jayati taraṇi-putrī dharma-rāja-svasā yā
kalayati mathurāyāḥ sakhyam atyeti gaṅgām |
murahara-dayitā tat-pāda-padma-prasūtaṁ
vahati ca makarandaṁ nīra-pūra-cchalena ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.6)
“The daughter of Sūrya—
The sister of Dharmarāja,
Who fosters friendship with Mathurā,
Surpasses the Gaṅgā,
Is beloved to Murahara,
And carries the nectar
Emanating from his lotus feet
In the guise of a stream of water—
Triumphs!”
jayati jayati vṛndāraṇyam etan murāreḥ
priyatamam ati-sādhu-svānta-vaikuṇṭha-vāsāt |
ramayati sa sadā gāḥ pālayan yatra gopīḥ
svarita-madhura-veṇur vardhayan prema rāse ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.5)
“This Vṛndāvana—
Which is dearmost to Murāri,
More so than the hearts of great sādhus
And [more so than even] residence in Vaikuṇṭha,
And in which he,
Tending the cows,
Sweetly playing the flute,
And increasing prema for rāsa,
Ever delights the gopīs—
Triumphs!
Triumphs!”
ekadā kṛṣṇa-patnyas tu śrī-kṛṣṇa-virahāturāḥ |
kālindīṁ muditā vīkṣya papracchur gata-matsarāḥ ||
śrī-kṛṣṇa-patnya ūcuḥ |
yathā vayaṁ kṛṣṇa-patnyas tathā tvam api śobhane |
vayaṁ viraha-duḥkhārtās tvaṁ na kālindi tad vada ||
tac chrutvā smayamānā sā kālindī vākyam abravīt |
sāpatnyaṁ vīkṣya tat tāsāṁ karuṇāpara-mānasā ||
śrī-kālindy uvāca |
ātmārāmasya kṛṣṇasya dhruvam ātmāsti rādhikā |
tasyā dāsya-prabhāveṇa viraho’smān na saṁspṛśet ||
tasyā evāṁśa-vistārāḥ sarvāḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāyikāḥ |
nitya-sambhoga evāsti tasyāḥ sāmmukhya-yogataḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Vaiṣṇava-khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 2.8–12)
“Once, wives of Kṛṣṇa who were distressed in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa [and had come to Śrī Vṛndāvana] saw Kālindī [i.e., Yamunā Devī] delighted, and been covetous, inquired [from her]. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s wives said, ‘As we are wives of Kṛṣṇa, so too are you, O splendid one. We are stricken with sorrow in separation, but you are not, O Kālindī. Please explain this.’ Hearing this [inquiry], observing their rivalry [towards her as a co-wife], and being of compassionate mind towards them, she, Kālindī, smiling, spoke this statement [to them]. Śrī Kālindī said, ‘Rādhikā is the eternal self (ātmā) of Kṛṣṇa, he whose joy is in the self [i.e., he who is known to be ātmārāma]. By the influence of service to her, separation [from Kṛṣṇa] cannot touch us. All of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mistresses (nāyikās) are extensions of a part of her alone. There is certainly perpetual union [with Kṛṣṇa] (nitya-sambhoga) as a result of being present before her [alt., as a result of her favor, or, as a result of attentive service to her].”
gaṅgādi-tīrtha-parisevita-pāda-padmāṁ
goloka-saukhya-rasa-pūra-mahiṁ mahimnā |
āplāvitākhila-susādhu-janāṁ sukhābdhau
rādhā-mukunda-muditāṁ yamunāṁ namāmi ||
(Sādhanāmṛta-candrikā: 1.33)
“I offer obeisance to the Yamunā,
Whose lotus feet are worshipped by tīrthas beginning with the Gaṅgā,
Who is a great, powerful inundation of the rasa of Goloka’s joy,
By whom all exalted sādhus are immersed in an ocean of happiness,
And by whom Rādhā and Mukunda are delighted.”
aho’tiramyaṁ pulinaṁ vayasyāḥ
sva-keli-sampan mṛdulāccha-vālukam |
sphuṭat-saro-gandha-hṛtāli-patri-ka-
dhvani-pratidhvāna-lasad-drumākulam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.13.5)
[Kṛṣṇa:] “Aho! Friends! This bank is very pleasant, with amenities for our play; soft, clear sand; and an abundance of swaying trees and echoes of sounds from the water of birds and bees attracted by the fragrance of the blooming pools.”
tatraivotpadyate dainyaṁ tat premāpi sadā satām |
tat-tac-chūnyam ivāraṇya-sarid-giry-ādi paśyatām ||
sadā hāhā-ravākrānta-vadanānāṁ tathā hṛdi |
mahā-santāpa-dagdhānāṁ sva-priyaṁ parimṛgyatām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.242–243)
[Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] “There [i.e., in Gokula], humility (dainya) and prema always arise within the sādhus who see the forests [i.e., such as Vṛndāvana], waters [such as the Yamunā], mountains [such as Govardhana], and so forth as though empty, [those sādhus] whose mouths are filled with cries of “Hā! Hā!”, and who are burned by intense sorrow at heart as they search for their Beloved.”
saubhares tu garuḍāya kupyato yasmin kṛpā ajaniṣṭha tasya mīnasyaiva saṅgād utthitā durvāsanaivāparādha-phalaṁ yataś ca vilupta-brahmānandaḥ sacira-sañcita-tapas-sṛṣṭa-svayauvanenaiva mūlyena kāminī-vṛndaṁ krītvā tatraiva naraka-tulye viṣayānande nimajjann aparādha-bhogānte śrī-vṛndāvana-yamunāśraya-māhātmyenaiva paścān nistatāreti navame kathā |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.17.11)
“The ill-inclination (durvāsanā) which arose through the association of the very fish upon whom Saubhari, who was angry at Garuḍa, showed grace was a result of [his, i.e., Saubhari’s] aparādha [against Garuḍa], since he became disengaged from the bliss of Brahman [as a result of this aparādha], and he bought a group of desirable woman for the price of his personal youth produced with [the results of] his long accumulated austerities, became absorbed there itself [i.e., in the company of those women] in bliss related to viṣaya, which is comparable to Naraka, and [only] after enduring [the full result of his] aparādha was delivered thereafter only by the greatness of the shelter of Śrī Vṛndāvana and the Yamunā [where he had originally come to engage in sādhana]. This is narrated in the Ninth Canto.”
