मन्त्रास्तु कृष्णदेवस्य साक्षाद्भगवतो हरेः ।
सर्वावतारबीजस्य सर्वतो वीर्यवत्तमाः ॥
तत्रापि भगवत्तां स्वां तन्वतो गोपलीलया ।
तस्य श्रेष्ठतमा मन्त्रास्तेष्वप्यष्टादशाक्षरः ॥
mantrās tu kṛṣṇa-devasya sākṣād bhagavato hareḥ |
sarvāvatāra-bījasya sarvato vīryavattamāḥ ||
tatrāpi bhagavattāṁ svāṁ tanvato gopa-līlayā |
tasya śreṣṭhatamā mantrās teṣv apy aṣṭādaśākṣaraḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.155, 159)
“Mantras of Kṛṣṇadeva, that is, Bhagavān Hari himself, he who is the source of all avatāras, however, are the most potent of all. … Therein, furthermore, the mantras related to him spreading his own Bhagavattā [i.e., nature of Bhagavān] by means of [his] līlā as a cowherd are the best of all, and even among those, the eighteen-syllable [mantra, i.e., the Gopāla-mantra, is the very best of all].”
Commentary
sarvataḥ sarvebhyaḥ śrī-nṛsiṁha-raghunāthādi-mantrebhyo’pi vīryavattamāḥ parama-prabhāvavantaḥ | tatra hetuḥ—sarvāvatāra-bījasya | kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam ity avatāritvokteḥ | … tatra teṣu śrī-dvārakānātha-daivatādi-mantreṣv api madhye tasya śrī-kṛṣṇa-devasyaiva gopa-līlayā nijāṁ bhagavattāṁ tanvataḥ vistārayataḥ sato ye mantrās ta eva śreṣṭhatamāḥ | teṣv api madhye’ṣṭādaśākṣaraḥ sammohanākhyayā prasiddhaḥ śreṣṭha ity arthaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“[Mantras related to Kṛṣṇa are] The most potent, that is, possessed of the greatest power, of all, that is, even more so than all the mantras related to Śrī Nṛsiṁha, Raghunātha [i.e., Rāma], and so on [i.e., and all other forms of Bhagavān]. The cause in this regard is that he [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] is the source of all avatāras, as per the statement of his being the avatārī [in SB 1.3.28], ‘Kṛṣṇa, however, is Bhagavān himself.’ Therein, among even the mantras related to Daivatās such as Śrī Dvāraknātha and others [i.e., mantras related to various other forms of Śrī Kṛṣṇa], those mantras related to him, Śrī Kṛṣṇadeva specifically, spreading his own Bhagavattā [i.e., nature of Bhagavān] by means of his līlā as a cowherd [in the land of Vraja] are verily the best of all, and even among those, the eighteen-syllable [mantra] known by the name Sammohana [i.e., ‘The Enchanting One,’ meaning, the Gopāla-mantra] is the best of all. This is the meaning.”