te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-māyāṁ
te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-māyāṁ
strī-śūdra-hūṇa-śabarā api pāpa-jīvāḥ |
yady adbhuta-krama-parāyaṇa-śīla-śikṣās
tiryag-janā api kim u śruta-dhāraṇā ye ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.7.46; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)
“If they become educated about the character of those whose ultimate shelter is he of astonishing step, [then] women, śūdras, Hūṇas, and Śabaras—even sinful living beings—and even animals, can certainly know and cross beyond Deva’s māyā, so how much more so can those who grasp what they have heard?”