guru-mūlam idaṁ sarvaṁ tasmān nityaṁ guruṁ bhajet |
puraścaraṇa-hīno’pi mantrī siddhyen na saṁśayaḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 17.242)
“The basis of all these [preliminary rites] is the guru. Therefore, always serve the guru. Thereby, even a mantra-sādhaka who has not performed any preliminary rites (puraścaraṇa) can attain perfection. Of this, there is no doubt.”
yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā guruḥ |
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante mahātmanaḥ ||
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: 6.23; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 4.346; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 5, 21, 209; Govinda-bhāṣya: 3.3.44, 45, 3.4.50)
“These discussed subjects [i.e., the teachings a guru gives to a disciple regarding Brahma-vidyā] are revealed to the great soul who has pure bhakti to Deva, and as to Deva, so also to guru.”
itthaṁ-vidhāny anekāni vasatāṁ guru-veśmani |
guror anugraheṇaiva pumān pūrṇaḥ praśāntaye ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.43)
“[Kṛṣṇa to Sudāmā:] While living in the home of our guru, we had many [experiences] of such type. Only by the grace of guru does a person become fulfilled and completely peaceful.”
nanv artha-kovidā brahman varṇāśrama-vatām iha |
ye mayā guruṇā vācā taranty añjo bhavārṇavam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.33)
“[Kṛṣṇa to Sudāmā:] O brāhmaṇa, certainly they among those adherent to varṇa and āśrama here are sagacious who easily cross over the ocean of material existence by means of words from me—the guru.”
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.”
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].”
ye sarva-nairapekṣyena rādhā-dāsyecchavaḥ param |
saṅkīrtayanti tan-nāma tādṛśa-priyatā-mayāḥ ||
anyeṣām iva teṣāṁ ca prāpyaṁ ced hṛn na tṛpyati |
aho nanda-yaśodāder na sahe tādṛśīṁ gatim ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.1.21–22)
“If the attainment of those who, without regard for all of this [i.e., all the aforementioned sādhyas and sādhanas of karmīs, jñānīs, and other bhaktas], desire only servitude to Rādhā and engage in saṅkīrtana of his name [i.e., the name of Kṛṣṇa, the relisher of the rāsa dance], filled with such fondness [i.e., the extraordinary prema of the gopīs, the recipients of the very essence of Bhagavān’s grace], is like that of others [i.e., is the same as that of the Yādavas, Pāṇḍavas, and so forth], then my heart is not satisfied. Aho! I cannot tolerate such a destination [being that meant] for Nanda, Yaśodā, and others [i.e., for the people of Vraja led by Nanda and Yaśodā, since an equal result for those who are great and those who are lesser is not befitting].”
yat tatra saṁsidhyati vastv ihāpi
sampadyate tat kila nāsti bhedaḥ |
kintv asya tatra vraja-bhū-caritra-
dṛṣṭi-śrutibhyāṁ bhavitā sa śokaḥ ||
tasmin jagannātha-mukhābja-darśanān
mahāprasādāvali-lābhataḥ sadā |
yātrotsavaughānubhavād api sphuraty
ullāsa evātmani naiva dīnatā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.239)
“That reality which is fully manifest there [i.e., in Puruṣottama Kṣetra] is also manifest here [in Dvārakā]. There is certainly no difference [between the manifestations here and there], but there [i.e., in Puruṣottama Kṣetra] that sorrow [i.e., the sorrow that arises from feeling the absence of the attainment of one’s Iṣṭa-devatā] will occur as a result of seeing and hearing of his līlā [that takes place] in the land of Vraja [by means of watching dramatic enactments and the like of that Vraja-līlā and hearing songs and so forth about that Vraja-līlā while you are present in Puruṣottama Kṣetra, and thus because of this unrest in your heart you will not feel any special joy there]. There [i.e., in Puruṣottama Kṣetra], as a result of the sight (darśana) of Jagannātha’s lotus face, obtaining varieties of his mahāprasādam, and observing his numerous of outings and festivals, [some degree of] delight certainly arises in the heart continuously, but humility certainly does not.”
tatraivotpadyate dainyaṁ tat premāpi sadā satām |
tat-tac-chūnyam ivāraṇya-sarid-giry-ādi paśyatām ||
sadā hāhā-ravākrānta-vadanānāṁ tathā hṛdi |
mahā-santāpa-dagdhānāṁ sva-priyaṁ parimṛgyatām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.242–243)
[Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] “There [i.e., in Gokula], humility (dainya) and prema always arise within the sādhus who see the forests [i.e., such as Vṛndāvana], waters [such as the Yamunā], mountains [such as Govardhana], and so forth as though empty, [those sādhus] whose mouths are filled with cries of “Hā! Hā!”, and who are burned by intense sorrow at heart as they search for their Beloved.”
tāṁ vinodeti na prema goloka-prāpakaṁ hi yat |
na ca tal-loka-lābhena vināsya svāsthyam udbhavet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.240)
“Without that [i.e., without humility], prema—that which is a cause of attaining Goloka—certainly does not manifest, and without attaining that plane [i.e., Goloka], one’s satisfaction shall not come about.”
