purāṇy anena sṛṣṭāni nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-devatāḥ |
śete jīvena rūpeṇa pureṣu puruṣo hy asau ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.37; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 288)
“The abodes [i.e., bodies] of humans, animals, sages, and devatās were emanated by him. He, the Puruṣa, [then] lies in the [aforementioned] abodes in the form of life [i.e., in the form of he who is the cause of life in those abodes, i.e., the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī)].”
yad yad iṣṭatamaṁ loke yac cātipriyam ātmanaḥ |
tat tan nivedayen mahyaṁ tad ānantyāya kalpate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.41; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.119, 10.513, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.199, Bhakti Sandarbha: 295)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Whatever is most desired in the world and whatever is most dear to oneself—offer that to me. This leads to the infinite.”
kiṁ bahunā, sarvatraiva sahṛdayaiḥ sarva evāvagantavyaḥ |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 158)
“What is the use of more [illustrations of the excellence of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s manifestations and līlās in Śrī Vṛndāvana]? Verily in all cases, everything is to be [alt., can be] understood by sahṛdayas [i.e., rasikas, lit., ‘those with heart’].”
śrī-gautamīya-tantrādau tad-dhyānaṁ prathitaṁ param |
agrato’trāpi saṁlekhyaṁ yad iṣṭaṁ tatra tad bhajet ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.115)
“Meditation on him is also presented in Śrī Gautamīya Tantra and other works and compiled here [in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa] as well ahead [in 5.168–216]. One should perform that [meditation] which is cherished [by oneself] there [among those cited].”
smared vṛndāvane ramye mohayantam anāratam |
govindaṁ puṇḍarīkākṣaṁ gopa-kanyāḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
ātmano vadanāmbhoja-preritākṣi-madhu-vratāḥ |
kāma-bāṇena vivaśāś ciram āśleṣaṇotsukāḥ ||
muktāhāra-lasat-pīnottuṅga-stana-bharānatāḥ |
srasta-dhammilla-vasanā mada-skhalita-bhāṣaṇāḥ ||
danta-paṅkti-prabhodbhāsi-spandamānādharāñcitāḥ |
vilobhayantīr vividhair vibhramair bhāva-garbhitaiḥ ||
(Śāradā-tilaka, following the Mṛtuñjaya-saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.110–113, Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)
“Remember in joyful Vṛndāvana
Govinda of lotus eyes
Enchanting unceasingly
Thousands of gopa girls,
Their own bumblebees eyes directed
Towards the lotus of his face,
Captivated by arrows of kāma,
Long eager for his embraces,
Bowed by the weight of their full, raised breasts
Shining with pearl necklaces [draped over them],
Their chignons and garments disheveled,
Their speech wavering with passion,
Adorned with quivering lips
Shining with the splendor
Of their rows of teeth,
And alluring [him] with various amorous movements
Filled with bhāva.”
sat-puṇḍarīka-nayanaṁ meghābhaṁ vaidyutāmbaram |
dvi-bhujaṁ jñāna-mudrāḍhyaṁ vana-mālinam īśvaram ||
gopa-gopī-gavāvītaṁ sura-druma-talāśritam |
divyālaṅkaraṇopetaṁ rakta-paṅkaja-madhyagam ||
kālindī-jala-kallola-saṅgi-māruta-sevitam |
cintayaṁś cetasā kṛṣṇaṁ mukto bhavati saṁsṛteḥ ||
(Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad: 1.9–11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.107–109, Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 153, Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.2)
“Excellent lotus eyes,
The luster of a cloud,
Cloth like lightning,
Two-arms,
Endowed with the posture of wisdom,
Wearing a forest garland,
Capable,
Surrounded by gopas, gopīs, and cows,
Situated at the base of a sura-tree,
Endued with divine ornaments,
Centered on red lotus [seat],
Attended by breezes
Bearing [the mist from] the waves
Of the waters of the Kālindī—
Meditating with the heart on Kṛṣṇa [in this way],
One becomes liberated from saṁsāra.”
ato niṣevyamāṇāṁ ca sarvathā bhagavat-kathām |
muhus tad-rasikān pṛcchen mitho moda-vivṛddhaye ||
tathā vaiṣṇava-dharmāṁś ca kriyamānām api svayam |
sampṛcchet tad-vidaḥ sādhūn anyonya-prīti-vṛddhaye ||
nanu bhagavad-dharmāḥ parama-gopyāḥ praśna-mātreṇa kathaṁ kathyāḥ tatra likhati—śraddhayeti |
śraddhayā bhagavad-dharmān vaiṣṇavāyānupṛcchate |
avaśyaṁ kathayed vidvān anyathā doṣa-bhāg bhavet ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.472, 475–476, with an excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Therefore [i.e., because listening to other topics, as well as non-listening, aversion, and even satiation with Bhagavat-kathā, are to be given up], even though one is continuously engaged in honoring Bhagavat-kathā in all respects [by means of hearing it, praising it, remembering it, and so on] one should repeatedly inquire from rasikas thereof [about Bhagavān and topics related to him] for the sake of enhancing mutual delight [i.e., the delight of both the speaker and fellow listeners]. … Similarly, even though one is practicing the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava oneself, one should inquire from sādhus knowledgeable about them for the sake of mutual delight. [A doubt is raised:] Bhagavat-dharmas [however] are highly confidential. How do they become fit to be explained just because of a question [about them being raised]? In regard to this [doubt], the author writes: When one repeatedly inquires from a Vaiṣṇava about Bhagavat-dharmas with śraddhā, then a knowledgeable person [i.e., a person conversant in the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava] shall certainly speak [i.e., answer one’s questions], and otherwise shall be at fault [i.e., one who has true knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma based on śāstra yet withholds it from an inquirer possessed of the requisites to learn such knowledge, the foremost of which is śraddhā in bhakti-śāstra, commits a transgression against Bhagavat-dharma, as does someone who gives knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma to an unfit recipient and someone who gives answers about Bhagavad-dharma that contravene the śāstra’s siddhānta].”
pūjayā hasate bhaktir japatas trasyati sphuṭam |
samādhi-yogāc ca bahiḥ sā bhaktiḥ kena gṛhyate? ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.544)
“Bhakti laughs at pūjā, fears japa, and is beyond samādhi-yoga. [So,] This bhakti is attainable by whom?”
sadā pramāṇa-bhūtānām asmākaṁ mahatāṁ tathā |
vākyāni vyavahārāś ca pramāṇaṁ khalu sarvathā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.197)
“The statements and behaviors of ourselves and the great, being pramāṇa [i.e., authoritative], are always pramāṇa [i.e., authoritative means of knowing] verily in all respects.”
asāre khalu saṁsāre sāram etan nirūpitam |
samasta-loka-nāthasya śraddhayārādhanaṁ hareḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.209)
“In verily essenceless saṁsāra, this has been ascertained to be the essence: worship with śraddhā of Hari, the Lord of all the worlds.”
