Absorption

gaṅgādi-tīrtheṣu vasanti matsyā devālaye pakṣi-gaṇāś ca santi

gaṅgādi-tīrtheṣu vasanti matsyā devālaye pakṣi-gaṇāś ca santi |
bhāvojjhitās te na phalaṁ labhante tīrthāc ca devāyatanāc ca mukhyāt |
bhāvaṁ tato hṛt-kamale nidhāya tīrthāni seveta samāhitātmā |
(Attributed to Brahma Purāṇa and Nārada Purāṇa)

“Fish live in the Gaṅgā and other sacred water, and birds dwell at temples. [Because they are] Devoid of bhāva [however], they do not attain the result from the foremost sacred waters and temples. Therefore, holding bhāva in the lotus of the heart and keeping the mind absorbed, one should honor the holy places.”

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yadā viṣṇuḥ svayaṁ vaktā lakṣmīś ca śravaṇe ratā

yadā viṣṇuḥ svayaṁ vaktā lakṣmīś ca śravaṇe ratā |
tadā bhāgavata-śrāvo māsenaiva punaḥ punaḥ ||
yadā lakṣmīḥ svayaṁ vaktrī viṣṇuś ca śravaṇe rataḥ |
māsa-dvayaṁ rasāsvādas tadātīva suśobhate ||
adhikāre sthito viṣṇur lakṣmīr niścinta-mānasā |
tena bhāgavatāsvādas tasyā bhūri prakāśate ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Vaiṣṇava-khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 3.35‒37)

“When Viṣṇu himself is the speaker [in a recitation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] and Lakṣmī is engaged in listening, then the hearing of the Bhāgavata is repeatedly only for one month [i.e., every time Viṣṇu does the series of daily readings, it always ends up taking one month to complete the full recitation of the text]. When Lakṣmī herself is the speaker and Viṣṇu is engaged in listening, then it [i.e., the recitation] is two months [in duration] and the relish of the rasa is exceedingly splendid. Viṣṇu is engaged in administration. Lakṣmī is worry-free in mind. Thus, her relish of the Bhāgavata manifests most abundantly.”

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so’yam upadeśo buddhy-arthaḥ

so’yam upadeśo buddhy-arthaḥ | sarvatra tadīyatva-jñānārthaḥ pādavat | pādo’sya viśvā bhūtāni ity atra yathā viśvasya bhagavat-pādatvopadeśas tadvat | evaṁ hi dveṣa-nihīnaṁ manas tat-pravaṇaṁ bhavati | na caivaṁ rāga-prāptir nihīnatva-buddher bādhakatvāt |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 3.2.34)

“This teaching [i.e., the teaching Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1, ‘All of this is verily Brahman’ (sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ Brahma)] is for the sake of understanding, that is, for the sake of awareness of belongingness to him (tadīyatva) in everything, like [his] foot, that is, as there is a teaching of the universe’s being the foot of Bhagavān here [in Ṛg-veda 10.90.3], ‘The existent universes are his foot.’ In this way completely free from enmity, the mind becomes intent upon him [i.e., on Bhagavān]. Also in this way [i.e., also by means of the aforementioned teaching that everything belongs to him] an occurrence of attachment (rāga) [to the universe in which one is situated, or anything within it] does not occur because of the annulling of that by understanding of the utter inferiority [of sāṁsārika existence and everything within it in comparison to Śrī Bhagavān himself].”

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kathayasva mahābhāga yathāham akhilātmani

kathayasva mahābhāga yathāham akhilātmani |
kṛṣṇe niveśya niḥsaṅgaṁ manas tyakṣye kalevaram ||
śṛṇvataḥ śraddhayā nityaṁ gṛṇataś ca svaceṣṭitam |
kālena nātidīrgheṇa bhagavān viśate hṛdi ||
praviṣṭaḥ karṇa-randhreṇa svānāṁ bhāva-saroruham |
dhunoti śamalaṁ kṛṣṇaḥ salilasya yathā śarat ||
dhautātmā puruṣaḥ kṛṣṇa-pāda-mūlaṁ na muñcati |
mukta-sarva-parikleśaḥ pānthaḥ sva-śaraṇaṁ yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.8.3–6; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 268; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.36)

“[Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī:] O you of great fortune, please speak so that I shall give up the body absorbing the mind free from attachment in Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Self of all. Within not a very long time, Bhagavān enters the heart of one who hears and speaks about his own activities continuously with śraddhā. Having entered through the holes of the ears into the lotus of the bhāva of those who are his own, Kṛṣṇa cleanses away contamination [of the heart] just as the autumn [cleans away contamination] of water. A person of cleansed heart does not leave the base of Kṛṣṇa’s feet just as a traveller by whom all hardship has been given up does not leave his own home [after having returned there].”

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dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet

dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet |
saṁsṛtiṁ cātma-nāśaṁ ca tatra vidvān sa ātma-dṛk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.20)

“Having understood the seen and the heard to be asat, one who shall not meditate repeatedly [on] and shall not enjoy [them], knowing that saṁsāra and loss of the self ensue from them, is a seer of the Ātmā.”

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pūrṇaṁ varṣa-sahasraṁ me viṣayān sevato’sakṛt

pūrṇaṁ varṣa-sahasraṁ me viṣayān sevato’sakṛt |
tathāpi cānusavanaṁ tṛṣṇā teṣūpajāyate ||
tasmād etām ahaṁ tyaktvā brahmaṇy adhyāya mānasam |
nirdvandvo nirahaṅkāraś cariṣyāmi mṛgaiḥ saha ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.18–19)

“[Mahārāja Yayāti to his wife Devayānī:] I have spent a full one thousand years enjoying objects of the senses continuously, and still desire for them arises constantly [i.e., it has not been extinguished in the least]. Therefore, giving that up and fixing my mind on Brahman, I shall roam with the deer free from duality and free from self-conceit.”

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guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ

guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ |
jīvasya deha ubhayaṁ guṇāś ceto mad-ātmanaḥ ||
guṇeṣu cāviśac cittam abhīkṣṇaṁ guṇa-sevayā |
guṇāś ca citta-prabhavā mad-rūpa ubhayaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.25–26)

“[Haṁsa Bhagavān to Sanaka and other sages:] O sons! The mind becomes absorbed in the guṇas [i.e., the sense objects], and the guṇas [become absorbed] in the mind. Both the guṇas and the mind are bodies of [i.e., external adjuncts to] the jīva, who is constituted of me. The mind remains absorbed in the guṇas because of constant attendance to the guṇas, and the guṇas likewise remain strongly apparent in the mind. One who is absorbed in my form can abandon them both.”

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niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam

niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam |
vayo-madhyaṁ jarā mṛtyur ity avasthās tanor nava ||
etā manoratha-mayīr hānyasyoccāvacās tanūḥ |
guṇa-saṅgād upādatte kvacit kaścij jahāti ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.47–48)

“Impregnation, gestation, birth, childhood [up to five years], boyhood [up to sixteen years], youth [up to forty-five years], middle age [up to sixty years], old age, and death are the nine states of the body. Sometimes someone [i.e., a jīva] takes on these greater and lesser manifestations of another [i.e., of a material body], which are made of desire, as a result of attachment to the guṇas, and [sometimes someone] gives [them] up [as a result of Śrī Bhagavān’s grace].”

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kāmaṁ bhavaḥ sva-vṛjinair nirayeṣu naḥ stāc

kāmaṁ bhavaḥ sva-vṛjinair nirayeṣu naḥ stāc
ceto’livad yadi nu te padayo rameta |
vācaś ca nas tulasivad yadi te’ṅghri-śobhāḥ
pūryeta te guṇa-gaṇair yadi karṇa-randhraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.15.49; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 68, Bhakti Sandarbha: 266, Prīti Sandarbha: 7, 16, 92)

“[The Kumāras to Śrī Bhagavān:] At will let our birth occur in hells as a result of our own wrongful actions if [there] our minds may enjoy in your feet like bees, if our speech may be endowed with the beauty of your feet like tulasī, and if the holes of our ears may be filled with [praise of] your qualities.”

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vaireṇa yaṁ nṛpatayaḥ śiśupāla-pauṇḍra

vaireṇa yaṁ nṛpatayaḥ śiśupāla-pauṇḍra-
śālvādayo gati-vilāsa-vilokanādyaiḥ |
dhyāyanta ākṛta-dhiyaḥ śayanāsanādau
tat-sāmyam āpur anurakta-dhiyāṁ punaḥ kim ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.48)

“Kings such as Śiśupāla, Pauṇḍraka, and Śālva attained equality with he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] whom they meditated upon out of enmity while lying down, sitting, and so forth, their minds imprinted with his movements, play, glances, and so forth. [So,] How much more [is this attainment of equality with him certain to happen in the the case] of those whose minds are attached [to him]?”

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