trailokye pṛthivī dhanyā yatra vṛndāvanaṁ purī |
tatrāpi gopikāḥ pārtha tatra rādhābhidhā mama ||
(Ādi Purāṇa; cited in Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.46; Prīti Sandarbha: 109)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] In the three worlds, the earth [particularly], where the abode of Vṛndāvana is present, is blessed; therein, furthermore, the gopīs [are blessed], O Pārtha, and therein mine [i.e., the gopī most dear to me] by the name of Rādhā [is (most) blessed].”
kṛpā kari kahe śuna nityānanda dāsa |
yei yei sthāne sadā kṛṣṇera vilāsa ||
padma-prāya yena vṛndāvanera ghaṭana |
śāstra vākye āche mahāprabhura sthāpana ||
mudita prakāśa haila dui ta prakāra |
vilāse mudita hana līlāya vistāra ||
ei-rūpe haya saba gamanāgamana |
tad-āśrita yei tāra haya ei mana ||
yogamāyā bale ihā ghaṭanā āchaya |
yāhāra gamana sei kichu nā jānaya ||
(Prema-vilāsa: 16)
“Graciously, he [i.e., Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī, in response to a question as to how Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, and the sakhīs can walk between sites in Vraja that are numerous miles apart in less than half an hour] said, ‘Listen, Nityānanda Dāsa. The formation of Vṛndāvana, that is, all the places in which Kṛṣṇa’s play continues forever, is nearly like a lotus. Mahāprabhu’s establishment [of this conclusion] is in accord with the statements of the śāstra. It [i.e., the lotus of Vṛndāvana] has two states: contracted and open. It becomes contracted in the case of pleasure (vilāsa) [i.e., when Kṛṣṇa has intimate exchanges with Rādhā and the sakhīs that require seclusion] and expansion [of it] occurs in the case of līlā [i.e., when they engage in their various other līlās in general]. In this way everyone’s [i.e., Rādhā, Kṛṣṇa, and their sakhīs’] coming and going occurs. One who is sheltered in them has this understanding. This phenomenon occurs by the power of yogamāyā, she who does not make known her movements at all [i.e., she who causes this expansion and contraction of Vṛndāvana without anyone noticing it].”
tatraiva sādhanaṁ satyaṁ sādhu sampadyate’cirāt |
vaikuṇṭhopari vibhrājac chrīmad-goloka-yāpakam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.253)
“[Śrī Nārada to Gopa Kumāra:] Truly, there alone [i.e., only in the land of Vraja within the district of Mathurā], the sādhana that is a cause of attainment of blessed Goloka above Vaikuṇṭha is aptly accomplished without delay.”
lokottara-padārthānāṁ prabhāvaḥ ko’py anargalaḥ |
ratiṁ tad-viṣayaṁ cāsau bhāsayet tūrṇam ekadā ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.16)
“Otherworldly objects have extraordinary unchecked potency, and one [such object] can immediately at once manifest rati [for Śrī Kṛṣṇa] and the object thereof [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself, the object of rati].”
svasyoddhavasya te’py eṣa kṛtvāhaṁ śapathaṁ bruve |
duḥsādhyaṁ tat-padaṁ hy atra tat-sādhanam api druvam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.208)
“Taking this oath before myself, Uddhava, and yourself, I say that here that domain [i.e., Goloka] is difficult to attain, and the means of attaining (sādhana) that certainly is as well.”
tad bhūri-bhāgyam iha janma kim apy aṭavyāṁ
yad gokule’pi katamāṅghri-rajo-’bhiṣekam |
yaj-jīvitaṁ tu nikhilaṁ bhagavān mukundas
tv adyāpi yat-pada-rajaḥ śruti-mṛgyam eva ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.34)
[A translation based on the commentary of Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda:] “May I have that great fortune in which a birth of any sort here in the forest in Gokula shall occur wherein I may also receive an ablution in the dust of the feet of anyone [there] whose entire life is Bhagavān, Mukunda, [he] whose footdust is verily an object to be sought by the Śrutis even to this very day.”
[A translation based on the commentary of Śrī Viśvanātha Carkavartīpāda:] “May I have that great fortune in which a birth of any sort here in the forest or even in Gokula shall occur wherein I may receive an ablution in the dust of the feet of anyone [there] whose entire life is Bhagavān, Mukunda, and whose footdust is verily an object to be sought by the Śrutis even to this very day.”
kṛṣṇāṅghri-padma-makaranda-nipāna-lubdho
jānāti tad-rasa-lihāṁ paramaṁ mahattvam |
brahmaiva gokula-bhuvām ayam uddhavo’pi
gopī-gaṇasya yad imau lasataḥ sma tat tat ||
yeṣāṁ hi yad vastuni bhāti lobhas
te tadvatāṁ bhāgya-balaṁ vidanti |
gopyo mukundādhara-pāna-lubdhā
gāyanti saubhāgya-bharaṁ muralyāḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.157)
“One intensely desirous of drinking the nectar of the lotus of Kṛṣṇa’s feet knows the paramount greatness of those who taste that rasa; Brahmā certainly [knows that] of those born in Gokula and he, Uddhava, [knows that] of the gopīs, since they both long for those two [i.e., since Brahmā longs for the rasa relished by those born in Gokula and Uddhava longs for the rasa relished by the gopīs]. Those who have intense desire for an object speak of the strength of the fortune of those possessed of that [object]. Intensely desirous of drinking from the lips of Mukunda, the gopīs sing of the abundance of good fortune of the flute.”
bhuktiṁ muktiṁ harir dadyād arcito’nyatra sevinām |
bhaktiṁ tu na dadāty eva yato vaśyakarī hareḥ ||
sā tv añjasā harer bhaktir labhyate kārttike naraiḥ |
mathurāyāṁ sakṛd api śrī-dāmodara-sevanāt ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.222–223)
“Hari shall bestow enjoyment (bhukti) or liberation (mukti) upon his servants when worshipped elsewhere [i.e., outside of Mathurā], but he does not bestow bhakti [upon them] because it is captivating of Hari. That bhakti to Hari, however, is easily attained by people as a result of service to Śrī Dāmodara even once in Mathurā during Kārtika.”
tat-tad-vinodāmṛta-sāgarāntaraṁ
bibhety alaṁ me rasanāvagāhitum |
sadaiva tat-tan-madhura-priyāpi yat
karmaṇy aśakye na janaḥ pravartate ||
pītaṁ sakṛt karṇa-puṭena tat-tal-
līlāmṛtaṁ kasya haren na cetaḥ |
pravartituṁ vāñchati tatra tasmāl
lajjāṁ na rakṣet kila lolatā hi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.114–115)
“My tongue is extremely afraid of plunging into the ocean of the nectar of those pastimes [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vraja] even though those sweets [i.e., those pastimes] are indeed always dear [alt., pleasing] to it because a person does not engage in an impossible task. [But] Whose heart shall the nectar of those līlās, drunk once through hollows of the ears, not steal? Therefore, [my tongue] desires to engage in that since intense desire (lolatā, syn., laulya) certainly cannot hold to shyness.”
kaṣṭhām amutraiva parāṁ prabhor gatā
sphuṭā vibhūtir vividhā kṛpālutā |
surūpatāśeṣa-mahattva-mādhurī
vilāsa-lakṣmīr api bhakta-vaśyatā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.103)
“Only there [i.e., in the land of Vraja] has the clearly evident, variegated magnificence, graciousness, excellence of figure, sweetness of complete greatness, splendor of play, and subservience to bhaktas of Prabhu reached the pinnacle.”
