Authors

parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo

parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo
nirvedam āyān nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.12)

“Having examined the planes attained by karma, a brāhmaṇa reaches disinterest [based on the conclusion], ‘That which is unmade [Brahman] is not attained by that which is made [karma].’ To know in depth that [which is unmade, Brahman], he, with firewood in hand, should only [rather than seeking knowledge of it independently] approach a guru who is learned [in the śāstra] and fixed [exclusively] in Brahman.”

Read on →

tad viddhi praṇipātena

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā |
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 4.34)

“Learn that [knowledge] through obeisance, inquiry, and service. Knowers and seers of the reality will teach [that] knowledge to you.”

Read on →

vrajanti te mūḍha-dhiyaḥ parābhavaṁ

vrajanti te mūḍha-dhiyaḥ parābhavaṁ
bhavanti māyāviṣu ye na māyinaḥ|
praviśya hi ghnanti śaṭhās tathāvidhān
asaṁvṛtāṅgān niśitā iveṣavaḥ ||
(Kirātārjunīyam: 1.30)

“Those of dull intellect who do not become deceitful with the deceitful [i.e., who fail to employ deceit in dealing with others employing deceit against them when no non-deceitful means of resolution is viable] are defeated. Cheaters enter among and destroy those of this sort [i.e., those who are honest but lack this practical insight] as sharp arrows enter into [i.e., pierce] and destroy unarmored bodies.”

Read on →

dharma-mūlaṁ hi bhagavān

dharma-mūlaṁ hi bhagavān sarva-vedamayo hariḥ |
smṛtaṁ ca tad-vidāṁ rājan yena cātmā prasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 58)

“O King, the basis of dharma [i.e., the pramāṇa, the means of knowing dharma], by which the ātmā [i.e., the mind] is satisfied, definitively is Bhagavān, Hari, the embodiment [i.e., the source] of all the Vedas, and that which is remembered by those who know him [i.e., the Smṛti-śāstras].”

Read on →

vikāra-hetau sati vikriyante

vikāra-hetau sati vikriyante
yeṣāṁ na cetāṁsi ta eva dhīrāḥ |
(Kumāra-sambhava: 1.59)

“Only they whose minds are not disturbed [even] in the presence of causes of disturbance are dhīra (sagacious).”

Read on →

tad evaṁ tad-dhāmnām upary-adhaḥ

tad evaṁ tad-dhāmnām upary-adhaḥ prakāśa-mātratvenobhaya-vidhatvaṁ prasaktam | vastutas tu śrī-bhagavan-nityādhiṣṭhānatvena tac-chrī-vigrahavad ubhayatra prakāśāvirodhāt, samāna-guṇa-nāma-rūpatvenāmnātatvāt, lāghavāc ca, eka-vidhatvam eva mantavyam |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha 106.8)

“ln this way, only because of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] dhāmas being manifest above and below [i.e., in Vaikuṇṭha and in the midst of prakṛti] are they described as being of both types [i.e., as being of two different varieties and not simply one]. In reality, however, as these dhāmas are Śrī Bhagavān’s eternal residence [i.e., his invariable locus of being], they are to be understood as being of only one type (1) because like his divine form there is no contradiction in their being manifest in both places [i.e., simultaneously above in Vaikunṭha and below in the midst of prakṛti], (2) because they are said to have the same qualities, names, and forms, and (3) because of conciseness [in conception].”

Read on →

jīvana-maraṇa kṛṣṇa-icchāya se haya

jīvana-maraṇa kṛṣṇa-icchāya se haya |
viṣa vā amṛta bhakṣileo kichu naya ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.2.32)

“Life and death occur by Kṛṣṇa’s will. Even if one drinks poison or nectar, that is nothing [i.e., that cannot override Kṛṣṇa’s will].”

Read on →

īśāna-deva-caraṇābharaṇena nīvī

īśāna-deva-caraṇābharaṇena nīvī-
dāmodara-sthira-yaśaḥ-stavakodbhavena |
līlāśukena racitaṁ tava kṛṣṇa-deva
karṇāmṛtaṁ vahatu kalpa-śatāntare’pi ||
(Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta: 110)

“O Kṛṣṇadeva, may [this] nectar for your ears [i.e., this text Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta] composed by Līlāśuka [i.e., Bilvamaṅgala Ṭhākura], whose ornament is the feet of Īśānadeva [i.e., you who are the playful vital air of Rādhā], and whose origin is the bouquet of the everlasting glory of Nīvi-dāmodara [i.e., you who are bound around the belly with the cord of Rādhā’s waistband], flow for hundreds kalpas.”

Read on →

tasmād vaco manaḥ prāṇān

tasmād vaco manaḥ prāṇān niyacchen mat-parāyaṇaḥ |
mad-bhakti-yuktayā buddhyā tataḥ parisamāpyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.16.44)

“Therefore, with the intellect fixed with bhakti [i.e., śraddhā] upon me, one whose ultimate shelter is me should control the speech, mind, and prāṇas. Then, he reaches success.”

Read on →

sad-guroḥ sakāśād

sad-guroḥ sakāśād vedāntādy-akhila-śāstrārtha-vicāra-śravaṇa-dvārā yadi sā āvaśyaka-parama-kartavyatvena jñāyate, punaś ca … yadi viparīta-bhāvanā-tyājakau manana-yogyatā-mananābhiniveśau syātāṁ, tataḥ śraddadhānaiś ca sā bhaktir upāsana-dvārā labhyate |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 7)

“If, through hearing deliberation upon the meaning of all the śāstras beginning with Vedānta from a sad-guru, that [i.e., bhakti] is understood to be the supreme necessary duty, and furthermore … if they [i.e., listeners] develop capability for contemplation, and absorption in contemplation, which dispel contradictory notions, then that, bhakti, is attainable through upāsana by those endowed with śraddhā.”

Read on →

Scroll to Top