atas tasmād abhinnās te bhinnā api satāṁ matāḥ |
muktau satyam api prāyo bhedas tiṣṭhed ato hi saḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.186)
“Therefore, they [i.e., the jīvas] are considered by the sat non-distinct from him and also distinct [from him], and therefore even when mukti occurs, that distinction shall certainly remain in most cases.”
anādi-siddhayā śaktyā cid-vilāsa-svarūpayā |
mahāyogākhyayā tasya sadā te bheditās tataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.185)
“They [i.e., the jīvas] are eternally distinguished from him [i.e., Parabrahman] by means of his beginninglessly existent śakti by the name of mahāyoga the nature of which is a manifestation of consciousness.”
nitya-siddhās tato jīvā bhinnā eva yathā raveḥ |
aṁśavo visphuliṅgāś ca vahner bhaṅgāś ca vāridheḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.184)
“The jīvas are certainly eternally existent (nitya-siddha) as distinct from him [i.e., Parabrahman] like the [light-] particles of the sun, sparks of a fire, and waves of the ocean [i.e., just as these are distinct from their sources].”
jīva-svarūpaṁ yad vastu paraṁ brahma tad eva cet |
tad eva sac-cid-ānanda-ghanaṁ śrī-bhagavāṁś ca tat ||
tathāpi jīva-tattvāni tasyāṁsā eva san-matāḥ |
ghana-tejaḥ-samūhasya tejo-jālaṁ yathā raveḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.182–183)
“‘The existent (vastu) the essential nature (svarūpa) of which is [called] the jīva—if that specifically were [considered] Parabrahman, [then] that specifically would be constituted of condensed eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, and would be Śrī Bhagavān [himself].’ Still, the essential nature (tattva) of the jīvas would be considered by the sat only his [i.e., Parabrahman’s] parts (aṁśas) like the multiplicity of the light [i.e., the light particles] of the sun, which is an aggregate of condensed light.”
sukha-rūpaṁ sukhādhāraḥ śarkāra-piṇḍavan matam |
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa-dvandvaṁ sukhaṁ brahma tu kevalam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.181)
“Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s two feet are considered forms of bliss and a substratum of bliss like a lump of sugar [which is both a form of sweetness and a substratum of sweetness] whereas Brahman is only bliss [i.e., it is not also a substratum of bliss].”
eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā | parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat || iti śrī-parāśaroktyā | tathā—‘brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca’ iti śrī-bhagavad-gītādi-vacanena ca ghana-maṇḍala-candra-tejo-ghana-maṇḍala-sūrya-sthānīyasya bhagavac-caraṇāravinda-dvandasya sac-cid-ānanda-ghanasya bhakti-dvārānubhavena sukhaṁ ghanaṁ syād eva | sarva-vyāpi-jyotsnā-tejaḥ-sthānīyasya jīva-svarūpa-bhūtasya jagan-mayasya sac-cid-ānanda-brahmaṇo’nubhavena sukham api tad-anurūpaṁ svalpam eva syāt, na ca māyikaṁ prapañca-jātam idaṁ jyotsnā-sthānīyam iti vācyam | yathā candra-sūryayor jyotsnā-tejaḥ-paramāṇavaḥ prakāśakatvādi-tat-tad-guṇa-yogāt tat-tad-aṁśās tathā jagataḥ sac-cid-ānandatvādy-abhāvena para-brahmaṇo’ṁśatvāsambhavāt śakti-śabda-prayogāc ceti dik |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.180)
“As per the statement of Śrī Parāśara [in VP 1.22.54], ‘As the light of a fire situated in one place is spread out [all around], so the śakti of the Supreme Brahman is [spread out] throughout this entire universe,’ and the statement [of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in Śrī Bhagavad-gītā [14.27], ‘Since I am the basis of Brahman, of the imperishable nectar, of the eternal dharma, and of the bliss of the one-pointed,’ the bliss (sukham) [felt by the jīva] as a result of experience by means of bhakti to the two lotus feet of Bhagavān, which are constituted of condensed eternal being, consciousness, and bliss and comparable to the condensed orb of the moon and the illuminating condensed orb of the sun, shall verily be condensed [i.e., intense], whereas the bliss as a result of experience of [the aspect of] brahman constituted of [non-condensed] eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, constitutive of the world (jaganmaya), existent as the nature (svarūpa) of a jīva, and comparable to all-pervading light [rather than to the condensed luminous orb of the sun or the moon itself], shall verily be meager in accord with that [i.e., in accord with how it is of less condensed nature, just as a perception of diffused light is far less intense than a perception of the sun or moon directly]. And it is not that this [world] which is māyika and generated by [mere] appearance (prapañca) should be said to be comparable to light [as brahman, i.e., the jīva, has just been compared] because of the impossibility of the world’s being a part (aṁśa) of Parabrahman [as brahman, i.e., the jīva, is] on account of the non-existence of [its, i.e., the world’s] being constituted of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, and so forth, and because of the usage of the word śakti [to describe it, rather than the world ‘part’ (aṁśa)], just as the minute particles of the light of the moon and the sun are parts thereof respectively [i.e., are parts of the moon and the sun] because of the presence of various qualities beginning with being illuminating [i.e., because they share the same qualities as the wholes of which they are said to be parts, unlike the material world, which does not share the same qualities as the whole, viz., Parabrahman, that it is said to be a śakti, but not a ‘part’ (aṁśa), of]. This is the direction.”
sa vai nivṛtti-dharmeṇa vāsudevānukampayā |
bhagavad-bhakti-yogena tirodhatte śanair iha ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.7.12)
“By the favor of Vāsudeva—[that is, by] the practice of bhakti to Bhagavān accompanied by observance of desistance (nivṛtti-dharma)—that [i.e., the nature of the non-self, meaning, identification with the adjuncts of māyā, delusion, etc.] indeed gradually disappears here [i.e., in this world].”
evaṁ sañjāta-vairāgyo vijñānāloka ātmani |
vicarāmi mahīm etāṁ mukta-saṅgo’nahaṅkṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.30)
“Thus endowed with non-attachment (vairāgya) and the light of refined knowledge in regard to the Self, I roam about this earth freed from attachment and without egotism.”
tās tu tasya vilāsāṁs tān gāyantyo viviśur vrajam |
dinam ārebhire netuṁ dhyāyantyas tasya saṅgamam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.6.190)
“They [i.e., the gopīs], however, singing of those pastimes of his, entered Vraja and began to spend the day meditating on his companionship.”
taṁ satyam ānanda-nidhiṁ bhajeta
nānyatra sajjed yata ātma-pātaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.1.39; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 26)
“One should worship him [i.e., Bhagavān],
The Reality,
The Reservoir of Bliss.
One should not be attached elsewhere
Because the downfall of the self occurs [as a result].”
