jñātvājñātvātha ye vai māṁ yāvān yaś cāsmi yādṛśaḥ |
bhajanty ananya-bhāvena te me bhakta-tamā matāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.24; Bhakti Sandarbha: 201, 312)
“Having understood, or not having understood, me as far as I am, for who I am, and of what nature I am, those who worship me with a one-pointed (ananya) bhāva are considered by me the best of bhaktas.”
arthendriyārthābhidhyānaṁ sarvārthāpahnavo nṛṇām |
bhraṁśito jñāna-vijñānād yenāviśati mukhyatām ||
na kuryāt karhicit saṅgaṁ tamas tīvraṁ titīriṣuḥ |
dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṇāṁ yad atyanta-vighātakam ||
tatrāpi mokṣa evārtha ātyantikatayeṣyate |
vijñāyātmatayā dhīraḥ saṁsārāt parimucyate |
traivargyo’rtho yato nityaṁ kṛtānta-bhaya-saṁyutaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgatavatam: 4.22.33–35; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“For human beings, continuous thought [alt., coveting] of wealth and objects of the senses, because of which one becomes diverted from [one’s] knowledge [of śāstra] and realization [of śāstra’s object] and enters primitivity [i.e., inanimate life forms], is destructive of all arthas [i.e., detrimental to the attainment of all the puruṣārthas]. One who desires to cross over the fearsome darkness [i.e., saṁsāra] should never foster attachment (saṅga) to that which is perpetually [alt., exceedingly] destructive of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa. Even therein [i.e., among the four puruṣārthas], mokṣa alone is regarded as being the ultimate artha, since an artha belonging to the tri-varga [i.e., the three puruṣārthas of dharma, artha, and kāma] is forever fraught with fear of death [alt., time, i.e., is perpetually subject to inevitable loss and thus incapable of ever producing true fulfillment].”
nātaḥ parataro loke puṁsaḥ svārtha-vyatikramaḥ |
yad-adhy anyasya preyastvam ātmanaḥ sva-vyatikramāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgatavatam: 4.22.32)
“There is no neglect of one’s own interest in this world greater than one’s own neglect of the self (ātmā) [i.e., of one’s true nature as an eternal spiritual entity distinct from the gross and subtle bodies], [the self solely] for the sake of which there is dearness of another [i.e., of any other thing, person, etc., e.g., one’s body gross and subtle bodies, family, wealth, etc.].”
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)
“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”
ayaṁ hi sarva-kalpānāṁ sadhrīcīno mato mama |
mad-bhāvaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu mano-vāk-kāya-vṛttibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.19; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Indeed, this thought of me in all beings [performed] with the functions of the mind, speech, and body is considered by me to be the proper one among all processes.”
yāvat sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhāvo nopajāyate |
tāvad evam upāsīta vāṅ-manaḥ-kāya-vṛttibhiḥ ||
sarvaṁ brahmātmakaṁ tasya vidyayātma-manīṣayā |
paripaśyann uparamet sarvato mukta-saṁśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.17–18; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] As long as thought of me in all beings does not arise [alt., flourish], one should perform such worship with the functions of one’s speech, mind, and body. Seeing all around everything to be Brahman in nature by virtue of this technique of conception of the Self [within everything], one free from doubt can withdraw from everything.”
visṛjya smayamānān svān dṛśaṁ vrīḍāṁ ca daihikīm |
praṇamed daṇḍavad bhūmāv ā-śva-cāṇḍāla-go-kharam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.29.16; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332; Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.3.27)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Disregarding the laughing of friends, bodily vision, and embarrassment, one should offer obeisance like a stick on the ground even to dogs, outcasts, cows, and donkeys.”
iti sarvāṇi bhūtāni mad-bhāvena mahādyute |
sabhājayan manyamāno jñānaṁ kevalam āśritaḥ ||
brāhmaṇe pukkase stene brahmaṇye’rke sphuliṅgake |
akrūre krūrake caiva sama-dṛk paṇḍito mataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 331)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O most brilliant one [i.e., O Uddhava], having taken to pure awareness (kevala-jñāna), and in this way honoring and regarding all beings with thought of me, a person of equal vision in relation to a brāhmaṇa, an outcaste, a thief, a respecter of brāhmaṇas, the sun, a spark, a non-cruel person, and a cruel person, is considered a wise person.”
mām eva sarva-bhūteṣu bahir antar apāvṛtam |
īkṣetātmani cātmānaṁ yathā kham amalāśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.12; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 330)
“One of untainted heart should see me alone to be externally and internally present and [to be] the Self in the self and in all beings, unrestrained like the sky.”
gṛheṣv āviśatāṁ cāpi puṁsāṁ kuśala-karmaṇām ||
mad-vārtā-yāta-yāmānāṁ na bandhāya gṛhā matāḥ ||
navyavad dhṛd aye yaj jño brahmaitad brahma-vādibhiḥ |
na muhyanti na śocanti na hṛṣyanti yato gatāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.30.19–20; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
[Translated according to the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “[Śrī Bhagavān to the Pracetas:] The household lives of persons who are skillful in action and pass their time in discussion of me even though they have entered household lives is not considered to lead to bondage, since I the Knower—this Brahman those who have attained which neither become deluded, nor lament, and nor become excited—appear ever-anew in the heart by means of expounders of Brahman.”
