Poet (Books)

Expressions researched:
"poet" |"poets"

BG Chapters 7 - 12

BG 7.15, Purport:

(3) The next class of duṣkṛtī is called māyayāpahṛta-jñānāḥ, or those persons whose erudite knowledge has been nullified by the influence of illusory material energy. They are mostly very learned fellows—great philosophers, poets, literati, scientists, etc.—but the illusory energy misguides them, and therefore they disobey the Supreme Lord.

BG Chapters 13 - 18

BG 14.6, Purport:

Repeatedly one may become a philosopher, a scientist or a poet, and repeatedly become entangled in the same disadvantages of birth and death.

BG 18.72, Purport:

Bhagavad-gītā is not an ordinary book written by a poet or fiction writer; it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

SB Canto 1

SB 1.3.24, Purport:

Lord Buddha had to reject the authority of the Vedas altogether. This is simply technical, and had it not been so he would not have been so accepted as the incarnation of Godhead. Nor would he have been worshiped in the transcendental songs of the poet Jayadeva, who is a Vaiṣṇava ācārya.

SB 1.5.10, Purport:

Social literary men, scientists, mundane poets, theoretical philosophers and politicians who are completely absorbed in the material advancement of sense pleasure are all dolls of the material energy.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 16.98, Translation:

When the poetic champion was thus defeated, all the Lord's disciples sitting there began to laugh loudly. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked them not to do so, and He addressed the poet as follows.

CC Adi 16.99, Translation:

"You are the most learned scholar and the topmost of all great poets, for otherwise how could such fine poetry come from your mouth?"

CC Adi 16.101, Translation:

"Even in the poetic compositions of such great poets as Bhavabhūti, Jayadeva and Kālidāsa there are many examples of faults."

CC Adi 16.102, Translation:

"Such mistakes should be considered negligible. One should see only how such poets have displayed their poetic power."

CC Adi 16.105, Translation:

In this way both the poet and Caitanya Mahāprabhu went back to their homes, and at night the poet worshiped mother Sarasvatī.

CC Adi 16.107, Translation:

The next morning the poet came to Lord Caitanya and surrendered unto His lotus feet. The Lord bestowed His mercy upon him and cut off all his bondage to material attachment.

CC Adi 17.304, Purport:

The conjugal love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, which is called yugala-pīriti, is not understandable by mundane scholars, artists or poets. It is simply to be understood by devotees who strictly follow in the footsteps of the six Gosvāmīs.

CC Adi 17.304, Purport:

Sometimes so-called artists and poets try to understand the love affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, and they publish cheap books of poetry and pictures on the subject.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 8.193, Purport:

The topics that are about to be discussed between Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya cannot be understood by a materialistic poet, nor by intelligence or material perception.

CC Madhya 19.122, Translation:

The characteristics of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī have thus been described in various places by the poet Kavi-karṇapūra. An account has also been given of how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestowed His causeless mercy upon Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī.

CC Madhya 22.48, Translation:

"'O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features—externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul—to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.'"

CC Madhya 24.347, Translation:

The authorized poet Kavi-karṇapūra has written a book named Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka. This book tells how Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu blessed Sanātana Gosvāmī with His specific mercy.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.195, Translation:

"'What is the use of a bowman"s arrow or a poet's poetry if they penetrate the heart but do not cause the head to spin?'"

CC Antya 1.211, Purport:

The poet or writer dealing with transcendental subject matters is not an ordinary writer or translator. Because he is empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whatever he writes becomes very effective. The principle of being empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead is essential.

CC Antya 1.211, Purport:

A materialistic poet who describes in his poetry the material activities of men and women cannot describe the transcendental pastimes of the Lord or the transcendental conclusions of devotional service.

CC Antya 5 Summary:

A brāhmaṇa from Bengal composed a drama about the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and went to Jagannātha Purī to show it to the associates of the Lord. When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, heard the drama, he discerned a tinge of Māyāvāda philosophy and pointed it out to the author. Although Svarūpa Dāmodara condemned the entire drama, by reference to secondary meanings of the introductory verse he nevertheless satisfied the brāhmaṇa. That brāhmaṇa poet thus became greatly obliged to Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, renounced his family connections and stayed at Jagannātha Purī with the associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 5.102, Translation:

"In the writings of so-called poets there is generally a possibility of overlapping transcendental mellows. When the mellows thus go against the conclusive understanding, no one likes to hear such poetry."

CC Antya 5.103, Translation:

"A so-called poet who has no knowledge of transcendental mellows and the overlapping of transcendental mellows cannot cross the ocean of the conclusions of devotional service."

CC Antya 5.104-105, Translation:

"A poet who does not know the grammatical regulative principles, who is unfamiliar with metaphorical ornaments, especially those employed in drama, and who does not know how to present the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa is condemned. Moreover, the pastimes of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu are especially difficult to understand."

CC Antya 5.107, Translation and Purport:

"Hearing the poetry of a person who has no transcendental knowledge and who writes about the relationships between man and woman simply causes unhappiness, whereas hearing the words of a devotee fully absorbed in ecstatic love causes great happiness."

Grāmya-kavi refers to a poet or writer such as the authors of novels and other fiction who write only about the relationships between man and woman.

CC Antya 5.111, Translation:

Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī sat down with other devotees to hear the poetry, and then the poet began to read the introductory verse.

CC Antya 5.113, Translation:

When everyone present heard the verse, they all commended the poet, but Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī requested him, "Kindly explain this verse."

CC Antya 5.114, Translation:

The poet said, "Lord Jagannātha is a most beautiful body, and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is exceptionally grave, is the owner of that body."

CC Antya 5.118, Purport:

There is actually no difference between Lord Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the ignorant poet from Bengal applied a material distinction to the body of Lord Śrī Jagannātha.

CC Antya 5.118, Purport:

There is actually no difference between Lord Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, but the ignorant poet from Bengal applied a material distinction to the body of Lord Śrī Jagannātha.

CC Antya 5.119, Purport:

Even the very body of a devotee becomes spiritualized, just as an iron rod put into fire becomes as qualified as fire because it becomes red hot and will immediately burn anything it touches. Therefore the poet from Bengal committed a great offense by treating Lord Jagannātha's body and Lord Jagannātha, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as two different entities, material and spiritual, as if the Lord were an ordinary living being.

CC Antya 5.120, Translation and Purport:

Svarūpa Dāmodara continued, "Because you have committed an offense to Lord Jagannātha and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, you will attain a hellish destination. You do not know how to describe the Absolute Truth, but nevertheless you have tried to do so. Therefore you must be condemned."

The brāhmaṇa poet from Bengal was an offender in the estimation of Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, for although the poet had no knowledge of the Absolute Truth, he had nevertheless tried to describe it. The Bengali poet was an offender to both Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Jagannātha. Because he had made a distinction between Lord Jagannātha's body and His soul and because he had indicated that Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was different from Lord Jagannātha, he had committed offenses to Them both.

CC Antya 5.129, Translation:

When the Bengali poet heard this chastisement from Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, he was ashamed, fearful and astonished. Indeed, being like a duck in a society of white swans, he could not say anything.

CC Antya 5.130, Translation:

Seeing the poet's unhappiness, Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, who was naturally very kindhearted, advised him so that he could derive some benefit.

CC Antya 5.131, Translation and Purport:

"If you want to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam," he said, "you must approach a self-realized Vaiṣṇava and hear from him. You can do this when you have completely taken shelter of the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

Herein Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī instructs the poet from Bengal to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a pure Vaiṣṇava and learn from him.

CC Antya 5.135, Translation and Purport:

"You have written something irregular, not knowing the regulative principles, but the goddess of learning, Sarasvatī, has used your words to offer her prayers to the Supreme Lord."

Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī informed the Bengali poet, "Because of your ignorance and your leaning toward Māyāvāda philosophy, you cannot distinguish the difference between the Māyāvāda and Vaiṣṇava philosophies. Therefore the process you have adopted to praise Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Lord Jagannātha does not follow the proper system; indeed, it is irregular and offensive. Fortunately, however, through your words, the goddess of learning, mother Sarasvatī, has tactfully offered her prayers to her master, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

CC Antya 5.156, Translation:

Upon hearing this proper explanation by Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, the Bengali poet fell down at the feet of all the devotees and took shelter of them with a straw in his mouth.

CC Antya 5.158, Translation:

By the mercy of the devotees of Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, that poet from Bengal gave up all other activities and stayed with them at Jagannātha Purī. Who can explain the mercy of the devotees of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu?

CC Antya 5.161, Translation:

In the course of the narration, I have also told about the drama by the poet from Bengal. Although he was ignorant, because of his faith and humility he nevertheless obtained shelter at the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu.

CC Antya 6.262, Translation:

Describing this incident, the great poet Śrī Kavi-karṇapūra has written extensively about the glorious activities of Raghunātha dāsa in his Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭaka.

CC Antya 6.265, Translation:

In these verses, the great poet Kavi-karṇapūra gives the same information that Śivānanda Sena conveyed to the messenger from Raghunātha dāsa's father.

CC Antya 16 Summary:

When Kavi-karṇapūra was only seven years old, he was initiated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. He later became the greatest poet among the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas.

CC Antya 17.62, Translation:

Suddenly Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to external consciousness and said to Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, "My dear Svarūpa, please sing some sweet songs." The Lord's ears were satisfied when He heard Svarūpa Dāmodara sing songs from the Gīta-govinda and those by the poet Vidyāpati.

CC Antya 20.111, Translation:

That chapter also describes how Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī rejected the drama of a poet from Bengal and established the glories of the Deity.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Prologue:

No production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahāprabhu unless Svarūpa had passed it as pure and useful.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 42:

When Kṛṣṇa entered the lake of Kāliya, His intimate friends became so perturbed that their bodily colors faded, and they all produced horrible gurgling sounds. At that time all of them fell down on the ground as if unconscious. Similarly, when there was a forest fire, all of Kṛṣṇa's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Kṛṣṇa on all sides to protect Him from the flames. This behavior of the friends toward Kṛṣṇa is described by thoughtful poets as vyabhicārī. In vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa there is sometimes madness, dexterity, fear, laziness, jubilation, pride, dizziness, meditation, disease, forgetfulness and humbleness.

Nectar of Devotion 49:

When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was residing in Jagannātha Purī, many poets and devotees used to come to Him and offer their different kinds of poetry, but the regulation was that Lord Caitanya's secretary, Svarūpa Dāmodara, first examined all of these writings scrutinizingly, and if he would find that there were no incompatibilities in the rasas, or transcendental mellows, he would then allow the poet to approach Lord Caitanya and recite his poetry.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 20:

The poet Vidyāpati said that in the society of friends, family, children, wife, etc., there is certainly some pleasure, but that pleasure is compared to a drop of water in the desert.

Krsna Book 37:

"I shall also see how You save King Nṛga from a hellish condition," said Nārada Muni. “This You shall enact in Dvārakā. I shall also be able to see how You get Your wife and the Syamantaka jewel and how You save the son of a brāhmaṇa from death after he has already been transferred to another planet. After this, I will be able to see You kill the Pauṇḍraka demon and burn to ashes the kingdom of Kāśī. I will see how You kill the King of Cedi and Dantavakra during the great sacrifice of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Besides all this, it will be possible for me to see many other chivalrous activities while You remain in Dvārakā. And all these activities performed by Your Grace will be sung by great poets throughout the world.

Krsna Book 50:

The citizens of Mathurā organized the combined services of professional singers like sūtas and māgadhas, along with poets who could compose nice songs, and they began to chant the victory glorification of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 53:

The bodily luster and beauty of Rukmiṇī appeared as if painted by an artist perfectly presenting beauty following the descriptions of great poets. Rukmiṇī’s breasts are described as being somewhat high, indicating that she was just a youth not more than thirteen or fourteen years old.

Krsna Book 87:

Persons unaware of the supreme reservoir of pleasure falsely engage in deriving pleasure from sense gratification, but this is transient and illusory.” In this connection, Vidyāpati, a great Vaiṣṇava devotee and poet, says, "My dear Lord, undoubtedly there is some pleasure in the midst of society, friendship and love, although it is materially conceived, but such pleasure cannot satisfy my heart, which is like a desert."

Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)

Narada Bhakti Sutra 5, Purport:

A devotee should not be very enthusiastic about attaining any material goal. He should not be like persons who engage in fruitive activities, who work very hard day and night to attain material rewards. All such persons have some ambition—to become a very big businessman, to become a great industrialist, to become a great poet or philosopher.