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- Read on →: bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁvidho’rjuna
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁvidho’rjuna |
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṁ ca parantapa ||
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ |
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 11.54–55)“But by exclusive (ananyā) bhakti, O Arjuna, O scorcher of enemies, I, in this form, am able in reality to be known, to be seen, and to be entered [i.e., fully united with]. One who is a performer of action related to me, for whom I am supreme, who is my bhakta, who is free from attachment, and who is without enmity towards all beings, attains me, O son of Pandu.”
- Read on →: nārāyaṇaḥ paraṁ brahma taj jñānenātha gamyate
nārāyaṇaḥ paraṁ brahma taj jñānenātha gamyate |
jñānasya sādhanaṁ śāstraṁ śāstraṁ ca guru-vaktragam ||
brahma-prāptir ato hetor gurv-adhīnā sadaiva hi |
hetunānena vai viprā gurur gurutaraḥ smṛtaḥ ||
yasmād devo jagannāthaḥ kṛtvā martyamayīṁ tanum |
magnān uddharate lokān kāruṇyāc chāstra-pāṇinā ||
tasmād bhaktir gurau kāryā saṁsāra-bhaya-bhīruṇā |
śāstra-jñānena yo’jñānaṁ timiraṁ vinipātayet ||
śāstraṁ pāpa-haraṁ puṇyaṁ pavitraṁ bhoga-mokṣadam |
śāntidaṁ ca mahārthaṁ ca vakti yaḥ sa jagad-guruḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.413–417)“Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Brahman, and he is attained by means of knowledge (jñāna). The means of acquiring knowledge (jñāna) is the śāstra, and the śāstra is learned from the mouth of the guru. For this reason, the attainment of Brahman is indeed verily always dependent on the guru, and for that reason, O brāhmaṇas, the guru is known to be very important [lit., ‘very heavy’]. Because Deva, the Lord of universe, out of compassion adopts a mortal form [i.e., the human form of the guru] and delivers the people immersed [in the ocean of saṁsāra] with the hand of the śāstra, bhakti to the guru is to be performed by those who are frighted by the fear of saṁsāra [i.e., by those who aspire to transcend saṁsāra]. He who can completely dispel the darkness of ignorance with knowledge of the śāstra—[he] who is a speaker of the śāstra, which is a remover of sin, sacred, purifying, a bestower of enjoyment and mokṣa, a bestower of peace, and possessed of deep meaning—is a guru of the world.”
- Read on →: aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ
aiśvaryasya samagrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ |
jñāna-vairāgyayoś caiva ṣaṇṇāṁ bhaga itīṅganā ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa: 6.5.74; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 3)“[The word] Bhaga [i.e., ‘excellence’] is an indication of six [attributes]: complete mastery, potency, fame, wealth, knowledge, and non-attachment.”
- Read on →: evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ |
hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty
unmādavan nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.40; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.641; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.6 Bhakti Sandarbha: 188, 263; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.7.94, 2.9.260, 2.23.41, 2.25.141, 3.3.179)“One whose rite is so, in whom anurāga [i.e., prema] has manifest by chanting the name of one’s Beloved, and who is [thus] of melted heart, loudly laughs, cries, shouts, sings, and dances as though mad, oblivious to society.”
- Read on →: sarvajña munira vākya śāstra—paramāṇa
sarvajña munira vākya śāstra—paramāṇa |
āmā-sabhā-jīvera haya śāstra-dvārā jñāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.350)“The statements of the all-knowing sages—the śāstra—is the pramāṇa [i.e., the means of attaining valid knowledge]. All of us jīvas have knowledge by means of the śāstra.”
- Read on →: śṛṇvan subhadrāṇi rathāṅga-pāṇer
śṛṇvan subhadrāṇi rathāṅga-pāṇer
janmāni karmāṇi ca yāni loke |
gītāni nāmāni tad-arthakāni
gāyan vilajjo vicared asaṅgaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.39)“Hearing of the most auspicious births and activities of he of discus in hand [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] which are sung in society and singing names [of his] signifying those [births and activities of his], one should roam about, unabashed and free from attachment.”