mṛga-tṛṣṇāṁ yathā bālā manyanta udakāśayam |
evaṁ vaikārikīṁ māyām ayuktā vastu cakṣate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.73.11)
“As the childish [i.e, the unintelligent] consider a mirage to be a reservoir of water, so the inattentive [i.e., the undiscerning] see transformed māyā [i.e., māyā in its state of being transformed into the manifest elements of sound, touch, sight, and so on] to be a reality.”
muktir hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.10.6)
“Mukti is fixity in natural form (svarūpa) after having given up contrary form.”
jano janasyādiśate’satīṁ gatiṁ
yayā prapadyeta duratyayaṁ tamaḥ |
tvaṁ tv avyayaṁ jñānam amogham añjasā
prapadyate yena jano nijaṁ padam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.51)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “A person [i.e., a worldly guru] teaches the unrighteous path [i.e., the pursuit of artha, kāma, and so on] whereby a person shall attain to unsurmountable darkness [i.e., saṁsāra], but you [appear in the form of the guru and] teach imperishable and unerring knowledge whereby a person quickly attains your own abode [alt., your own feet].”
tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api |
nāmāny anantasya yaśo’ṅkitāni yac
chṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.11; 12.12.52)
“Destructive of humanity’s sins is any composition of language in which, even if devoid of [syntactical] sense, there are names marked with [i.e., derived from descriptions of] the glories of Ananta [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., “he who is without end”] in every verse, since sādhus hear, sing, and speak [those names in the process of reciting the composition].”
tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ |
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātmado hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.22; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)
“One for whom the guru is the Self (ātmā) and the Devatā should, through unaffected adherence, learn from him [viz., the guru] Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who is the Self and the Bestower of himself, can be pleased.”
vyavasāyātmikā buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana |
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo’vyavasāyinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.41)
“O son of the Kurus, the resolute intellect (buddhi) is one [i.e., one-pointed] in this regard [i.e., in regard to practicing bhakti-yoga]. The intellects of the irresolute, however, are many-branched and endless [i.e., divided between numerous different pursuits and driven by an endless number of worldly desires].”
acakṣur andhasya yathāgraṇīḥ kṛtas
tathā janasyāviduṣo’budho guruḥ |
tvam arka-dṛk sarva-dṛśāṁ samīkṣaṇo
vṛto gurur naḥ sva-gatiṁ bubhutsatām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.50)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “As an eyeless person [i.e., a blind person] is made a leader of a blind person [by a blind person who doesn’t realize that they are accepting another blind person as a leader], so an ignorant person is [made a leader] of an unknowing person [by the unknowing person who fails to recognize that the person whom they have accepted as a guru is actually ignorant]. [Thus,] You, whose knowledge is [illuminating] like the sun and who are the illuminator of all knowledges, are accepted [by us] as the guru of we who are desirous of understanding our own path [i.e., the best path for our true selves, viz., bhakti].”
idaṁ te nātapaskāya nābhaktāya kadācana |
na cāśuśrūṣave vācyaṁ na ca māṁ yo’bhyasūyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.67)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Neither to someone who is neglectful of austerity, nor to a non-bhakta, nor to someone who does not wish to listen, nor to someone who casts aspersions on me is this [i.e., this śāstra, Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā] ever to be spoken.”
śrī-caitanya-mano’bhīṣṭaṁ sthāpitaṁ yena bhū-tale |
so’yaṁ rūpaḥ kadā mahyaṁ dadāti sva-padāntikam ||
(Prema-bhakti-candrikā: 2)
“When will he, this Śrī Rūpa by whom the cherished object of Śrī Caitanya’s heart has been established on the surface of the earth, bestow upon me nearness to his feet?”
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.”
