mahāprabhura bhakta-gaṇera vairāgya pradhāna |
yāhā dekhi prīta haya gaura bhagavān ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.220)
“The vairāgya of Mahāprabhu’s bhaktas is pre-eminent, and seeing it, Bhagavān Gaura is pleased.”
yā dṛṣṭā nikhilāgha-saṅgha-śamanī spṛṣṭā vapuḥ-pāvanī
rogāṇām abhivanditā nirasinī siktā’ntaka-trāsinī |
pratyāsatti-vidhāyinī bhagavataḥ kṛṣṇasya saṁropitā
nyastā tac-caraṇe vimukti-phaladā tasyai tulasyai namaḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 9.104)
“Upon being seen, she destroys all sins. Upon being touched, she purifies the body. Upon being adored, she removes all diseases. Upon being sprinkled, she scares away death. Upon being cultivated, she bestows attachment to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and upon being placed at his feet, she bears the fruit of the highest liberation [i.e., prema-bhakti]. I offer obeisance unto her, Tulasī.”
naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā
proktānyenaiva sujñānāya preṣṭha |
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 1.2.9)
“O dear one, this understanding [i.e., knowledge of Brahman] is not to be sought with tarka. Only when taught by another [i.e., one who already knows Brahman] does one acquire true knowledge.”
tarke ihā nāhi māne yei durācāra |
kumbhīpāke pace, tāra nāhika nistāra ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.307)
“An ill-behaved person who because of argument does not accept this fries in Kumbhīpāka. There is no deliverance for them.”
harer guṇākṣipta-matir bhagavān bādarāyaṇiḥ |
adhyagān mahad ākhyānaṁ nityaṁ viṣṇu-jana-priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.11)
“Bhagavān Bādarāyaṇi [i.e., the son of Vyāsadeva, Śukadeva Gosvāmī], whose mind was captivated by the qualities of Hari and who held the Vaiṣṇavas most dear [alt., who was held dear by the Vaiṣṇavas], studied this great narration [Śrīmad Bhāgavatam].”
sva-sukha-nibhṛta-cetās tad-vyudastānya-bhāvo
’py ajita-rucira-līlākṛṣṭa-sāras tadīyam |
vyatanuta kṛpayā yas tattva-dīpaṁ purāṇaṁ
tam akhila-vṛjina-ghnaṁ vyāsa-sūnuṁ nato’smi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.69)
“I offer obeisance unto him, the destroyer of all adversity, the son of Vyāsa [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī]. Although his consciousness was filled with the bliss of the self and he had thus cast away all other affects, his heart was attracted by the brilliant līlā of the Unconquerable One [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], and he graciously disseminated this Purāṇa dedicated to him [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] which illuminates Tattva.”
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].”
bālasya neha śaraṇaṁ pitarau nṛsiṁha
nārtasya cāgadam udanvati majjato nauḥ |
taptasya tat-pratividhir ya ihāñjaseṣṭas
tāvad vibho tanu-bhṛtāṁ tvad-upekṣitānām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.19)
[Prahlāda Mahārāja:] “O Nṛsiṁha, here [i.e, in this world] neither are parents protection for a child [i.e., children are still subject to suffering even when in the care of their parents], nor is medicine [protection] for a diseased person [i.e., even people who receive medicine are still subject to suffering and death], nor is a boat [protection] for a sinking person in the ocean [i.e., even boats are still known to sink], since an afflicted person’s quickly desired counter-measures thereof [i.e., of suffering] are [only] such for so long [i.e., counter-measures quickly taken up to alleviate suffering are invariably only temporary and of uncertain effectiveness], O Great One, in the case of embodied beings who are disregarded by you [i.e., there is no real counter-measure for suffering apart from service unto you].”
yasmāt priyāpriya-viyoga-sayoga-janma-
śokāgninā sakala-yoniṣu dahyamānaḥ |
duḥkhauṣadhaṁ tad api duḥkham atad-dhiyāhaṁ
bhūman bhramāmi vada me tava dāsya-yogam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.17)
“Because I am burning in every birth [i.e., even in that of a king] in the fire of grief produced by separation from and union with that which is pleasing and displeasing and [because] the remedies for suffering are also [causes of further varieties of] suffering [e.g., poverty produces one type of suffering and the various processes of acquiring wealth produce others], I am bewildered by [alt., I am wandering on account of] my unknowing mind [i.e., despite my undergoing perpetual and unavoidable suffering, I still have the tendency to identify with my present body, even if it is that of a hog, and think that I am actually happy even in the midst of my suffering]. [Therefore,] O Great One, please tell me about the means of [attaining] your service [i.e., your service is the only actual means of remedying my condition of suffering].”
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].”
