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  • tad evaṁ sandarbha-catuṣṭayena sambandho vyākhyātaḥ | tasminn api sambandhe śrī-rādhā-mādhava-rūpeṇaiva prādurbhāvas tasya sambandhinaḥ paramaḥ prakarṣaḥ | etad-artham eva vyatāniṣamimāḥ sarvā api paripāṭīr iti pūrṇaḥ sambandhaḥ |
    (Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 189)

    “Thus, in this way, the sambandha [i.e., the relation of the referrer, viz., the text, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, with its referent, the subject of the text] has been explained in [the first] four sandarbhas. Furthermore, in this sambandha, the supreme excellence of its sambandhi [i.e., its referent, lit., the bearer of a relation with the text, viz., the sambandhi-tattva] is specifically the manifestation with the form of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava [i.e., among all the manifestations of the Para-tattva, which is the subject (viṣaya) taught in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the manifestation of Śrī Rādhā-Mādhava is supreme]. Only for this purpose [i.e., to establish this conclusion] all these methods [i.e., all the various means employed to establish this conclusion] were presented. Thus, [the discussion of] the sambandha is complete.”

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  • atha krameṇa vistaratas tathaiva tātparyaṁ nirṇetuṁ sambandhābhidheya-prayojaneṣu ṣaḍbhiḥ sandarbhair nirṇeṣyamāṇeṣu prathamaṁ yasya vācya-vācakatā-sambandhīdaṁ śāstraṁ, tad eva dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavaḥ ity-ādi-padye sāmānyākāratas tāvad āha—vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastv iti |
    (Tattva Sandarbha: 50)

    “Now, in regard to the subjects to be ascertained by the six sandarbhas, [namely,] the sambandha [i.e., the relation], abhidheya [i.e., the directive], and prayojana [i.e., the aim], to ascertain elaborately in sequence the intention (tātparya) [of the author] therein [i.e., in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], he [i.e., Vedavyāsa] describes in general in the verse dharmaḥ projhhita-kaitavaḥ [i.e., SB 1.1.2] the first [i.e., the sambandhi-tattva], that the bearer of a referrer-referent relation (vācya-vācakatā-sambandhin) with which is this śāstra [i.e., he speaks of the principal subject of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the referent with whom Śrīmad Bhāgavatam bears the relationship of referrer (vācakatā)]: ‘Here [i.e., in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] is the Reality (Vastu), the real object to be known.’”

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  • iha sambandhi-tattvaṁ brahmānandād api prakṛṣṭo rucira-līlā-vaśiṣṭaḥ śrīmān ajita eva | sa ca pūrṇatvena mukhyatayā śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṁjña eveti śrī-bādarāyaṇa-samādhau vyaktībhaviṣyati | tathā prayojanākhyaḥ puruṣārthaś ca tādṛśa-tad-āsakti-janakaṁ tal-līlā-śravaṇādi-lakṣaṇaṁ tad-bhajanam evety āyātam |
    (Tattva Sandarbha: 29)

    “Here [i.e., in this text], the sambandhi-tattva [i.e., the subject, lit., ‘the entity bearing a relation (sambandha) [with the text],’ meaning, the entity related to through the text] is Śrīman Ajita [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān], who is possessed of relishable līlā and superior even to the bliss of Brahman. That he, furthermore, is known primarily as Śrī Kṛṣṇa by virtue of completeness [i.e., by virtue of the completeness he manifests only in his aspect known as Śrī Kṛṣṇa] will be clarified in [the forthcoming discussion of] Śrī Bādarāyaṇa’s samādhi. So also, the puruṣārtha [i.e., ‘object of a human being’], known as the prayojana [i.e., aim], and worship of him [i.e., the abhidheya], the characteristic of which is hearing and so forth of his līlā that produces such attachment (āsakti) to him [i.e., that leads to attainment of the prayojana, namely, prema for him] are understood.”

    Read on →: iha sambandhi-tattvaṁ brahmānandād api prakṛṣṭo rucira-līlā

  • athaivaṁ sūcitānāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-tad-vācya-vācakatā-lakṣaṇa-sambandha-tad-bhajana-lakṣaṇa-vidheya-saparyāyābhidheya-tat-prema-lakṣaṇa-prayojanākhyānām arthānāṁ nirṇayāya tāvat pramāṇaṁ nirṇīyate |
    (Tattva Sandarbha: 9)

    “Now, to ascertain the [four] topics thus indicated [in the preceding verse, i.e., yasya Brahmeti …], namely, (1) Śrī Kṛṣṇa [i.e., the subject], (2) the sambandha [i.e., the ‘relation’ of the text] with him the characteristic of which is [that of] referrer (vācakatā) and referent (vācya), (3) the abhidheya [i.e., ‘directive,’ lit., ‘that which is to be stated’], synonymous the with vidheya [i.e., ‘practice,’ lit., ‘that which is to be done’], the characteristic of which is worship (bhajana) of him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and (4) the prayojana [i.e., aim, lit., ‘that motivated by which one acts’] the characteristic of which is prema for him, first pramāṇa [i.e., the means of knowing] is ascertained.”

    Read on →: athaivaṁ sūcitānāṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa-tad-vācya-vācakatā-lakṣaṇa-sambandha

  • tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
    āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām |
    yad yad dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
    tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 7.383; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6, 40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.111)

    “[Brahmā to Śrī Bhagavān:] O Nātha! You, he the path to whom is seen by hearing, dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that have been purified by bhakti-yoga [alt., that have been made fit (for you) by virtue of prema]. O you of highest praise! [Alt., O you who are sung of in many ways!] Out of favor upon the sat, you bring forth that very form of yours which they distinctively meditate on [alt., visualize] with the mind.”

    Read on →: tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja

  • cic-chakti-prādhānyena kṛṣṇa-rāmādy-avatāra-līlā iva māyā-śakti-prādhānyena puruṣāvatāra-līlā brahmāṇḍa-nirmāṇādyā vaiṣṇavaiḥ śravyā eva, nātra kaṭākṣaḥ kārya iti śrotṛ-vaktroḥ parīkṣit-śukayor abhiprāyo veditavyaḥ |
    (Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.4.10)

    “Like the līlās of avatāras with primacy of the cit-śakti, such as Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, the līlās of the Puruṣāvatāras with primacy of the māyā-śakti, such as the creation of the universe, are certainly fit to be heard by Vaiṣṇavas. A side-long glance is not to be cast towards them [i.e., one should not be disapproving of Vaiṣṇavas listening to the līlās of the Puruṣāvatāras and assert that only the līlās of Kṛṣna, Rāma, and other avatāras wherein there is primacy of the cit-śakti should be heard]. In this way the intention of the listener and speaker, viz., Parīkṣit and Śuka, is to be understood.”

    Read on →: cic-chakti-prādhānyena kṛṣṇa-rāmādy-avatāra-līlā iva

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