In addition to the Upanisads, Puranas, and Vedanta Sutra, an abundance of classical Vedic literatures have been produced. Several of these, which predate the appearance of Sri Krsna Caitanya, are give particular prominence by Gaudiya Vaisnavas.
The Krishna-Karnamrta (Pleasure for Krishna's Ears) was composed by Srila Bilvamangala, whose writings were also favored by Lord Caitanya. Krishna-Karnamrta was commented on by Krishnadas Kaviraja. Some editions of this work include three sets of one hundred verses, but only the first set is unquestionably Bilvamangala's work.
Gita Govinda (Song about Govinda) is a famous and much loved poem presenting the amorous pastimes of Srimati Radharani and Sri Krishna in the springtime. Along with the writings of Candidas and Vidyapati, Jayadeva's Gita Govinda was among the favorites of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
The text of Brahma-Samhita (Hymns of Brahma), was discovered by Lord Caitanya Himself while he traveled in South India. Brahma-Samhita is understood to be the fifth chapter of the original Hymns of Brahma, comprised of one hundred chapters that were recited at the dawn of creation in praise of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Brahma-Samhita is an essential jewel among Vedic literatures because it contains the essence of all Vaisnava conclusions.
Sri Brahma-Samhita from Preface and Introduction to Srimad Bhagavatam:
"The Lord excavated from South India two very important old literatures, namely the Brahmā-saṁhitā and Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta, and these two valuable books are authorized studies for the person in the devotional line. The Lord then returned to Purī after His South Indian tour."
SB Canto 1
SB 1.1.1, Purport:
"And Brahmā, the original living being, has explained the subject of Śrī Kṛṣṇa substantially in his treatise named Brahma-saṁhitā."
SB 1.3.4, Purport:
"In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said that the Lord is always visible to the devotees whose eyes have been anointed with the tinge of devotional service."
SB 1.3.26, Purport:
"In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said indirectly that although there are many incarnations of the Lord, such as Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Varāha, Matsya, Kūrma and many others, the Lord Himself sometimes incarnates in person."
SB 1.6.28, Purport:
"In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is said that beginning from the indra-gopa germ up to the great Indra, King of heaven, all living beings are subjected to the law of karma and are bound to suffer and enjoy the fruitive results of their own work."
SB 1.8.21, Purport:
"There is no parallel to His childhood pastimes as exhibited at Vrajabhūmi, which are the prototypes of His eternal affairs in the original Kṛṣṇaloka described as the cintāmaṇi-dhāma in the Brahma-saṁhitā (Bs. 5.29). Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa descended Himself at Vrajabhūmi with all His transcendental entourage and paraphernalia."
SB 1.9.42, Purport:
"The Paramātmā feature of the Lord is an expansion of His plenary portions. He expands Himself as Paramātmā in everyone's heart by His inconceivable energy, and He also expands Himself as the glowing effulgence of brahmajyoti by expansion of His personal glow. It is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā that the brahmajyoti is His personal glow. Therefore, there is no difference between Him and His personal glow, brahmajyoti, or His plenary portions as Paramātmā. Less intelligent persons who are not aware of this fact consider brahmajyoti and Paramātmā to be different from Śrī Kṛṣṇa."
SB 1.10.21, Purport:
"This Mahā-Viṣṇu is the plenary portion of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is mentioned in the Brahma-saṁhitā as follows:"
"Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the original Personality of Godhead, Govinda, whose plenary portion is the Mahā-Viṣṇu. All the Brahmās, the heads of the universes, live only for the period of His exhaling, after the universes are generated from the pores of His transcendental body.'" (Bs. 5.58)
SB 1.11.6, Purport:
"The Supreme Lord is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, Brahma-saṁhitā and other authorized Vedic literatures. No one is equal to or greater than Him, and that is the verdict of all scriptures. The influence of time and space is exerted upon the dependent living entities, who are all parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. The living entities are predominated Brahman, whereas the Supreme Lord is the predominating Absolute."
SB 1.11.33, Purport:
"There have been so many big empires in different parts of the world, there have been so many powerful kings all over the world, and there have been so many fortunate men, but all of them have been liquidated gradually. This is the law of material nature. But spiritually it is different. According to Brahma-saṁhitā, the Lord is served very respectfully by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. They are always in a lonely place also with the Lord."
SB 1.12.9, Purport:
"It is said in the Brahma-saṁhitā (Ch. 5) that the Supreme Lord Govinda, by His one plenary portion, enters into the halo of the universe and distributes himself as Paramātmā, or the Supersoul, not only within the heart of every living being, but also within every atom of the material elements. Thus the Lord is all-pervading by His inconceivable potency, and thus He entered the womb of Uttarā to save His beloved devotee Mahārāja Parīkṣit."
SB 1.17.19, Purport:
"Gautama and Kaṇāda find that atomic combination is the cause of everything, and impersonalists like Aṣṭāvakra discover that the spiritual effulgence of Brahman is the cause of all causes. But in the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord Himself declares that He is the source of impersonal Brahman, and therefore He, the Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate cause of all causes. It is also confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate cause of all causes."
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust
