Bābāra Kathā

prabhu kahe—vairāgī kare prakṛti sambhāṣaṇa

prabhu kahe—vairāgī kare prakṛti sambhāṣaṇa |
dekhite nā pāri āmi tāhāra vadana ||
durvāra indriya kare viṣaya-grahaṇa |
dāravī prakṛti hare muner api mana ||
mātrā svasrā duhitrā vā nā viviktāsano bhavet |
balavān indriya-grāmo vidvāṁsam api karṣati ||
kṣudra jīva-saba markaṭa-vairāgya kariyā |
indriya carāñā bule prakṛti sambhāṣiyā ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.2.117–120; 119 is found in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.17 and Manu Smṛti: 2.215)

[Śrīman Mahāprabhu explains why he refuses to meet with Choṭa Hari Dāsa:] “Prabhu said, ‘A vairāgī [who] converses with prakṛti [i.e., a woman]—I cannot [even] look at his face. The difficult to subdue senses seize their objects, and [even] a wooden figure of prakṛti captivates the mind of even a sage. “One should not have a seat that is unseparated from [even] one’s mother, sister, or daughter [i.e., let alone other women]. The powerful multitude of senses pulls upon even a knowledgable person.” Base living beings engage in monkey vairāgya and go about grazing the senses [i.e., letting their senses roam and partake of the sense objects without restraint] and conversing with prakṛti.‘”

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satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā

satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā |
śamo damo bhagaś ceti yat-saṅgād yāti saṅkṣayam ||
teṣv aśānteṣu mūḍheṣu khaṇḍitātmasv asādhuṣu |
saṅgaṁ na kuryāc chocyeṣu yoṣit-krīḍā-mṛgeṣu ca ||
na tathāsya bhaven moho bandhaś cānya-prasaṅgataḥ |
yoṣit-saṅgād yathā puṁso yathā tat-saṅgi-saṅgataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.33–35; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.88–90)

“One should never associate with those by whose association truthfulness, cleanliness, grace, quietude, the intellect, wealth, modesty, honor, forgiveness, mental control, sense control, and good fortune are destroyed, and who are restless, foolish, self-destructive, impious, deplorable, and the pet animals of women. A man’s infatuation and bondage do not occur as a result of any other association the way they do as a result of association with women and association with those who associate with them.”

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vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasa-prayatnair

vairāgya-yug-bhakti-rasa-prayatnair
apāyayan mām anabhīpsum andham |
kṛpāmbudhir yaḥ para-duḥkha-duḥkhī
sanātanaṁ taṁ prabhum āśrayāmi ||
(Vilāpa-kusumañjali: 6)

“The ocean of grace,
Sorrowful [only] because of others’ sorrow,
Who induced me,
[Although I was] Blind and unwilling,
To drink the rasa of bhakti
Combined with non-attachment (vairāgya)—
I take shelter in him,
My master
Sanātana.”

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yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā

yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā
duradhigamo’satāṁ hṛdi gato’smṛta-kaṇṭha-maṇiḥ |
asu-tṛpa-yoginām ubhayato’py asukhaṁ bhagavann
anapagatāntakād anadhirūḍha-padād bhavataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.39)

“O Bhagavān, if ascetics do not fully eradicate the roots of desire in the heart, then although you are present in the heart [of these ascetics], you become difficult to attain like a forgotten jewel on the neck, and yogīs who [merely] satisfy the life airs [i.e., who do not sincerely practice yoga to attain you but rather only for bodily and other worldly benefits] attain only distress from both sides [i.e., in this world and the next] because of not being free from causes of death [i.e., because they continue to undergo the threefold sufferings of material existence while living] and because of not having realized your nature [i.e., because they remain subject to saṁsāra in the hereafter].”

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atas tad-apavādārthaṁ bhaja sarvātmanā harim

atas tad-apavādārthaṁ bhaja sarvātmanā harim |
paśyaṁs tad-ātmakaṁ viśvaṁ sthity-utpatty-apyayā yataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.79)

“Therefore, to counteract that [i.e., the jīva’s bondage in avidyā by means of karma perpetuated by the mind’s functioning on the basis of saṁskāras], worship Hari with your full being, seeing the universe to be constituted of him and [its] existence, emanation, and dissolution to occur because of him.”

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śruti-ratna-vibhūṣaṇa-ruci-jita-pūṣaṇam alidūṣaṇa-nayanānta-gatiṁ

śruti-ratna-vibhūṣaṇa-ruci-jita-pūṣaṇam alidūṣaṇa-nayanānta-gatiṁ
yamunā-taṭa-talpita-puṣpam analpita-mada-jalpita-dayitāpta-ratim |
vandemahi vandita-nandam amandita-kulam andhita-khala-kaṁsa-matiṁ
tvām iha dāmodara haladhara-sodara hara no daram anubaddha-ratim ||
(Stava-mālā: Tribhaṅgī-pañcakam, 5)

“Unto you whose jeweled earrings have conquered the splendor of the sun, you whose sidelong glances belittle black bees, you who lie on a bed of flowers on the bank of the Yamunā, you who become delighted by the plentiful proud words of your beloved, you by whom Nanda is venerated, you who are of a prominent family, you who blinded the mind of wicked Kaṁsa, you who are bound by rati [to your bhaktas]—we offer obeisance. O Dāmodara! O Brother of Haladhara [i.e., O Kṛṣṇa, brother of Balarāma]! Please remove our fear here [i.e., our fear related to saṁsāra].”

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ata ātyantikaṁ kṣemaṁ pṛcchāmo bhavato‘naghāḥ

ata ātyantikaṁ kṣemaṁ pṛcchāmo bhavato’naghāḥ |
saṁsāre’smin kṣaṇārdho’pi sat-saṅgaḥ śevadhir nṛṇām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.30; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 59; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.85)

“Therefore, O sinless ones, I ask you all about the highest good. For human beings here in saṁsāra, even half a moment of association with the sat is a treasury.”

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satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.25; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.273; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.12; Tattva Sandarbha: 33; Bhakti Sandarbha: 11, 172, 202, 340; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.60, 2.22.83, 2.23.16)

“As a result of extensive association with sādhus, discussions [of me] become full perceptions of my potency and elixirs for the heart and the ears. By cherishing them, swiftly śraddhā, rati (bhāva), and bhakti (prema) to I who am the path to liberation will manifest in succession.”

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tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam

tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.18.13 and 4.30.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.284, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.228; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 31, 112)

[The sages at Naimiṣāraṇya to Sūta Gosvāmī and the Pracetās to Bhagavān:] “We cannot equate Svarga or non-repetition of birth, much less benedictions had by human beings, with even an instant of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”

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