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- Read on →: anādi-pravṛtti-śīlānāṁ pravṛtti-saṅkocāya āśramāḥ śāstreṇa vihitāḥ
anādi-pravṛtti-śīlānāṁ pravṛtti-saṅkocāya āśramāḥ śāstreṇa vihitāḥ | atas tad-vidhāne na tasya tātparyaṁ kintu tat-saṅkoca eva | tā hi brahma-rati-pratibandhikā bhavanti | ye tūpakṣīṇa-pravṛttayo brahmaika-ratās teṣāṁ na kiñcid āśramaiḥ phalam iti nairāśramyaṁ varīyaḥ |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 3.4.39)“The āśramas [i.e., brahmacarya, gārhasthya, etc.] are enjoined by the śāstra for those possessed of a beginningless disposition towards active engagement (pravṛtti) [i.e., towards attached involvement in worldly affairs and experience of worldly objects] for the purpose of the diminution of that active engagement (pravṛtti). Thus, its [i.e., the śāstra’s] aim (tātparya) is not in enjoinment [alt., execution] of that [i.e., its aim is not to perpetuate attached engagement with the worldly (pravṛtti)] but [rather] only in the diminution of that [i.e., of pravṛtti] since those [i.e., the āśramas] become impediments to Brahma-rati [i.e., loving attachment to Bhagavān, when they not observed as a secondary, subordinate aspect of the pursuit of Brahma-rati, if at all]. For those who are attached only to Brahman and in whom active engagement (pravṛtti) has vanished, there is no gain whatsoever by means of [observance of] the āśramas. Thus, being without an āśrama is better [for them].”
- Read on →: na tena vṛddho bhavati yenāsya palitaṁ śiraḥ
na tena vṛddho bhavati yenāsya palitaṁ śiraḥ |
yo vai yuvāpy adhīyānaḥ taṁ devās sthaviram viduḥ ||
(Manu-smṛti: 2.156)“One does not become wise [i.e., venerable, lit., ‘an elder’] just because one has grey hair on one’s head. The devas recognize as an elder one who, although young, remains engaged in studying.”
- Read on →: na hāyanair na palitair na vittena na bandhubhiḥ
na hāyanair na palitair na vittena na bandhubhiḥ |
ṛṣayaś cakrire dharmaṁ yo’nūcānaḥ sa no mahān ||
(Mahābhārata: 9.50.47; Manu-smṛti: 2.154)“[The youthful Sārasvata Muni says to an assembly of elder ṛṣis who had requested him to teach them the Vedas after they had neglected to study them for many years during a prolonged famine and thus forgotten how to recite the Vedas in full and proper completion:] Neither by years, nor by grey hairs, nor by wealth, nor by relations have ṛṣis performed dharma. One who is devoted to learning [i.e., one who is well-versed in the śāstra so as to be able to read, repeat, and teach it to others] is the great one amongst us [i.e., a ṛṣi’s performance of dharma is constituted principally of learning, understanding, and teaching the śāstra].”
- Read on →: yo hy adharmeṇa vibrūyād gṛhṇīyād vāpy adharmataḥ
yo hy adharmeṇa vibrūyād gṛhṇīyād vāpy adharmataḥ |
hīyetāṁ tāv ubhau kṣipraṁ syātāṁ vā vairiṇāv ubhau ||
(Mahābhārata: 9.50.46)“One who shall teach undharmicly [i.e., without accepting the student as a disciple] and one who shall acquire [knowledge] undharmicly [i.e., without acceptance of discipleship to the teacher]—both shall quickly abandon one another or become enemies of one another.”
- Read on →: mātaḥ sapady eva vimiśritā gavāṁ
mātaḥ sapady eva vimiśritā gavāṁ
hambā-ravair veṇu-viṣāṇa-nikvaṇāḥ |
taumbeya-vīṇā-dala-vādya-carcitā
jātā gabhīrā madhurā vidūrataḥ ||
tau prāpitau bodham amībhir utthitau
tad-dīrgha-nādābhimukhe’bhyadhāvatām |
gopāla-devaṁ tam apaśyatām atho
suśyāma-gātra-dyuti-maṇḍalojjvalam ||
paśūn payaḥ pāyayituṁ vayasyaiḥ
samaṁ vihartuṁ taraṇeḥ sutāyām |
gajendra-līlārcita-nṛtya-gatyā-
ntike samāyāntam ananta-līlam ||
svakīya-kaiśora-mahāvibhūṣaṇaṁ
vicitra-lāvaṇya-taraṅga-sāgaram |
jagan-mano-netra-mudaṁ vivardhanaṁ
muhur muhur nūtana-mādhurī-bhṛtam ||
niḥśeṣa-sal-lakṣaṇa-sundarāṅgaṁ
nīpāvataṁsaṁ śikhi-piccha-cūḍam |
muktāvalī-maṇḍita-kambu-kaṇṭhaṁ
kauṣeya-pītāmbara-yugma-dīptam ||
guñjā-mahā-hāra-vilamba-bhūṣita-
śrī-vatsa-lakṣmy-ālaya-pīna-vakṣasam |
siṁhendra-madhyaṁ śata-siṁha-vikramaṁ
saubhāgya-sārārcita-pāda-paṅkajam ||
kadamba-guñja-tulasī-śikhaṇḍa-
pravāla-mālāvali-cāru-veṣam |
kaṭī-taṭī-rājita-citra-puṣpa-
kañcī-vilambāḍhya-nitamba-deśam ||
sauvarṇa-divyāṅgada-kaṅkaṇollasad-
vṛttāyatā-sthūla-bhujābhirāmam |
bimbādhara-nyasta-manojña-veṇu-
vādyollasat-padma-karāṅgulīkam ||
svotprekṣitāpaurvika-veṇu-gīta-
bhaṅgi-sudhā-mohita-viśva-lokam |
tiryaṅ manāg lola-viloka-līlā-
laṅkāra-saṁlālita-locanābjam ||
cāpopamā-bhrū-yuga-nartana-śrī-
saṁvardhita-preṣya-janānurāgam |
śrīmat-sadā-smera-mukhāravinda-
śobha-samākṛṣṭa-munīndra-cittam ||
tila-prasūnottama-nāsikāgrato
virājamānaika-gajendra-mauktikam |
kadāpi go-dhūli-vibhūṣitālaka-
dvirepha-sambhālanato lasat-karam ||
sūryātmajā-mṛd-racitordhva-puṇḍra-
sphītārdha-candrākṛti-bhāla-paṭṭam |
nānādri-dhātu-praticitritāṅgaṁ
nānā-mahāraṅga-taraṅga-sindhum ||
sthitvā tri-bhaṅgi-lalitaṁ kadācin
narmāṇi vaṁśyā bahu vādayantam |
tair hāsayantaṁ nija-mitra-vargān
bhūmiṁ padaiḥ svaiḥ paribhūṣayantam ||
tādṛg-vayo-veṣa-vatāgra-janmanā
nīlāṁśukālaṅkṛta-gaura-kāntinā |
rāmeṇa yuktaṁ ramaṇīya-mūrtinā
taiś cātma-tulyaiḥ sakhibhiḥ priyair vṛtam ||
tad-darśanādbhuta-mahāmudāvalī-
bhareṇa gāḍhena nipātitau hi tau |
daṇḍa-praṇāmārtham ivāśu petatuḥ
sambhrānti-vidhvaṁśita-sarva-naipuṇyau ||
sa ca priya-prema-vaśaḥ pradhāvan
samāgato harṣa-bhareṇa mugdhaḥ |
tayor upary eva papāta dīrgha-
mahābhujābhyāṁ parirebhatau dvau ||
premāśru-dhārābhir aho mahāprabhuḥ
sa snāpayām āsa kṛpārdra-mānasaḥ |
kṣaṇāt samutthāya kara-dvayena
tāv utthāpayām āsa cakāra ca sthirau ||
saṁmarjayann aśru rajaś ca gātre
lagnaṁ dayālur muhur āliliṅga |
tatraiva tābhyām upaviśya bhūmau
vākyāmṛtair vipram atoṣayac ca ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.19–36)“[Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Uttarā Devī:] O Mother,
All of the sudden arose the deep,
Sweet sounds of flutes and horns
Blended with the mooing of cows
And joined by the music
Of gourd vīṇās and leaves [i.e., leaf whistles].
Brought to consciousness by these [sounds],
The two [i.e., the guru and disciple, Sarūpa and the Mathurā brāhmaṇa] arose and ran
Towards those long-traveling sounds.
Then,
They saw him,
Gopāladeva,
Effulgent with the radiance
Of his excellently swarthy figure;
Coming near with a dancing gait,
[Which is] Worshiped by the sporting of the king of elephants,
To water his animals
And play with his contemporaries [i.e., close friends]
In the Daughter of the Sun [i.e., the Yamunā];
[They saw Gopāladeva, he who is] Possessed of unlimited līlās;
Possessed of the tremendous, fine ornament
Of his own adolescence;
An ocean filled with waves
Of extraordinary loveliness;
Greatly increasing of the delight
Of the minds and eyes of the world;
Filled with fresh sweetness moment after moment;
Of beautiful figure [marked] with all the signs of auspiciousness;
[Adorned with] Kadamba flower ear-garlands [on his ears];
[Adorned with] A peacock feather plume [atop his head];
Of conch-shell neck adorned with a pearl necklace;
Luminous by virtue of his pair of yellow silken garments;
Of broad chest—the abode of the śrīvatsa and Lakṣmī—
Ornamented with a long, hanging necklace of guñjās;
Of a waist of the king of lions;
Of the strength of a hundred lions;
Of lotus feet worshiped by the essence of good fortune [i.e., paramount beauty];
Wearing the charming adornments
Of kadamba, guñjā, tulasī, peacock feather, and coral necklaces;
Of hips adorned with a hanging sash of bright flowers
Embellishing the slope of his waist;
Attractive with his long, round, buff arms
Shining with splendid golden bangles and armlets;
Of fingers on his lotus hands shining
As he plays his alluring flute
Fixed at his bimba [red] lips;
Enchanting the people of the world
With the nectar of the unprecedented embellishments
Of his flute song anticipated [alt., demonstrated] by him [alone];
Of lotus eyes finely caressed by the ornaments
Of the play of his side-long, slightly rolling glances;
Fully nourishing of the love of his servants
With the beauty of the dancing
Of his pairs of brows comparable to [the] bows [of an archer];
Possessed of a splendor in his beautiful ever-smiling lotus face
Fully attracting to the hearts of the best of the sages;
Possessed of one excellent pearl from a king of elephants
Shining on the tip of his fine sesame flower nose;
Of glistering hands sometimes brushing aside
The bees of his locks finely adorned with dust raised by the cows;
Possessed of a half-moon shaped, slab-like forehead
Endowed with vertical marks
Made with [bright] clay from the Daughter of the Sun [i.e., the Yamunā];
Of limbs painted all over with various mountain minerals [e.g., red gairika and yellow haritāla];
An ocean of the waves
Of various grand sports;
Standing sometimes in a thrice-bent posture;
Playing numerous humorous sounds with his flute;
Making his personal friends laugh thereby;
Decorating the earth all around with his own feet [i.e., with his foot-prints];
Accompanied by his elder brother of similar age and garb—
[That is,] Rāma of pleasing figure and fair luster
Bedecked with fine blue garments;
And surrounded by his dear friends equal to himself.
Knocked down by the heavy weight
Of the series of great joys
Produced the sight of him,
They [i.e., Sarūpa and the Mathurā brāhmaṇa] quickly dropped [to the ground] as if to offer prostrate obeisances,
All their adeptness dashed by their astonishment.
He [i.e., Śrī Gopāladeva] too became overwhelmed
With prema for his dear ones,
Ran over,
Joined [them],
Became bewildered by the weight of his delight,
And fell right on top of them,
Embracing them both with his long, mighty arms,
Aho!
He, the Supreme Master (Mahāprabhu),
His heart melted with compassion,
Bathed them with streams of his tears of prema.
Arising after a moment,
He raised and steadied them with his two hands.
Wiping away the tears and dust
Smeared on their bodies,
The Gracious One embraced them repeatedly.
And [then] sitting right there on the ground with them,
He satisfied the brāhmaṇa with the nectars of his speech.” - Read on →: śāstraṁ hy abuddhvā tattvena kecid vāda-balāj janāḥ
śāstraṁ hy abuddhvā tattvena kecid vāda-balāj janāḥ |
kāma-dveṣābhibhūtatvād ahaṅkāra-vaśaṁ gatāḥ ||
yāthātathyam avijñāya śāstrāṇāṁ śāstra-dasyavaḥ |
brahma-stenā nirārambhā dambha-moha-vaśānugāḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 269.53)“Not understanding śāstra accurately, some persons become captivated by arrogance (ahaṅkāra) on account of being overcome by desire or enmity on the strength of argument. Without knowing the truth of the śāstras, the robbers of the śāstras—thieves of Brahman—controlled by deceit and delusion, remain without undertaking [i.e., they do not take up the practices taught in the śāstras beginning with equanimity and so on].”