This will be a topic to place verses, prayers, meditations etc that are specific to preyo bhakti - friendly love.
CC Ādi 4.25
sakhā śuddha-sakhye kare, skandhe ārohaṇa
tumi kon baḍa loka, — tumi āmi sama
Synonyms:
sakhā — the friend; śuddha-sakhye— in pure friendship; kare — does; skandhe — on the shoulders; ārohaṇa — mounting; tumi — You; kon — what; baḍa — big; loka — person; tumi — You; āmi — I; sama— the same.
Translation:
“My friends climb on My shoulders in pure friendship, saying, ‘What kind of big man are You? You and I are equal.’
Brhad-bhagavatamrta 1.7.128
icchet punas tādṛśam eva bhāvaṃ kliṣṭaṃ kathañcit tad-abhāvataḥ syāt
yeṣāṃ na bhātīti mate ’pi teṣāṃ gāḍhopakārī smṛti-daḥ priyāṇām
icchet—one may want; punaḥ—again; tādṛśam— similar; eva—indeed; bhāvam—a mood; kliṣṭam— distressed; kathañcit—somehow; tat-abhāvataḥ—due to the absence of that; syāt—may be; yeṣām—of whom; na bhāti—is not manifest; iti—thus; mate—in the opinion; api—still; teṣām—their; gāḍha—most thorough; upakārī—helper; smṛti-daḥ—reviver of lost memory; priyāṇām—of beloveds.
One may want to feel that separation again, and may indeed feel distressed if one cannot. Thus a person who can remind one of a beloved not present is considered the most sincere and helpful friend.
They are so expert at bringing this rememberance at just the right moment and secretly. They can love Krishna so intimately and support him. Wow they can see his heart’s need at that moment. That is truly so amazing!
Caitanya Bhagavat Adi 12.264:
Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 11.233:
pulina-bhojane yena kṛṣṇa madhya-sthāne
caudikera sakhā kahe, — āmāre nehāne
In His own pastimes in Vṛndāvana, when Kṛṣṇa used to eat on the bank of the Yamunā and sit in the center of His friends, every one of the cowherd boys would perceive that Kṛṣṇa was looking at him. In the same way, when Caitanya Mahāprabhu observed the dancing, everyone saw that Caitanya Mahāprabhu was facing him.
Please forgive me if this is not what you guys are looking for, but I came across this one while staying in Saragrahi during Rama Vijaya and it meant something to me:
SB 5.19.7
na janma nūnaṁ mahato na saubhagaṁ
na vāṅ na buddhir nākṛtis toṣa-hetuḥ
tair yad visṛṣṭān api no vanaukasaś
cakāra sakhye bata lakṣmaṇāgrajaḥ
Synonyms:
na — not; janma — birth in a very polished, aristocratic family; nūnam — indeed; mahataḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; na — nor; saubhagam — great fortune; na — nor; vāk — an elegant manner of speaking; na — nor; buddhiḥ — sharpness of intelligence; na — not; ākṛtiḥ — features of the body; toṣa-hetuḥ — the cause of pleasure to the Lord; taiḥ — by all those above-mentioned qualities; yat — because; visṛṣṭān — rejected; api — although; naḥ — us; vana-okasaḥ — the inhabitants of the forest; cakāra — accepted; sakhye — in friendship; bata — alas; lakṣmaṇa-agra-jaḥ — Lord Śrī Rāmacandra, the elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa.
Translation:
One cannot establish a friendship with the Supreme Lord Rāmacandra on the basis of material qualities such as one’s birth in an aristocratic family, one’s personal beauty, one’s eloquence, one’s sharp intelligence or one’s superior race or nation. None of these qualifications is actually a prerequisite for friendship with Lord Śrī Rāmacandra. Otherwise how is it possible that although we uncivilized inhabitants of the forest have not taken noble births, although we have no physical beauty and although we cannot speak like gentlemen, Lord Rāmacandra has nevertheless accepted us as friends?
In the purport Srila Prabhupada writes this:
"In the Caitanya-bhāgavata it is said:
kholāvecā sevakera dekha bhāgya-sīmā
brahmā śiva kāṅde yāra dekhiyā mahimā
dhane jane pāṇḍitye kṛṣṇa nāhi pāi
kevala bhaktira vaśa caitanya-gosāñi
“Behold the great fortune of the devotee Kholāvecā. Lord Brahmā and Śiva shed tears upon seeing his greatness. One cannot attain Lord Kṛṣṇa by any amount of wealth, followers, or learning. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is controlled only by pure devotion.”
I believe Kholaveca has a Sakhya connection.
17 minutes ago, krsna caitanya das said:I believe Kholaveca has a Sakhya connection.
Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (133)
kholā-vecātayā khyātaḥ paṇḍitaḥ śrīdharo dvijaḥ
āsīd vraje hāsya-karo yo nāmnā kusumāsavaḥ
“The cowherd boy known as Kusumāsava in kṛṣṇa-līlā later became Kholāvecā Śrīdhara during Caitanya Mahāprabhu's līlā at Navadvīpa.”
Here is a verse from the 2nd chapter of the 3rd canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. For some reason, the last sentence of the first paragraph of the purport spoke to me years ago and stuck with me. I lost track of where the purport was over the years, but recently this chapter of SB was put back on my radar.
SB 3.2.27
parīto vatsapair vatsāṁś
cārayan vyaharad vibhuḥ
yamunopavane kūjad-
dvija-saṅkulitāṅghripe
Synonyms:
parītaḥ — surrounded by; vatsapaiḥ — cowherd boys; vatsān — calves; cārayan — herding, tending; vyaharat — enjoyed by traveling; vibhuḥ — the Almighty; yamunā — the Yamunā river; upavane — gardens on the shore; kūjat — vibrated by the voice; dvija — the twice-born birds; saṅkulita — densely situated; aṅghripe — in the trees.
Translation:
In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamunā river, through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds.
Purport:
Nanda Mahārāja was a landholder for King Kaṁsa, but because by caste he was a vaiśya, a member of the mercantile and agricultural community, he maintained thousands of cows. It is the duty of the vaiśyas to give protection to the cows, just as the kṣatriyas are to give protection to the human beings. Because the Lord was a child, He was put in charge of the calves with His cowherd boyfriends. These cowherd boys were great ṛṣis and yogīs in their previous births, and after many such pious births, they gained the association of the Lord and could play with Him on equal terms. Such cowherd boys never cared to know who Kṛṣṇa was, but they played with Him as a most intimate and lovable friend. They were so fond of the Lord that at night they would only think of the next morning when they would be able to meet the Lord and go together to the forests for cowherding.
The forests on the shore of the Yamunā are all beautiful gardens full of trees of mango, jackfruit, apples, guava, oranges, grapes, berries, palmfruit and so many other plants and fragrant flowers. And because the forest was on the bank of the Yamunā, naturally there were ducks, cranes and peacocks on the branches of the trees. All these trees and birds and beasts were pious living entities born in the transcendental abode of Vṛndāvana just to give pleasure to the Lord and His eternal associates, the cowherd boys.
While playing like a small child with His associates, the Lord killed many demons, including Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Pralambāsura and Gardabhāsura. Although He appeared at Vṛndāvana just as a boy, He was actually like the covered flames of a fire. As a small particle of fire can kindle a great fire with fuel, so the Lord killed all these great demons, beginning from His babyhood in the house of Nanda Mahārāja. The land of Vṛndāvana, the Lord’s childhood playground, still remains today, and anyone who visits these places enjoys the same transcendental bliss, although the Lord is not physically visible to our imperfect eyes. Lord Caitanya recommended this land of the Lord as identical with the Lord and therefore worshipable by the devotees. This instruction is taken up especially by the followers of Lord Caitanya known as the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. And because the land is identical with the Lord, devotees like Uddhava and Vidura visited these places five thousand years ago in order to have direct contact with the Lord, visible or not visible. Thousands of devotees of the Lord are still wandering in these sacred places of Vṛndāvana, and all of them are preparing themselves to go back home, back to Godhead.
Wow that is beautiful KC! Who is Gardabhāsura?
38 minutes ago, Atmananda dasa said:Who is Gardabhāsura?
Apparently, it is another name for Dhenukasura. Check this out from chapter 47 of the Nectar of Devotion:
"Once, while Kṛṣṇa was in the pasturing ground with His cowherd boys, His friends requested Him to go to the Tālavana Forest, where Gardabhāsura, a disturbing demon in the shape of an ass, resided. The friends of Kṛṣṇa wanted to eat the fruit from the forest trees, but they could not go because of fear of the demon. Thus they requested Kṛṣṇa to go there and kill Gardabhāsura. After Kṛṣṇa did this, they all returned home, and their report of the day's activity perturbed Mother Yaśodā because Kṛṣṇa had been sent alone into such danger in the Tālavana Forest. Thus she looked upon the boys with anger."
I am looking for a quote that describes the character of Prema as appearing like poison on the outside but is actually the highest bliss on the inside. Does anyone have know this? He quoted it in class a few days ago. But I haven't been able to figure out where it is from.
in the sloka loka thread, page 2, towards bottom. CC Madhya 2.50