the bhāva of a Vraja-vāsī and does not consider śāstra [i.e., injunctions] or reasoning. This is the nature of rāgānugā [-bhakti].”
rāgātmikā-bhakti mukhyā vraja-vāsi-jane |
tāra anugata bhaktira ‘rāgānugā’ nāme ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.144)
“Rāgātmikā-bhakti is principal and [found] in the residents of Vraja. Bhakti which follows it is called rāgānugā [-bhakti].”
virājantīm abhivyaktāṁ vraja-vāsi-janādiṣu |
rāgātmikām anusṛtā yā sā rāgānugocyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.270)
“That [type of bhakti] which follows the rāgātmikā-bhakti [i.e., the bhakti constituted purely of rāga] beautifully manifest in the residents of Vraja and other persons is known as rāgānugā-bhakti.”
