śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ |
hṛdy antaḥstho hy abhadrāṇi vidhunoti suhṛt satām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.17; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 12)
“Situated internally, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Well-Wisher of the sat, he of whom hearing and praising are purifying, completely washes away vices in the hearts of those who hear narrations of himself.”
tasya ca bhaved dvayaṁ vipralambhaḥ sambhogaś ceti | tatra vipralambho viprakarṣeṇa lambhaḥ prāptir yasya sa tathā | yathoktam—‘yūnor ayuktayor bhāvo yuktayor vā tayor mithaḥ | abhīṣṭāliṅganādīnām anavāptau prakṛṣyate | sa vipralambho vijñeyaḥ sambhogonnati-kārakaḥ ||’ iti | … tasya vipralambhasya catvāro bhedāḥ—pūrva-rāgo mānaḥ prema-vaicittyaṁ pravāsaś ceti | atha sambhogaś ca yūnoḥ saṅgatayoḥ sambaddhatayā bhogo yatra sa bhāva ucyate | yathoktam—’darśanāliṅganādīnām ānukūlyān niṣevayā | yūnor ullāsam ārohan bhāvaḥ sambhoga ucyate ||’ iti |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 370)
“It [i.e., ujjvala-rasa], furthermore, shall have two varieties: (1) vipralambha [i.e., separation] and (2) sambhoga [i.e., enjoyment together]. Therein, vipralambha is [known as] that the attainment (lambha) of which occurs because of distance (vipra—viprakarṣa) [between the couple, lit., the ‘drawing apart’ of the couple], as is described [in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 15.2], ‘That bhāva of a couple, [be they] non-united or united together [at a given time], which is distinctly brought forth when their mutually desired embraces and so forth are not attained, and which is a cause of the elevation of [their] sambhoga, is to be known as vipralambha [i.e., separation].’ … This vipralambha has four varieties: (1) pūrva-rāga [lit., ‘prior attachment,’ that is, the vipralambha felt by a couple after they have developed attachment (rāga) to one another but prior to their ever meeting one another], (2) māna [i.e., jealous anger], (3) prema-vaicittya [lit., ‘bewilderment because of prema’], and (4) pravāsa [i.e., dwelling abroad]. Then, that bhāva in which a united couple’s enjoyment (bhoga) occurs on account of being joined together is called sambhoga [lit., ‘enjoyment (bhoga) together (sam)’], as is described [in Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 15.188], ‘That bhāva that elevates a couple’s elation by means of acts of service [for one another], such as looking [at one another] and embracing [one another], out of favorability (anukūlya) [towards one another] is called sambhoga [i.e., enjoyment together].’”
tāvad gīti-sugadya-padya-racanāḥ kartuṁ spṛhā jāyate
garvas tāvad aho ahaṁ kavir iti prāyeṇa kharvo na hi |
śrīmad-rūpa-sanātanānukathanaṁ śrī-jīva-gosvāminaḥ
śrī-govinda-kaver vicitra-kavitā yāvan na karṇaṁ vrajet ||
(Ghanaśyāma Dāsa’s Govinda-rati-mañjarī: 1.9)
“The desire arises to compose
Songs and fine prose and poetry,
And aho!
The pride, ‘I am a poet (kavi)’
Seldom ever becomes crushed,
So long as the discourse of Śrīmad Rūpa and Sanātana
And the extraordinary poetry
Of Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī and Śrī Govinda Kavi
Shall not enter the ear!”
vyāmohāya carācarasya jagatas te te purāṇāgamās
tāṁ tām eva hi devatāṁ paramikāṁ jalpantu kalpāvadhi |
siddhānte punar eka eva bhagavān viṣṇuḥ samastāgama-
vyāpāreṣu vivecana-vyatikaraṁ nīteṣu niścīyate ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.97.27; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.107; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.142; Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.2.53; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.142)
“Let the various Purāṇas and Āgamas chatter about the [supposed] supremacy of various devatās for the sake of deluding the world of moving and stationary beings to the end of the kalpa. When, however, the expressions of all the Āgamas are brought into conjoint examination, then, in accord with their siddhānta, one alone, Bhagavān Viṣṇu, is ascertained [to be supreme].”
nāsac-chāstreṣu sajjeta nopajīveta jīvikām |
vādavādāṁs tyajet tarkān pakṣaṁ kañca na saṁśrayet ||
na śiṣyān anubadhnīta granthān naivābhyased bahūn |
na vyākhyām upayuñjīta nārambhān ārabhet kvacit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.13.7–8; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.113)
“[Śrī Nārada to Śrī Yudhiṣṭhira regarding rules for a sannyāsī:] One should not foster attachment to texts related to the unreal (asat-śāstra), one should not subsist on a vocation, one should avoid arguments based on assertions regarding propositions, and one should not take any particular side [in such arguments]. One should not be followed by [many] disciples, one should not study many texts, one should not engage in teaching [many texts], and one should never start undertakings.”
anādy-avidyā-yuktasya puruṣasyātma-vedanam |
svato na sambhavād anyas tattvajño jñānado bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.10)
“Knowledge of self shall not come about on its own for a living being beset with beginningless ignorance. [Therefore,] Another, a Knower of the reality and Bestower of [that] knowledge, shall be [i.e., must exist and also bestow that knowledge upon the jīva].”
bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ śraddhayātmā priyaḥ satām |
bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā śvapākān api sambhavāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.21; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.602; Bhakti Sandarbha: 147, 241; Prīti Sandarbha: 1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.135)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] I, the Self—the Beloved—of the sat, am attainable by means of one-pointed bhakti with śraddhā. Bhakti fixed upon me purifies even dog-cookers of their birth.”
na sādhayati māṁ yogo na sāṅkhyaṁ dharma uddhava |
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.20; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.601; Bhakti Sandarbha: 78, 103, 147, 327; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.134)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Uddhava, neither yoga, nor sāṅkhya, nor dharma, nor study, nor austerity, nor renunciation cause attainment of me like powerful bhakti to me [does].”
yaś ca mūḍhatamo loke yaś ca buddheḥ paraṁ gataḥ |
tāv ubhau sukham edhete kliśyaty antarito janaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.7.17)
“One who is most foolish in this world, and one who has attained that which is beyond the intellect—these two both live happily. A person in between suffers.”
na hy aṅgopakrame dhvaṁso mad-dharmasyoddhavāṇv api |
mayā vyavasitaḥ samyaṅ nirguṇatvād anāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.20; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.527; Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 1.12)
“Indeed, O Uddhava, there is certainly no loss even slightly in an undertaking of dharma related to me that is without interest in benedictions since it is determined to be proper by me on account of [its] being beyond the guṇas.”
