ye ca mūḍhatamā loke ye ca buddheḥ paraṁ gatāḥ |
te narāḥ sukham edhante kliśyaty antarito janaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.168.24)
“Those persons who are the most foolish in the world and who have reached the pinnacle of wisdom experience happiness. The people in between suffer.”
anto nāsti pipāsāyās tuṣṭis tu paramaṁ sukham |
tasmāt santoṣam eveha dhanaṁ paśyanti paṇḍitāḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.317.21)
“Thirst [i.e., desire] has no end. Satisfaction is the greatest happiness. Therefore, the wise see satisfaction alone as the wealth here [i.e., in this world].”
viśvasya yaḥ sthiti-layodbhava-hetur ādyo
yogeśvarair api duratyaya-yogamāyaḥ |
kṣemaṁ vidhāsyati sa no bhagavāṁs tryadhīśas
tatrāsmadīya-vimṛśena kiyān ihārthaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.16.37; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 236)
“[Brahmā concludes his address to the other devatās who are frighted because of the coming births of Hiraṇyakṣa and Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Bhagavān, he who is the cause of the perpetuation, dissolution, and generation of the universe, the master of the three [guṇas, alt., worlds], and the Original Being whose yogamāyā [i.e., divine power] is insurmountable even by masters of yoga, will bring about our well-being. How much use is there in our now deliberating over this? [i.e., there is really nothing to be gained from deliberating over or worrying about how we will fare even in the face of this eminent danger, since Bhagavān will surely do whatever is best for us in a way that may be even better than we presently have the ability to understand].”
kvāyaṁ malīmasaḥ kāyo daurgandhyādy-ātmako’śuciḥ |
kva guṇāḥ saumanasyādyā hy adhyāso’vidyayā kṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.18)
[Purūravā reflects to himself:] “Where is that foul and impure body filled with bad odors and so forth? And where are the qualities of resembling a flower and so forth? The superimposition [of those qualities upon her] has been done because of ignorance.”
sevato varṣa-pūgān me urvaśyā adharāsavam |
na tṛpyaty ātma-bhūḥ kāmo vahnir āhutibhir yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.14)
[Purūravā reflects to himself:] “[Even] After many years, my mind-born desire (kāma) to enjoy the nectar of Urvaśī’s lips was not satiated [and rather only increased] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
atra kāmādīnām asambhave hetuḥ—sākṣād iti padam, tad-uttara-kālatvāt sāksātkārasya |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 198)
“[Commenting in regard to SB 11.2.55,] The cause of the impossibility of kāma and so forth [ever again arising in the heart] is [stated by] the word ‘directly’ (sākṣāt) [i.e., when Bhagavān is personally manifest in the heart, then no material desire, anger, or other such vice can arise there], on account of direct realization (sākṣātkāra) [i.e., direct perception of Bhagavān in the heart] being thereafter [i.e., direct perception of Bhagavān in the heart occurs only after all kāma and so forth have been purged from the heart, and once he is directly perceived there, no scope of them ever re-entering the heart remains].”
vadānyeśas tṛṣṇā-nicaya-cita-cittaiḥ karuṇa-rāṭ
vipannaiḥ kandarpo yuvati-nikarair mṛtyur aribhiḥ |
adhīśaḥ sad-bhaktaiḥ sahaja-nija-bandhur vraja-janaiḥ
pratītaḥ kṛṣṇo’sāv iti vividha-lokair bahu-vidhaḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 17.20)
“Kṛṣṇa is perceived in many ways by various persons: by those whose hearts are filled with heaps of [worldly] desires as the most capable of the munificent, by the distressed as the king of the compassionate, by young women as Kandarpa [i.e., the ultimate object of love], by enemies as Death, by virtuous bhaktas as the Supreme Lord, and by the people of Vraja as their own natural kinsmen (bandhu).”
māṅgalyaṁ jagatām eva viśvāsāspadatā matā ||
yathā—
anyāyyaṁ na harāv iti vyapagata-dvārārgalā dānavā
rakṣī kṛṣṇa iti pramattam abhitaḥ krīḍāsu raktāḥ surāḥ |
sākṣī vetti sa bhaktim ity avanata-vrātāś ca cintojjhitāḥ
ke viśvambhara na tvad-aṅghri-yugale viśrambhitāṁ bhejire ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.259–260)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s quality of] Being the object of the entire world’s faith is considered [his quality of] auspiciousness (māṅgalya), [which is illustrated] as follows: ‘Because “There is no injustice in Hari,” the Dānavas [i.e., asuras] leave theirs doors unbolted, because “Kṛṣṇa is our protector,” the suras [i.e., devas] are carelessly absorbed in play all around, and because “He, the witnesser, knows our bhakti,” the humble [lit., “those who are bent down,” i.e., bhaktas] are worry-free. O Maintainer of the world! Who has not fostered confidence in your feet?”
bhaktir yā nikhilārtha-varga-jananī yā brahma-sākṣātkṛter
ānandātiśaya-pradā viṣayajāt saukhyād vimuktir yayā |
śrī-rādhā-ramaṇaṁ padāmbuja-yugaṁ yasyā mahān-āśrayo
yā kāryā vraja-lokavat gurutara-premnaiva tasyai namaḥ ||
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.1)
“Obeisance unto her, Bhakti [Devī],
Who is the mother of all goals
[i.e., the cause of attaining all the puruṣārthas],
Who is the bestower of bliss
Surpassing [that of] Brahman realization,
By whom complete liberation from pleasure
Produced by the sense objects is attained,
Whose principal shelter
Is the two lotus feet of Śrī Rādhā Ramaṇa,
And who is to be performed with very strong prema
Like the people of Vraja.”
na yasya janma-karmabhyāṁ na varṇāśrama-jātibhiḥ |
sajjate’sminn aham-bhāvo dehe vai sa hareḥ priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.51; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.28)
“One whose sense of ‘I’ does not adhere to this body along with [its] birth [i.e., nobility] and karma [i.e., performance of austerities, japa, meditation, etc.], or [its] varṇa [e.g., being a brāhmaṇa], āśrama [e.g., being a brahmacārī], and jāti [e.g., being born to a particular set of parents, in a particular country, in a particular region, etc.], is dear to Hari.”
