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  • karma vikṣepakaṁ tasyā vairāgyaṁ rasa-śoṣakam |
    jñānaṁ hāni-karaṁ tat-tac-chodhitaṁ tv anuyāti tām ||
    (Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.205)

    “Karma [i.e., observance of the practices enjoined for those following the path of karma] is a cause of distraction from it [i.e., from bhakti]. Vairāgya is a cause of desiccation of rasa [for it]. Jñāna is cause of detriment [to it]. [When] Rectified, however, these attend to it.”

    Read on →: karma vikṣepakaṁ tasyā vairāgyaṁ rasa-śoṣakam

  • phalgu-vairāgya-nirdagdhāḥ śuṣka-jñānāś ca haitukāḥ |
    mīmāṁsakā viśeṣeṇa bhakty-āsvāda-bahirmukhāḥ ||
    ity eṣa bhakti-rasikaiś caurād iva mahānidhiḥ |
    jaran-mīmāṁsakād rakṣyaḥ kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasaḥ sadā ||
    (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.129–130)

    “Those burnt by useless non-attachment, those of dry knowledge, logicians, and in particular examiners (mīmāṁsakas) are averse to relishing bhakti. Thus, like a great treasure from a thief, this Kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa is always to be protected from old mīmāṁsakas [and to be protected as appropriate from the others] by bhakti-rasikas.”

    Read on →: phalgu-vairāgya-nirdagdhāḥ śuṣka-jñānāś ca haitukāḥ

  • tan niśamyātha munayo vismitā mukta-saṁśayāḥ |
    bhūyāṁsaṁ śraddadhur viṣṇuṁ yataḥ śāntir yato’bhayam ||
    dharmaḥ sākṣād yato jñānaṁ vairāgyaṁ ca tad-anvitam |
    aiśvaryaṁ cāṣṭadhā yasmād yaśaś cātma-malāpaham ||
    munīnāṁ nyasta-daṇḍānāṁ śāntānāṁ sama-cetasām |
    akiñcanānāṁ sādhūnāṁ yam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim ||
    sattvaṁ yasya priyā mūrtir brāhmaṇās tv iṣṭa-devatāḥ |
    bhajanty anāśiṣaḥ śāntā yaṁ vā nipuṇa-buddhayaḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.89.14–17)

    “Then, hearing that [i.e., Bhṛgu’s account of his meetings with Brahmā, Śiva, and Viṣṇu], the sages became amazed, freed from doubt, and possessed of immense śraddhā in Viṣṇu, from whom comes peace; from whom comes fearlessness; from whom comes direct dharma, [direct] knowledge (jñāna), and non-attachment (vairāgya) following that; from whom comes eightfold metaphysical power, glory, and removal of the impurities in the psyche; whom they [i.e., the wise] call the ultimate refuge of the sages, of those who have laid down the staff, of the tranquil, and of the equanimous—the divested, the sādhus; whose dear form is Existence [i.e., Brahman]; [whose] iṣṭa-devatās are the brāhmaṇas; and whom those who are desireless, tranquil, and of sharp intellect worship.”

    Read on →: tan niśamyātha munayo vismitā mukta-saṁśayāḥ

  • tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ |
    na jñānaṁ na ca vairāgyaṁ prāyaḥ śreyo bhaved iha ||
    yat karmabhir yat tapasā jñāna-vairāgyataś ca yat |
    yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api ||
    sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate’ñjasā |
    svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.31–33)

    “Therefore, for a yogī engaged in bhakti to me with mind on me, neither jñāna nor vairāgya shall in general be a means of benefit here. What can come to be by means of righteous acts, what can come to be by means of austerity, and what can come to be by means of jñāna and vairāgya, as well as by yoga, charity, and other means of benefit—all of that, as well as Svarga, apavarga [i.e., mukti], and my abode, my bhakta attains quickly by means of the practice (yoga) of bhakti to me if one somehow desires [to attain any of those ends].”

    Read on →: tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ

  • Cāṭu-puṣpāñjaliḥ

    A flower-offering of pleasing words

    By Śrīmad Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda

    Read on →: Cāṭu-puṣpāñjaliḥ

  • namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase |
    rādhādhara-sudhā-sindhau namo nitya-vihāriṇe ||
    rādhāṁ kṛṣṇa-svarūpāṁ vai kṛṣṇaṁ rādhā-svarūpiṇaṁ |
    kalātmānaṁ nikuñjasthaṁ guru-rūpaṁ sadā bhaje ||
    (Mahāvāṇī: Sakhī-rūpācārya-nāma-ratnāvalī-stava, 1–2)

    “Obeisance unto him,
    Bhagavān,
    Kṛṣṇa,
    He of unblunted brilliance.
    Obeisance unto the constant Frolicker
    In the ocean of the nectar
    Of Rādhā’s lips.
    Forever I worship
    Rādhā,
    She whose essence is Kṛṣṇa
    [Alt., she who is the essential nature of Kṛṣṇa],
    And Kṛṣṇa,
    He whose essence is Rādhā,
    [Alt., he who is the essential nature of Rādhā]—
    They whose spirit is the arts
    [Alt., they who are the essence of expertise, or, they who are the constitution of the seed syllable klīṁ]
    And the form of the guru situated in the bower.”

    Read on →: namas tasmai bhagavate kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase

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