śrī-sanātana-pādābja-dvandvaṁ vande muhur muhuḥ |
yat prasāda-lavenāpi kṛṣṇe bhakti-raso bhavet ||
(Sādhana-dīpikā: 8)
“I offer obeisance again and again unto the two lotus feet of Śrī Sanātana, by even a trace of whose grace bhakti-rasa related to Kṛṣṇa can manifest.”
vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasa-prayatnair
apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham |
kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī
sanātanaṁ taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi ||
(Vilāpa-kusumañjali: 6)
“The ocean of grace,
Sorrowful [only] because of others’ sorrow,
Who induced me,
[Although I was] Blind and unwilling,
To drink the rasa of bhakti
Combined with non-attachment (vairāgya)—
I take shelter in him,
My master
Sanātana.”
satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.25; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.273; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.12; Tattva Sandarbha: 33; Bhakti Sandarbha: 11, 172, 202, 340; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.60, 2.22.83, 2.23.16)
“As a result of extensive association with sādhus, discussions [of me] become full perceptions of my potency and elixirs for the heart and the ears. By cherishing them, swiftly śraddhā, rati (bhāva), and bhakti (prema) to I who am the path to liberation will manifest in succession.”
tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.18.13 and 4.30.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.284, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.228; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 31, 112)
[The sages at Naimiṣāraṇya to Sūta Gosvāmī and the Pracetās to Bhagavān:] “We cannot equate Svarga or non-repetition of birth, much less benedictions had by human beings, with even an instant of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”
yaḥ snātaḥ śānti-sitayā sādhu-saṅgati-gaṅgayā |
kiṁ tasya dānaiḥ kiṁ tīrthaiḥ kiṁ tapobhiḥ kim adhvaraiḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.100.5; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.257)
“For one who has bathed in the peaceful, bright Gaṅgā of association with a sādhu, what is the use of charity, tīrthas, austerities, or sacrifices? [There is no need for them at all.]”
gaṅgādi-puṇya-tīrtheṣu yo naraḥ snātum icchati |
yaḥ karoti satāṁ saṅgāṁ tayoḥ sat-saṅgamo varaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.98.78; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.256)
“Between a human being who desires to swim in purifying tīrthas such as the Gaṅgā and one who engages in association with sādhus, the one who associates with sādhus is superior.”
na hy am-mayāni tīrthāni na devā mṛc-chilā-mayāḥ |
te punanty uru-kālena darśanād eva sādhavaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.84.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.204, Bhakti Sandarbha 184)
[Kṛṣṇa:] “Are places made of water not tīrthas? [They are.] Are figures made of earth and stone are not [deities of] devas? [They are.] They [certainly] purify [a living being] over the course of a long time. Sādhus [however] purify just by sight [i.e., immediately, and should thus be considered the greatest of tīrthas and the greatest of devas].”
hari-bhakti-parāṇāṁ tu saṅgināṁ saṅga-mātrataḥ |
mucyate sarva-pāpebhyo mahā-pātakavān api ||
(Bṛhan Nāradīya Purāṇa: 1.36.61; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.252 Bhakti Sandarbha: 148)
“Even a great sinner is liberated from all sins just by the association of those who associate with those who are engaged in Hari-bhakti.”
apākaroti duritaṁ śreyaḥ saṁyojayaty api |
yaśo vistārayaty āśu nṝṇāṁ vaiṣṇava-saṅgamaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.98.57; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.255)
“The association of a Vaiṣṇava quickly removes sin [i.e., evil, danger, saṁsāra, etc.], leads to virtue [i.e., auspiciousness, good fortune, the puruṣārthas, etc.] and expands human beings’ glory [beyond that of even muktas].”
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām |
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ||
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ |
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.30–32)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Inclination towards Kṛṣṇa cannot arise on account of another, on its own, or on account of both [i.e., on its own and on account of another] for those intent upon household life, who have entered darkness because of uncontrolled senses and whose chewing is [only] of the chewed [therein] again and again. They, of debased mind, who honor only those whose aim is in the external, certainly do not understand Viṣṇu, he who is the object to be reached [only] for those whose aim is related to the Self. They also become bound by the strong strands of Īśa’s cord like the blind being led by the blind. Their inclination, the need of which is the cessation of the insubstantial, does not touch the feet of he of great stride [i.e., Bhagavān] so long as one shall not accept a bath in the foot-dust of the divested—the great ones.”
