Bābāra Kathā

varān vibho tvad varadeśvarād budhaḥ

varān vibho tvad varadeśvarād budhaḥ
kathaṁ vṛṇīte guṇa-vikriyātmanām |
ye nārakāṇām api santi dehināṁ
tān īśa kaivalya-pate vṛṇe na ca ||
na kāmaye nātha tad apy ahaṁ kvacin
na yatra yuṣmac-caraṇāmbujāsavaḥ |
mahattamāntar-hṛdayān mukha-cyuto
vidhatsva karṇāyutam eṣa me varaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.20.23–24)

“[Pṛthu Mahārāja to Bhagavān:] O Vibhu! How can an intelligent person request from you, the Īśvara of [even] the granters of boons [i.e., of the devatās such as Brahmā], the boons of [i.e., sought by] those for whom a transformation of the guṇas [i.e., the ahaṅkāra] is [considered] the self? O Īśa! O Master of kaivalya! I too [i.e., although I am not intelligent] do not request those [boons, i.e., objects enjoyable to the senses] which even those possessed of hellish bodies [i.e., the bodies of hogs, dogs, and so on] have. O Nātha! I never desire even that wherein the nectar of your lotus feet is not streaming out through the mouth from the inner heart of the greatest mahats. Please grant me ten-thousand ears [to drink in the nectar of that discussion of your lotus feet]. This is my request.”

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santo’napekṣā mac-cittāḥ praśāntāḥ sama-darśinaḥ

santo’napekṣā mac-cittāḥ praśāntāḥ sama-darśinaḥ
nirmamā nirahaṅkārā nirdvandvā niṣparigrahāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.27; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.65; Bhakti Sandarbha: 247)

“Those who are disinterested, of mind fixed on me, completely peaceful, equal seers, free from attachment, free from egotism, free from duality, and free from acquisition are the sat.”

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teṣu nityaṁ mahābhāga mahābhāgeṣu mat-kathāḥ

teṣu nityaṁ mahābhāga mahābhāgeṣu mat-kathāḥ |
sambhavanti hi tā nṝṇāṁ juṣatāṁ prapunanty agham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.27; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.277)

“O you of great fortune [i.e., O Uddhava], discussions of me continuously take place among they who are most fortunate [i.e., among the sat as described in the prior verses], and they [i.e., those discussions] completely wash away the sin of human beings who honor [alt., delight in, them].”

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ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya

ye sabhāya vaiṣṇavera nindā-mātra haya |
sarva-dharma thākileo tabhu haya kṣaya ||
sannyāsi-sabhāya yadi haya nindā-karma |
madyapero sabhā haite se sabhā adharmya ||
madyapera niṣkṛti āchaye kono kāle |
para-carcakera gati nahe kabhu bhāle ||
śāstra paḍhiyāo kāro kāro buddhi-nāśa |
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.13.41–44)

“Even if the totality of dharma is [otherwise] present, still an assembly in which defamation (nindā) of a Vaiṣṇava occurs is ruined. If an act of defamation occurs [even] in an assembly of sannyāsīs, then that assembly is adharmic more so than an assembly of drunkards. There is deliverance for a drunkard some day. A gossiper [however] never has progress on their forehead [i.e., never has a bright future]. Even after studying śāstra, the intelligence of many is ruined [by engaging in defamation].”

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ta eva niyamāḥ sākṣāt ta eva ca yamottamāḥ

ta eva niyamāḥ sākṣāt ta eva ca yamottamāḥ |
tapo dānaṁ vrataṁ yajño yena tuṣyaty adhokṣajaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.16.61)

“That by which Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān] is satisfied is indeed directly the regulation (niyama), and that is indeed the best rule (yama), austerity (tapas), charity (dāna), rite (vrata), and sacrifice (yajña).”

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prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā

prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā |
tathā dharmam avāpnoti doṣa-tyāgo hi duṣkaraḥ |
doṣa-sākalya-santyāgān munir bhavati mānavaḥ ||
duṣkṛta-tyāga-mātreṇa padam ūrdhvaṁ hi labhyate |
(Mahābhārata: 13.232.5, 8)

“First, one should give up faults, all at once or just one by one. Then, one achieves dharma. Giving up faults [however] is certainly difficult to do. [Yet] By completely giving up faults in totality, a human being becomes a sage. … Just by giving up misconduct, a higher standing is attained.”

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tṛṇād api sunīcena

tṛṇād api sunīcena taror iva sahiṣṇunā |
amāninā mānadena kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ ||
(Padyāvalī: 32; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 269; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.31, 3.6.239, 3.20.21)

“Hari is to be praised always
By one who is far lower than even grass,
Tolerant like a tree,
Undesirous of respect,
And respectful [to all as appropriate].”

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guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ

guṇeṣv āviśate ceto guṇāś cetasi ca prajāḥ |
jīvasya deha ubhayaṁ guṇāś ceto mad-ātmanaḥ ||
guṇeṣu cāviśac cittam abhīkṣṇaṁ guṇa-sevayā |
guṇāś ca citta-prabhavā mad-rūpa ubhayaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.25–26)

“[Haṁsa Bhagavān to Sanaka and other sages:] O sons! The mind becomes absorbed in the guṇas [i.e., the sense objects], and the guṇas [become absorbed] in the mind. Both the guṇas and the mind are bodies of [i.e., external adjuncts to] the jīva, who is constituted of me. The mind remains absorbed in the guṇas because of constant attendance to the guṇas, and the guṇas likewise remain strongly apparent in the mind. One who is absorbed in my form can abandon them both.”

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niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam

niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam |
vayo-madhyaṁ jarā mṛtyur ity avasthās tanor nava ||
etā manoratha-mayīr hānyasyoccāvacās tanūḥ |
guṇa-saṅgād upādatte kvacit kaścij jahāti ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.47–48)

“Impregnation, gestation, birth, childhood [up to five years], boyhood [up to sixteen years], youth [up to forty-five years], middle age [up to sixty years], old age, and death are the nine states of the body. Sometimes someone [i.e., a jīva] takes on these greater and lesser manifestations of another [i.e., of a material body], which are made of desire, as a result of attachment to the guṇas, and [sometimes someone] gives [them] up [as a result of Śrī Bhagavān’s grace].”

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aho māyābalaṁ viṣṇoḥ sneha-baddham idaṁ jagat

aho māyābalaṁ viṣṇoḥ sneha-baddham idaṁ jagat ||
kva deho bhautiko’nātmā kva cātmā prakṛteḥ paraḥ |
kasya ke pati-putrādyā moha eva hi kāraṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.16.18–19)

“[Kaśyapa Muni, slightly smiling melancholically, speaks to Aditi:] Aho! This world is bound by affection, the power of Viṣṇu’s māyā! Where is the non-self, the body made of the [material] elements? And where is the self (ātmā) distinct from prakṛti? Who is whose husband, son, and so on? Delusion (moha) is the only cause [of considering anyone to be one’s own relative or oneself to be anyone else’s relative].”

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