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  • ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya |
    sarva-dharma thākileo tabhu haya kṣaya ||
    sannyāsi-sabhāya yadi haya nindā-karma |
    madyapero sabhā haite se sabhā adharmya ||
    madyapera niṣkṛti āchaye kono kāle |
    para-carcakera gati nahe kabhu bhāle ||
    śāstra paḍhiyāo kāro kāro buddhi-nāśa |
    (Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.13.41–44)

    “Even if the totality of dharma is [otherwise] present, still an assembly in which defamation (nindā) of a Vaiṣṇava occurs is ruined. If an act of defamation occurs [even] in an assembly of sannyāsīs, then that assembly is adharmic more so than an assembly of drunkards. There is deliverance for a drunkard some day. A gossiper [however] never has progress on their forehead [i.e., never has a bright future]. Even after studying śāstra, the intelligence of many is ruined [by engaging in defamation].”

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  • ta eva niyamāḥ sākṣāt ta eva ca yamottamāḥ |
    tapo dānaṁ vrataṁ yajño yena tuṣyaty adhokṣajaḥ ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.16.61)

    “That by which Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān] is satisfied is indeed directly the regulation (niyama), and that is indeed the best rule (yama), austerity (tapas), charity (dāna), rite (vrata), and sacrifice (yajña).”

    Read on →: ta eva niyamāḥ sākṣāt ta eva ca yamottamāḥ

  • prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā |
    tathā dharmam avāpnoti doṣa-tyāgo hi duṣkaraḥ |
    doṣa-sākalya-santyāgān munir bhavati mānavaḥ ||
    duṣkṛta-tyāga-mātreṇa padam ūrdhvaṁ hi labhyate |
    (Mahābhārata: 13.232.5, 8)

    “First, one should give up faults, all at once or just one by one. Then, one achieves dharma. Giving up faults [however] is certainly difficult to do. [Yet] By completely giving up faults in totality, a human being becomes a sage. … Just by giving up misconduct, a higher standing is attained.”

    Read on →: prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā

  • tṛṇād api sunīcena taror iva sahiṣṇunā |
    amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ||
    (Padyāvalī: 32; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 269; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.31, 3.6.239, 3.20.21)

    “Hari is to be praised always
    By one who is far lower than even grass,
    Tolerant like a tree,
    Undesirous of respect,
    And respectful [to all as appropriate].”

    Read on →: tṛṇād api sunīcena

  • guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ |
    jīvasya deha ubhayaṁ guṇāś ceto mad-ātmanaḥ ||
    guṇeṣu cāviśac cittam abhīkṣṇaṁ guṇa-sevayā |
    guṇāś ca citta-prabhavā mad-rūpa ubhayaṁ tyajet ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.25–26)

    “[Haṁsa Bhagavān to Sanaka and other sages:] O sons! The mind becomes absorbed in the guṇas [i.e., the sense objects], and the guṇas [become absorbed] in the mind. Both the guṇas and the mind are bodies of [i.e., external adjuncts to] the jīva, who is constituted of me. The mind remains absorbed in the guṇas because of constant attendance to the guṇas, and the guṇas likewise remain strongly apparent in the mind. One who is absorbed in my form can abandon them both.”

    Read on →: guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ

  • niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam |
    vayo-madhyaṁ jarā mṛtyur ity avasthās tanor nava ||
    etā manoratha-mayīr hānyasyoccāvacās tanūḥ |
    guṇa-saṅgād upādatte kvacit kaścij jahāti ca ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.47–48)

    “Impregnation, gestation, birth, childhood [up to five years], boyhood [up to sixteen years], youth [up to forty-five years], middle age [up to sixty years], old age, and death are the nine states of the body. Sometimes someone [i.e., a jīva] takes on these greater and lesser manifestations of another [i.e., of a material body], which are made of desire, as a result of attachment to the guṇas, and [sometimes someone] gives [them] up [as a result of Śrī Bhagavān’s grace].”

    Read on →: niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam

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