यया वाचेहया दैन्यं मत्या च स्थैर्यमेति तत् ।
तं यत्नेन भजेद्विद्वांस्तद्विरुद्धानि वर्जयेत् ॥
दैन्यं तु परमं प्रेम्णः परीपाकेण जन्यते ।
तासां गोकुलनारीणामिव कृष्णवियोगतः ॥
yayā vācehayā dainyaṁ matyā ca sthairyam eti tat |
taṁ yatnena bhajed vidvāṁs tad-viruddhāni varjayet ||
dainyaṁ tu paramaṁ premṇaḥ parīpākeṇa janyate |
tāsāṁ gokula-nārīṇām iva kṛṣṇa-viyogataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.223–224)
“One who is wise should carefully cultivate speech, activity, and thought whereby that [i.e., humility] becomes steadfast and should avoid all that is contrary to it, but paramount humility manifests from the full maturation [i.e., full fixity] of prema [i.e., and not by human efforts], as [it does] in the ladies of Gokula because of separation from Kṛṣṇa.”
Commentary
sāmānyena bhagavataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇasya virahaḥ prāyaḥ sarveṣv eva vartate, tathāpi dainyaṁ tādṛśaṁ naivotpadyate, tac ca premābhāvād eva | ata eva teṣāṁ duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiś ca kadācid api na syād iti dik | … dṛṣṭāntenānena śrī-kṛṣṇasyānugraha-viśeṣataḥ prāyas tan-mādhuryānubhavādinaiva prema-viśeṣodayāt tad-virahe dainya-viśeṣo jāyata iti dhvanitam | tatra ca prema-tāratamyena dainyasyāpi tādṛktvam ūhyam ||
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“In general, separation from Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa is present in nearly everyone, but still such [paramount] humility does not manifest [in everyone], and that is only because of their lack of prema. Therefore, their [i.e., everyone’s] cessation of suffering and attainment of happiness can never come about [i.e., until they attain prema in its full maturation]. This is the drift. … By the example it is indicated that this special humility [i.e., the paramount form of humility described here] arises in separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa because of a manifestation of special prema through experience of his mādhurya as a result of his special grace. In this regard as well, the correspondence of humility with a gradation in [manifestation of] prema is also to be inferred [i.e., humility manifests as deeply as prema has manifested in the heart].”