भगवत्कृपापरिमलपात्रभूतस्य श्रीमतो महतः सङ्ग एव कारणम् । … निर्गुणावस्थातोऽप्यधिकत्वात्परमनिर्गुण एव । … सगुणे देवादौ तस्य कृपा वास्तवी न भवति, किन्तु श्रीमत्प्रह्लादादिष्वेवेति प्रतिपादनान्महतां निर्गुणत्वाभिव्यक्त्या तत्सङ्गस्यापि निर्गुणत्वं व्यक्तम् ।
bhagavat-kṛpā-parimala-pātra-bhūtasya śrīmato mahataḥ saṅga eva kāraṇam | … nirguṇāvasthāto’py adhikatvāt parama-nirguṇa eva | … saguṇe devādau tasya kṛpā vāstavī na bhavati, kintu śrīmat-prahlādādiṣv eveti pratipādanān mahatāṁ nirguṇatvābhivyaktyā tat-saṅgasyāpi nirguṇatvaṁ vyaktam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.14.1; 11.25.24; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134)
“The association of a beautiful great personage (mahat) who is a vessel of the fragrance of Bhagavān’s grace is the only cause [of realization of Bhagavān]. … Because of it being superior even to the nirguṇa state [i.e., the state of being free from the material guṇas], it [i.e., such association] is parama-nirguṇa [i.e., the supreme state beyond the material guṇas]. … His [i.e., Bhagavān’s] true grace does not exist in the devas and so forth, who are saguṇa, but the nirguṇatva [i.e., state of being nirguṇa] of even the association of great personages is manifested by the manifestation of their [own] nirguṇatva as a result of bestowal [of Bhagavān’s true grace] upon [such great personages as] Śrīmat Prahlāda and others.”