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2. Introduction
Introduction
Saṅkalpa-kaumudī is about devotional service in practice; more precisely, it is about what this author assesses to be one of the main essences of sādhana, and that is saṅkalpa: the determined e orts one makes to ascend the staircase of bhakti to ecstatic devotion. In addition, I have dedicated the latter part of this e ort to three other essences: attentiveness, ekāgratā; emotion-inspired service, bhāva-sevā; and divine grace, kṛpā.
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Allow me to explain why I consider the four topics of this book of such import. I begin by first defining the terms, and then describing their contribution to a devotee’s progress to perfection.
We begin with saṅkalpa.
Spiritual practices or rituals begin with a saṅkalpa, a statement of intent, also known as a vow or a determination.
Everyday activities that we undertake have a similar foundation. We eat to satisfy our hunger, to seal a business agreement, or to celebrate a social event. Similarly, when we seriously take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness there is a purpose to our practices of chanting and hearing. That purpose is illustrated in the motto of iskcon, “Back to Godhead.” That is our overarching saṅkalpa.
The word saṅkalpa is a combination of the prefix sam, meaning “intensity,” and the word kalpa, “determination.” Thus the resolute determination with which, and for which, a devotee undertakes service to Kṛṣṇa is known as saṅkalpa.
To clarify further: the verb kḷp means “come into existence,” and so a saṅkalpa is the “intense desire for something to manifest.” Devotees may have many kinds of saṅkalpa depending upon their dominant mode of nature. However, the saṅkalpa of a pure devotee is to rise to the stage of devotion that follows sādhana, the stage of bhāva. That is the best kind of determination and the one that this book focuses upon.
Kṛṣṇa speaks beautifully of this kind of determination in the Bhagavad-gītā:
sa niścayena yoktavyo yogo ’nirviṇṇa-cetasā saṅkalpa-prabhavān kāmāṁs tyaktvā sarvān aśeṣataḥ manasaivendriya-grāmaṁ viniyamya samantataḥ
“One should engage oneself in the practice of yoga with determination and faith and not be deviated from the path. One should abandon, without exception, all material desires born of mental speculation and thus control all the senses on all sides by the mind.”1
In addition to a sādhaka’s overarching commitment to attain bhāva are the many vows and decisions that he takes in progressing through the stages of devotion. These are also saṅkalpas, as is the determination to remain faithful to vows for progressive devotion.
The next term to define is attentiveness, ekāgratā.
When a devotee is mindful of the devotional activities that he performs, especially chanting Kṛṣṇa’s names, he is being attentive. Lord Śiva advises this kind of attention to the sons of Dakṣa, using the word ekāgra:
gītaṁ mayedaṁ naradeva-nandanāḥ parasya puṁsaḥ paramātmanaḥ stavam japanta ekāgra-dhiyas tapo mahat caradhvam ante tata āpsyathepsitam
“My dear sons of the king, the prayers I have recited to you are meant for pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul. I advise you to recite these prayers with perfect attention, which are as e ective as great austerities. In this way, when you are mature, your life will be successful, and you will certainly achieve your desired objectives without fail.”2
Kṛṣṇa also explains that the prerequisite for practising yoga is being able to fix the mind on one point, ekāgraṁ manaḥ. 3 And Śukadeva Gosvāmī asserts that the same attentive service to Govinda enabled King Prācīnabarhi to attain perfection at Kapilāśrama: ekāgra-manā dhīro govinda-caraṇāmbujam.4
The word ekāgra is a compound of the numeral eka, meaning one, and the noun agra, meaning point or tip, and when joined they form an adjective. Thus ekāgra means one-pointed, attentive, or focused. The su x tā transforms the compound into an abstract noun denoting a quality or state, and so ekāgratā is translated as the state of being attentive, or attentiveness.
An example of ekāgratā is found in Brahma-sūtra, which sets attentiveness as the only condition for worshipping Kṛṣṇa with the declaration yatraikāgratā tatrāviśenāt:
“Because scriptures give no specific instruction on this matter, in whatever direction, place, or time there is attentiveness, there and then one should worship Lord Hari.”5
By contrast, being inattentive to one’s devotions is known as pramatta.
The verbal root mad means “to intoxicate,” to which the suffix pra gives additional emphasis. Thus pramatta means “inattentive,” pramattatā, “inattentiveness,” and pramāda, “inattention.” Interestingly, pramatta also means “intoxicated” or “mad.” A devo tee is certainly deluded if he expects success in bhakti even though his acts of devotion are not in line with his saṅkalpa. He is like a mad artist who expects to paint an intricate portrait without paying attention to fine details. If a practitioner expects to get abundant results, he must be attentive to his acts of devotion.
A practising devotee initially relates to attentiveness as a regulative principle, something he must do and must not neglect. But as he becomes more proficient in controlling his mind, attentiveness transforms into a natural feature of his practice, more specifically into his ability to remember Kṛṣṇa. At the stage of remembrance, smaraṇa-daśā, the practice of nāma-saṅkīrtana eventually awakens spontaneous attraction wherein attentiveness becomes a sādhaka’s default mode.
The next definition is emotion-inspired service, bhāva-sevā.
Readers may take note that the use of bhāva in this phrase does not mean transcendental ecstasy, but emotion in its general sense. There are many examples of this word being used to encompass a range of emotions. For example, Kṛṣṇa accepts that wise men worship Him with determination, budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ, while those whose nature is demonic, asuraṁ bhāvam, do not.6
The word bhāva has multiple meanings that arise from the root bhū, such as: become, arise, consider, and enliven. As a noun, Kṛṣṇa uses bhāva to indicate the nature of conditioned souls under the sway of all three modes, as in ye caiva sāttvikā bhāva, and in their state of being at death, tad-bhāva. 7 Thus bhāva also indicates emotion in conditioned souls.
Additionally, as an adjective, bhāva can be bhāvita, meaning “inspired,” as in bhāva-bhāvita, “imbued with devotion,” which again refers to sādhakas.
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Now, the full expression of “emotion-inspired service” would be bhāva-bhāvita-sevā. Since this phrase is somewhat lengthy, and since bhāva is present in both of the first two words, I have employed bhāva in the compound wherein it has the meaning of a causal noun, and so the translation has been abbreviated to bhāvasevā. In this way bhāvita is also implied in the use of bhāva.
The conclusion is that bhāva-sevā means emotion-inspired service.
Readers may question why this new nomenclature is needed instead of the standard rāga-bhakti, which indicates spontaneous devotion.
The answer is twofold: one refers to definition, and the other to meaning.
Rāga is not the word commonly used for emotion. It is used to signify taste, attraction, and most often, spontaneous thirst for an object of love. Rāga indicates intensity of emotion and not emotion itself.
Moreover, while a devotee’s emotions may inspire him to service, those emotions may not be fully spontaneous but may be diluted to varying degrees by regulation. We have shown earlier
that bhāva refers to a spectrum of emotion, from the antagonistic to the favourable.
Thus, generally, bhāva-sevā and rāga-bhakti are not synonymous, hence the need for the terminology of bhāva-sevā.
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The reader will later discover that within the greater concept of bhāva-sevā is the predominating sentiment of separation, vipralambha. And devotion pervaded by that spirit of separation is known as vipralambha-sevā. Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught His followers to cultivate sādhana in a mood of separation, as shown in His own Śikṣāṣṭaka verses, such as:
yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me
“O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.”10
Because of its paramount importance in the devotional life of a sādhaka, and specifically in the mood with which a practitioner chants Hare Kṛṣṇa, the greatest emphasis within our description of emotion-inspired service is upon vipralambha-sevā.
The final essence of sādhana—an indispensable one—is mercy, kṛpā.
Divine grace is not a function of sādhana: it is the independent kindness of Kṛṣṇa. Whereas saṅkalpa, ekāgratā, and bhāva-sevā elevate a devotee from the domain of practice, kṛpā reaches down from the domain of transcendence and o ers the sādhaka entrance into Kṛṣṇa’s kingdom.
Mercy is the act of deliverance stimulated by the emotion of compassion. When the Lord feels a devotee’s anxiety to serve Him, He is moved by compassion, and the subsequent act or acts by which Kṛṣṇa assists His devotee is what we call Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. The etymology of the word kṛpā reflects this description.
The word kṛpā is derived from the verbal root kṛp, which means
“to lament,” “to pity,” or “to long after.” With the su x ā, it is transformed into a feminine noun indicating pity or compassion. This feminine aspect of mercy should not be overlooked as it hints at Kṛṣṇa’s most compassionate feature, manifest through the heart of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī or Caitanya Mahāprabhu—His feminine counterpart and His feminine role.
Scriptures are replete with synonyms for mercy such as prasāda, anugraha, and dayā, synonyms which ācāryas have described in terms of the degree of grace transmitted to the recipient. However confidential the mercy received by a practitioner, it is well known that without that good fortune, e orts in devotional service cannot bear fruit. As Śrīla Prabhupāda says, “Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s mercy is everything.”11
Śrīdhara Svāmī expresses a sādhaka’s dependence on the Lord’s mercy in this way:
yadā parānanda-guro bhavat-pade padaṁ mano me bhagaval labheta tadā nirastākhila-sādhana-śramaḥ śrayeya saukhyaṁ bhavataḥ kṛpātaḥ
“O transcendentally blissful guru, when my mind finally achieves a place at your lotus feet, all the tiresome labour of my spiritual practices will be finished, and by your mercy I will experience the greatest happiness.”12
And while the mercy of the Lord pervades the life of both the devotee and the non-devotee, the mercy that is of special interest in this book is the touch of pure goodness that transforms a practitioner into a transcendentalist, the mercy by which one attains bhāva.
As a result of sincere efforts and entreaties, Kṛṣṇa blesses a sādhaka by infusing him with a special combination of His cognisance and pleasure potencies. Thus, in the way that dawn illuminates the horizon, a ray of the sun of love illuminates the heart of a sādhaka by driving away the darkness of ignorance and revealing the most confidential spiritual truths. Śrī Rūpa describes this wonderful event in this way:
śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā prema-sūryāṁśu-sāmya-bhāk rucibhiś citta-masṛṇyakṛd asau bhāva ucyate
“When devotional service is executed on the transcendental platform of pure goodness, it is like a sunray of love for Kṛṣṇa. At such a time, devotional service causes the heart to be softened by various tastes, and one is then situated in bhāva [emotion].”13
Although the attainment of bhāva is not the final word in spiritual development, it is the goal of the apsects of sādhana that are the theme of this book. Much can be written on the maturing of ecstatic devotion into love and the subsequent mixing of various ecstasies to generate rasa. However, we will leave that topic for another book, perhaps by another author.
Determination is a devotee’s firmness of purpose to achieve the desired outcome of sādhana, which is ecstatic devotion.
While such a vow starts with a one-o statement of intent, success requires persistent resolve and definitive conduct. A sādhaka must remain determined in meeting the challenges on every step up the stairway of devotion leading to bhāva.
On any journey, the shortest route is the one in which travellers are fixed on their destination and are resolved not to take detours. In the Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa describes the disposition of devotees in whom this kind of determination is present, and in whom it is absent:
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo ’vyavasāyinām
“Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus,
the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many branched.”14
While there is a variety of unfavourable habits ready to cloud a devotee’s intelligence, the Lord makes clear that sādhana-bhakti is productive when one keeps his sights on the goal, and is unproductive when he does not.
It is not insignificant that the logo of iskcon’s monthly magazine, which is also the motto of iskcon, is “Back to Godhead.” This simple phrase is a clear statement of intent for sādhakas, which when unpacked requires practitioners to be clear about the dos and don’ts of going back to Godhead. For that, a devotee should be reasonably conversant with the underlying principles of philosophy and mellows as they are described in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books.
This overarching saṅkalpa continues to guide a devotee on what may often seem to be a long and arduous journey from mediocrity to perfection. In short, saṅkalpa gives sādhana-bhakti its direction.
Closely associated with the direction of sādhana is a devotee’s attentiveness to the direction that takes him to his goal. To lose sight of the goal is to be inattentive to the intended destination, with the result being a lapse in, or possibly even an end to, his journey to perfection.
This mindset of attentiveness is called ekāgratā.
The spirit of devotion is awakened when devotional service is performed with a desire to awaken it. If there is inattentiveness in sādhana, then the connection between the desire for devotion and its attainment is broken.
A familiar example is that of a devotee chanting japa with a daily resolve to avoid the ten o ences to the holy name. If that practitioner is attentive to nāma-saṅkīrtana, meaning if he consciously avoids o ences, the favourable results are self-evident. But if he is inattentive, the lack of results is also self-evident. Thus his attentiveness is the connection between his resolve and his spiritual progress.
To conclude: attentiveness plays the role of the interface between a Vaiṣṇava’s determination and his successful progress in bhakti.
Let us now look at bhāva-sevā, which has been defined as emotioninspired service.
Sanātana Gosvāmī cites a philosophical maxim, siddhasya lakṣaṇaṁ yat syāt sādhanaṁ sādhakasya tat, “The practitioner and the means of practice should be in accord with their goal.”15 This is one of the verses that we shall cite repeatedly throughout Saṅkalpakaumudī.
According to this axiom, since devotional service in practice must lead to ecstatic emotion, sādhana must also be inspired by emotion. An example of this axiom is the ingredients of a recipe: the ingredients a cook puts together must be in accord with the planned preparation. If one only uses vanilla flavouring, he should not expect a chocolate cake.
In His teachings to Sanātana Gosvāmī, Caitanya Mahāprabhu shows the di erent kinds of devotional results attained by di erent kinds of practices:
rāga-bhaktye vraje svayaṁ-bhagavāne pāya
“By executing spontaneous devotional service in Vṛndāvana, one attains the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa.”16
vidhi-bhaktye pārṣada-dehe vaikuṇṭhete yāya
“By executing regulative devotional service, one becomes an associate of Nārāyaṇa and attains the Vaikuṇṭha lokas, the spiritual planets in the spiritual sky.”17
One may ask how it is that Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas begin their spiritual journey with regulative devotion if their avowed destination is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa’s service in Vṛndāvana. Should such a practice not lead to Vaikuṇṭha, and so should attaining Vraja not be the exclusive domain of spontaneous practitioners?
The answer is no! While most Gauḍīyas will first be inspired by the regulations of bhakti, still their later aspiration, goal, and hence attainment, will be Vraja. As will be shown, by absorption in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa a devotee’s vaidhī-bhakti eventually leads him to rāgānuga-bhakti. Until it does, however, a devotee’s inspiration, or mood of devotion, evolves through a mixture of the regulated and
spontaneous, thus resulting in varieties of sādhana. The devotions undertaken with such mixed moods are called bhāva-sevā, moods that naturally increase in levels of spontaneity through natural maturation and cultivation.
Our focus on bhāva-sevā will be to study Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions to cultivate emotion-driven service as the qualification for, and the means to awaken, spontaneous devotion, and in turn, loving devotion. In that way the means of bhakti will be in accord with its goal.
What is the actual emotion to be cultivated?
Śrīla Prabhupāda has taught that the practitioner’s main mood of service is one of separation from Kṛṣṇa. His Divine Grace writes,
“Lord Caitanya taught people in general the method of vipralambha-sevā, which is the method of rendering service unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the feeling of separation.”18
Thus the specific bhāva that will be detailed later is vipralambha, separation. This mood can be cultivated by a beginner by appreciating his fallen condition, and by the advanced sādhaka through hearing and sharing the Vraja-vāsīs’ moods of separation from Kṛṣṇa. Both the beginner and the advanced sādhaka benefit by hearing of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s similar emotional expressions.
And yet, even if a sādhaka is determined, attentive, and of the right mood, try as he might, he will be unable to accomplish the goal of his devotions by e ort alone. There is a glass ceiling!
Through the process of hearing from authorities, a devotee may see the reality of the spiritual dimension, yet there is only so much he can do to approach it. Without divine intercession, it remains out of his reach.
Ecstatic devotion is the restricted domain of the divine, and a practitioner must petition the residents of the spiritual realm for their blessings to enter.
In narrating his own spiritual journey, Gopa-kumāra also revealed how he had come to his disciple’s deliverance, and how that Mathurā brāhmaṇa became the object of Śrī Rādhā’s grace. This is the story in brief:
Many years ago, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s partial expansion, Kāmākhyā Devī, a form of Durgā, had appeared to the Mathurā brāhmaṇa in a dream and initiated him with the Gopāla mantra. By chanting the mantra the brāhmaṇa gradually became purified, and through a series of events, finally arrived in Vṛndāvana.
At that time Śrī Rādhā called for Gopa-kumāra, who by then had attained his spiritual identity as the cowherd boy Sarūpa. The Goddess of Vraja instructed Sarūpa to deliver the brāhmaṇa by giving him suitable guidance. Following Rādhā’s instruction, Sarūpa came to Vraja, where he instructed the Mathurā brāhmaṇa and raised him to the spiritual platform of pure love.
The Mathurā brāhmaṇa was the beneficiary of Rādhā’s grace, which was delivered through the medium of his spiritual master, Śrī Gopa-kumāra. This is the way in which mercy descends, and how the gateway to bhāva is opened for a sādhaka by a representative of the Lord.
In the above paragraphs we have defined and briefly described the four essential features of sādhana-bhakti that form the basis of this book: saṅkalpa, ekāgratā, bhāva-sevā, and kṛpā. There is, however, a fifth essence that I consider important enough to mention in this Introduction. That essence is the spiritual e ect that refined sādhana has on a devotee, and which I call spiritualisation, or tad-bhāva. I shall elaborate on this aspect of bhakti in Chapter Four, and the reader will find that it resurfaces time after time throughout the book.
The e ect of sādhana-bhakti is to purify the consciousness of a practitioner. Since the pure state of consciousness is spiritual, purification may also be called spiritualisation. Such spiritualisation is the measure of how successfully are the aforementioned determination, attentiveness, and emotion-inspired service in bringing a sādhaka to the doorstep of bhāva. While determination, attentiveness, and emotion are causes of maturing devotion, spiritualisation is its result.
The definition of spiritualisation, tad-bhāva, is best understood by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s oft-used analogy of placing an iron rod into
fire. Although iron and fire are di erent substances with di erent characteristics, when placed into fire an iron rod takes on the characteristic of fire. The rod is still iron, but it now burns like fire. Similarly, when a devotee is always absorbed in the spiritual acts of bhakti such as chanting and hearing, his body, mind, and senses become spiritualised. Although the body is still material, it has assumed spiritual characteristics. Prahlāda Mahārāja describes this principle of tad-bhāva to his classmates:
tadā pumān mukta-samasta-bandhanas tad-bhāva-bhāvānukṛtāśayākṛtiḥ nirdagdha-bījānuśayo mahīyasā bhakti-prayogeṇa samety adhokṣajam
“[When absorbed in devotional service] the devotee is then freed from all material contamination because he constantly thinks of the Lord’s pastimes and because his mind and body have been converted to spiritual qualities. Because of his intense devotional service, his ignorance, material consciousness, and all kinds of material desires are completely burnt to ashes. This is the stage at which one can achieve the shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet.”19
In this verse the phrase tad-bhāva is defined as anukṛta, or “made similar.” Thus, when by contact with one thing a second thing assumes some or all of the characteristics of the first, that is tad-bhāva, spiritualisation.
Kṛṣṇa further explains that the instruments of devotion—the senses, mind, and intelligence—become spiritualised by contact with devotional activities, and that spiritualisation is in proportion to the degree of attentiveness in devotion:
yathā yathātmā parimṛjyate ’sau mat-puṇya-gāthā-śravaṇābhidhānaiḥ tathā tathā paśyati vastu sūkṣmaṁ cakṣur yathaivāñjana-samprayuktam
“When a diseased eye is treated with medicinal ointment, it gradually recovers its power to see. Similarly, as a conscious living entity cleanses himself of material contamination by hearing and chanting the pious narrations of My glories, he regains his ability to see Me, the Absolute Truth, in My subtle spiritual form.”20
By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, the process of spiritualisation takes place from the first stirrings of faith and develops systematically to increasing levels of dominance at steadiness, taste, and attachment. Nonetheless, bodily identification—though waning—continues to anchor a sādhaka to the modes of nature until the special grace of the Lord enables him to enter the absolute realm, where māyā is conspicuous by its absence. Since ecstatic devotion is the mature and permanent state of spiritualisation, these prior stages of spiritualisation experienced in bondage are relevant to its attainment. The key to rising from one stage to the next is a corresponding saṅkalpa, an intensified ekāgratā, and an enhanced bhāva-sevā—all enabled by divine grace, kṛpā.
As mentioned in the Preface, Saṅkalpa-kaumudī is not an exposition of every nuance of devotional practice but an in-depth study of determination and its relation to attentiveness, the devotional mood, and divine grace. Thus it is like a moonbeam of truths on the importance of determination in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Are these four the only essences of devotion? And can one aspect of devotion really be considered more essential than another?
While all aspects of devotional service are interdependent, each is essential for the successful workings of the whole. In that sense they are all equally important. And yet some aspects of bhakti have a more overarching influence on the process than others. Ṭhākura Bhaktivinoda explains that a devotee may be proficient in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and in avoiding the ten o ences to the holy name, but if that devotee is not attentive, then he will not attain steadiness. This exemplifies how ekāgratā dominates other aspects of bhakti.
Similarly, the mood of devotion determines the mood of attainment. Determination is essential to forward progress, and without Kṛṣṇa’s mercy there is no successful outcome from e orts in sādhana. Therefore I consider these four to be overriding aspects of devotion.
The goal of sādhana-bhakti is the attainment of ecstatic devotion, which then opens the gateway to loving mellows, the ultimate goal of life. A devotee who is as proficient in the aspects of sādhana as he is determined to attain perfection can rest assured that he shall meet with success. Gopa-kumāra’s spiritual master assured his disciple of such success:
yad yat saṅkalpya bho vatsa nijaṁ mantraṁ japiṣyasi tat-prabhāveṇa tat sarvaṁ vāñchātītaṁ ca setsyati
“My dear boy, whatever you desire while chanting your mantra, by its power you will fully achieve. Indeed, you will attain more than you desire.”21
May this book be of some small help to the reader in attaining that perfection of life.
Notes
1. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.24. 2. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.79. The phrase “with perfect attention” is not in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s translation but is there in the verse as ekāgra. 3. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 6.11–12. 4. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.29.82. 5. Brahma-sūtra 4.1.11 as explained in the commentary of Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. 6. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 10.8 and 7.15, respectively. 7. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.12 and 8.6, respectively.
8. Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā 5.36. 9. We have written that “generally, bhāva-sevā and rāga-bhakti are not synonymous” because Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura occasionally equates the terms in his Harināma-cintāmaṇi. 10. Śikṣāṣṭaka 7, as cited in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 9.51, purport. 11. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 7.19, purport. 12. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.87.33, purport. 13. Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.3.1, as cited in Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.5. 14. Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 2.41. 15. Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta 2.3.167, purport. 16. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.85. 17. Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 24.87. 18. Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, chapter 47, page 449. 19. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.7.36. 20. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.14.26. 21. Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta 2.1.189.
