samasta-vaikuṇṭha-śiromaṇau śrī-
kṛṣṇasya vṛndāvana-dhanya-dhāmni |
dattādhikāre vṛṣabhānu-putryā
vṛnde numas te caraṇāravindam ||
(Stavāmṛta-laharī: Vṛndāṣṭakam, 3)
“O you who have been given authority by the Daughter of Vṛṣabhānu over Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s auspicious abode of Vṛndāvana, the crest-jewel of all of Vaikuṇṭha! O Vṛndā! We offer obeisance at your lotus feet.”
ṛtaṁ ca sūnṛtā vāṇī kavibhiḥ parikīrtitā |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.38)
“Ṛtam is praised by the kavis as sūnṛtā speech.”
yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ
dvaipāyano viraha-kātara ājuhāva |
putreti tan-mayatayā taravo’bhinedus
taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato’smi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.2)
“[Sūta Gosvāmī:] I bow to him [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], the sage upon whom the hearts of all beings are fixed [alt., the sage who is present in the hearts of all beings], he whom Dvaipāyana [i.e., Vyāsadeva], despairing in separation, called out to, ‘O son!’ as he withdrew [i.e., as Śukadeva departed from household life into seclusion to live as a renunciant just after his birth] unattained [i.e., not attained by Vyāsa; alt., alone] without rites [i.e., without receiving the upanaya and other customary saṁskāras], and, because of being absorbed [in whom], the trees echoed [‘O son!’ in return].”
arthe hy avidyamāne’pi saṁsṛtir na nivartate |
manasā liṅga-rūpeṇa svapne vicarato yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.35)
“Although in the midst of a non-existent object [i.e., although sāṁsārika suffering does not have any real existence as the jīvātmā does], saṁsāra does not cease [i.e., sāṁsārika suffering continues so long as one identifies with it], just as an object [i.e., suffering] does not cease for one moving in a dream by means of the mind, that is, the subtle body [i.e., as one must wake up and thereby cease to identify with any elements within the dream in order to become free from the suffering in a dream, so one must cease to identify with any aspect of saṁsāra to become free from saṁsāra].”
duḥkheṣv ekatareṇāpi daiva-bhūtātma-hetuṣu |
jīvasya na vyavacchedaḥ syāc cet tat-tat-pratikriyā ||
yathā hi puruṣo bhāraṁ śirasā gurum udvahan |
taṁ skandhena sa ādhatte tathā sarvāḥ pratikriyāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.32–33)
“There is no termination of even one of the jīvas’ sufferings caused by destiny, [other] living beings, or the self [i.e., the gross and subtle bodies] even if there are countermeasures for them. As a man carrying a heavy load on his head puts it on his shoulder [to relieve himself of fatigue], so are all countermeasures [i.e., all worldly means of relieving suffering are incomplete, temporary, and ultimately causes of further suffering].”
dakṣiṇa-stanopari dakṣiṇāvarta-śveta-śrīvatsa … |
(Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.28.25)
“The white, right-curling śrīvatsa on the right breast [of Bhagavān] … ”
ya etad ānanda-samudra-sambhṛtaṁ
jñānāmṛtaṁ bhāgavatāya bhāṣitam |
kṛṣṇena yogeśvara-sevitāṅghriṇā
sac-chraddhayāsevya jagad vimucyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.48)
“A person who [even] slightly honors with sincere śraddhā the nectar of knowledge filled with an ocean of bliss [i.e., the path of Bhagavad-bhakti] spoken to the bhāgavata [i.e., the foremost of bhaktas, Uddhava] by Kṛṣṇa, whose feet are served by the masters of yoga, is completely liberated.”
sā ca tat-tac-chāstrārthe dṛḍha-pratyayamayī, prakramyamāṇa-yatnaika-nidāna-rūpa-tad-viṣayakatvaika-nirvāha-rūpa-sādara-spṛhā ca |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 2.5)
“It [i.e., śraddhā] is made up of firm conviction in the meaning of those śāstras [i.e., the bhakti-śāstras], and is adoring desire that in form is a singular flow related to them that in form is the sole cause of progressive endeavor [for the object taught in the bhakti-śāstras].”
tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha-
smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt |
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāl
lava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.53; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.53; Bhakti Sandarbha: 14, 196, 198, 278)
“One of unchecked remembrance who does not even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds diverge for even half a blink of an eye or half of a sixth of that from Bhagavān’s lotus feet, which are to be sought after [even] by the suras and others whose self is Ajita [i.e., the Unconquerable One, viz., Bhagavān], is the foremost Vaiṣṇava.”
