Jīva Gosvāmī

naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśa

naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśa
brahmāyuṣāpi kṛtam ṛddha-mudaḥ smarantaḥ |
yo’ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvann
ācārya-caittya-vapuṣā sva-gatiṁ vyanakti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.6)

“[Uddhava to Kṛṣṇa:] O Lord, abounding with joy in remembering the feats [i.e., the unconditional favor] of you who with your external form as the ācārya and internal [form] situated in the citta dispel inauspiciousness and manifest your own shelter for embodied beings, the wise cannot proffer remuneration [i.e., clear their debt to you] even within the life-span of Brahmā [i.e., they can never sufficiently reciprocate with you even by serving you til the end of time].”

Read on →

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.21; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.32; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.97; Bhakti Sandarbha: 202, 238)

“Therefore [i.e., because there is no lasting fulfillment in saṁsāra and bhakti is the only means of crossing over saṁsāra], one who wishes to know the highest good should take shelter in a guru who is adept in śabda-brahman and Parabrahman, and is an abode of tranquility.”

Read on →

ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer

ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer
upāsane sve hṛdi chidravat sataḥ |
svasyātmanaḥ sakhyur aśeṣa-dehināṁ
sāmānyataḥ kiṁ viṣayopapādanaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.38)

[Translated according to Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary:] “O boys of the asuras, what great exertion [i.e., difficulty] is there in worship of Hari, he who is present like space in one’s heart and is the inherent self and common friend of all embodied beings? [Therefore,] What [is the use] of accumulating objects of the senses?”

Read on →

bādhyamāno’pi mad-bhakto viṣayair ajitendriyaḥ

bādhyamāno’pi mad-bhakto viṣayair ajitendriyaḥ |
prāyaḥ pragalbhayā bhaktyā viṣayair nābhibhūyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.18; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.552; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)

“Although obstructed [i.e., attracted] by objects of the senses (viṣayas), a bhakta of mine who has not [yet] conquered the senses is generally not overwhelmed by objects of the senses (viṣayas) by virtue of vigorous bhakti [i.e., by virtue of bhakti, which possesses the capability to overcome the influence of residual affinities (vāsanās) for varieties of sensory experience].”

Read on →

santoṣaḥ svatas tṛptiḥ

santoṣaḥ svatas tṛptiḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.16.27)

“Satisfaction is satiety within the self.”

Read on →

manasaitāni bhūtāni praṇamed bahu-mānayan

manasaitāni bhūtāni praṇamed bahu-mānayan |
īśvaro jīva-kalayā praviṣṭo bhagavān iti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.34; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

“Within the mind one should offer obeisance to and greatly honor [all] these beings, [considering,] ‘Bhagavān, Īśvara, has entered [all these beings] by means of impelling the jīvas [i.e., by virtue of his being the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), meaning, the Īśvara, within them].”

Read on →

atha māṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmānaṁ kṛtālayam

atha māṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmānaṁ kṛtālayam |
arhayed dāna-mānābhyāṁ maitryābhinnena cakṣuṣā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.27; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

[Translation as per the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā:] “Therefore, with charity, respect, friendship, and eyes of non-difference, one should worship me, the Ātma of all beings, who have made my abode in all beings.”

Read on →

śucitvam atra tad-ananya-vṛttitvam

śucitvam atra tad-ananya-vṛttitvam |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 106)

“Purity (śucitvam) in this regard [i.e., on the part of a bhakta] is the state of having a vṛtti [i.e., conduct, alt., mode of being, mentality] exclusively related to him [i.e., Bhagavān, and thus being free from any inclination and activity unrelated to Bhagavān].”

Read on →

akartur arpitātmatvena sva-bharaṇādi-karmānapekṣamāṇāt

akartur arpitātmatvena sva-bharaṇādi-karmānapekṣamāṇāt | yad bhagavati bhaktiḥ kriyate, tatrāpi svasya bhagavad-adhīnatvaṁ jñātvā tad-abhimāna-śūnyāc ca |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.33 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)

“‘Non-doer’ means one who is such [i.e., a non-doer] on account of being unconcerned about activities beginning with maintaining oneself because of having offered oneself [to me, Bhagavān], and on account of being free from pride in the bhakti to Bhagavān one performs by understanding one’s own dependence upon Bhagavān therein as well.”

Read on →

nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam

nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam |
anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.16)

[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] “I always follow one who is indifferent, contemplative, peaceful, free from enmity, and of equal vision so that I may be purified by the dust of his feet.”

Read on →

Scroll to Top