arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ ya śraddhayehate |
na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.47; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.26, 10.76; Bhakti Sandarbha: 190; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.74)
“One who for Hari performs pūjā with śraddhā only of the Deity and not of his bhaktas or others is considered a beginning bhakta.”
arcāyām eva haraye pūjāṁ ya śraddhayehate Read on →
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca |
prema-maitrī-kṛpopekṣā yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.46; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.25, 10.75; Bhakti Sandarbha: 189; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.73)
“One who fosters prema, friendship, grace, and disregard [respectively] in relation to Īśvara, his dependents, the unwise, and the inimical is an intermediate [bhāgavata].”
īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca Read on →
khaṁ vāyum agniṁ salilaṁ mahīṁ ca
jyotīṁṣi sattvāni diśo drumādīn |
sarit-samudrāṁś ca hareḥ śarīraṁ
yat kiṁ ca bhūtaṁ praṇamed ananyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.41)
“One of one-pointed mind [lit., ‘one who has no other’] can offer obeisance to space, the air, fire, water, earth, the luminaries, living beings, the directions, trees and so forth, the rivers and oceans, and whatever else is existent.”
khaṁ vāyum agniṁ salilaṁ mahīṁ ca Read on →
hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati |
avipakva-kaṣāyāṇāṁ durdarśo’haṁ kuyoginām ||
sakṛd yad darśitaṁ rūpam etat kāmāya te’nagha |
mat-kāmaḥ śanakaiḥ sādhu sarvān muñcati hṛc-chayān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.6.22–23)
“[Bhagavān as a disembodied voice to Śrī Nārada in his previous life after once giving him darśana:] Hanta! You will not be able to see me [again] in this life. I am imperceptible to immature yogīs, whose impurities are not burnt away. O sinless one! This form which was once shown [to you by me] was for the sake of your desire [i.e., to intensify your desire for me]. A sādhu with desire for me gradually gives up all that lie in the heart.”
hantāsmin janmani bhavān mā māṁ draṣṭum ihārhati Read on →
bhagavat-kṛpā-parimala-pātra-bhūtasya śrīmato mahataḥ saṅga eva kāraṇam | … nirguṇāvasthāto’py adhikatvāt parama-nirguṇa eva | … saguṇe devādau tasya kṛpā vāstavī na bhavati, kintu śrīmat-prahlādādiṣv eveti pratipādanān mahatāṁ nirguṇatvābhivyaktyā tat-saṅgasyāpi nirguṇatvaṁ vyaktam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.14.1; 11.25.24; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134)
“The association of a beautiful great personage (mahat) who is a vessel of the fragrance of Bhagavān’s grace is the only cause [of realization of Bhagavān]. … Because of it being superior even to the nirguṇa state [i.e., the state of being free from the material guṇas], it [i.e., such association] is parama-nirguṇa [i.e., the supreme state beyond the material guṇas]. … His [i.e., Bhagavān’s] true grace does not exist in the devas and so forth, who are saguṇa, but the nirguṇatva [i.e., state of being nirguṇa] of even the association of great personages is manifested by the manifestation of their [own] nirguṇatva as a result of bestowal [of Bhagavān’s true grace] upon [such great personages as] Śrīmat Prahlāda and others.”
bhagavat-kṛpā-parimala-pātra-bhūtasya śrīmato mahataḥ saṅga eva kāraṇam Read on →
yāvat sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhāvo nopajāyate |
tāvad evam upāsīta vāṅ-manaḥ-kāya-vṛttibhiḥ ||
sarvaṁ brahmātmakaṁ tasya vidyayātma-manīṣayā |
paripaśyann uparamet sarvato mukta-saṁśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.17–18; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] As long as thought of me in all beings does not arise [alt., flourish], one should perform such worship with the functions of one’s speech, mind, and body. Seeing all around everything to be Brahman in nature by virtue of this technique of conception of the Self [within everything], one free from doubt can withdraw from everything.”
yāvat sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhāvo nopajāyate Read on →
iti sarvāṇi bhūtāni mad-bhāvena mahādyute |
sabhājayan manyamāno jñānaṁ kevalam āśritaḥ ||
brāhmaṇe pukkase stene brahmaṇye’rke sphuliṅgake |
akrūre krūrake caiva sama-dṛk paṇḍito mataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 331)
“O most brilliant one [i.e., O Uddhava], honoring and regarding all beings with thought of me, and thus having taken to pure awareness (kevala-jñāna), a person of equal vision in relation to a brāhmaṇa, an outcaste, a thief, a respecter of brāhmaṇas, the sun, a spark, a non-cruel person, and a cruel person, is considered a wise person.”
iti sarvāṇi bhūtāni mad-bhāvena mahādyute Read on →
mām eva sarva-bhūteṣu bahir antar apāvṛtam |
īkṣetātmani cātmānaṁ yathā kham amalāśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.12; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 330)
“One of untainted heart should see me alone to be externally and internally present and [to be] the Self in the self and in all beings, unrestrained like the sky.”
mām eva sarva-bhūteṣu bahir antar apāvṛtam Read on →
atrāgny-ādau tad-antaryāmi-rūpasyaiva cintanaṁ kāryam, na jātu nija-prema-sevā-viśeṣāśraya-svābhīṣṭa-rūpa-viśeṣasya | sa tu sarvathā parama-sukumāratvādi-buddhi-janitayā prītyaiva sevanīyaḥ | … teṣāṁ yathā-bhakti-rītyā parameśvarasyāpi tathā-bhāvaḥ śrūyate | yathā nāradīye—bhakti-grāhyo hṛṣīkeśo na dhanair dharaṇī-surāḥ | bhaktyā saṁpūjito viṣṇuḥ pradadāti manoratham || jalenāpi jagannāthaḥ pūjitaḥ kleśahā hariḥ | paritoṣaṁ vrajaty āśu tṛṣārtaḥ sujalair yathā || iti | … paricaryā-vidhau tad-deśa-kāla-sukhadāni śataśo vihitāni | tad-viparītāni niṣiddhāni ca | … ata evoktaṁ—‘yad yad iṣṭatamaṁ loke’ … | tatra tatreṣṭa-mantra-dhyāna-sthalaṁ ca sarva-rtu-sukhamaya-manohara-rūpa-rasa-gandha-sparśa-śabda-mayatvenaiva dhyātuṁ vihitam asti | anyathā tat-tad-āgrahasya vaiyarthyaṁ syāt | tasmād agny-ādau tat-tad-antaryāmi-rūpa eva bhāvya iti sthitam |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 295)
“Now [in regard to worship of Bhagavān], in [locations such as] fire and so forth, thought only of his form as the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) is to be performed, and never of one’s own specific cherished form [of Bhagavān, i.e., one’s Iṣṭa-devatā], who is the recipient of one’s own specific loving service (prema-sevā). He [i.e., one’s Iṣṭa-devatā], rather, is always to be served with love (prīti) manifest from the sense of [his] being supremely tender and so forth. … Even the Supreme Lord’s being just as is the manner of their [i.e., bhaktas’] bhakti [i.e., even Bhagavān’s appearing to his bhaktas in a form and manner perfectly suited to reciprocate exactly the bhāva and service his bhaktas offer him] is heard of, as in Nāradīya Purāṇa [2.3.3–4]: ‘O suras of the earth [i.e., O brāhmaṇas]! Hṛṣīkeśa is attainable by bhakti, and not by wealth. Viṣṇu, [upon being] fully worshiped with bhakti, grants one’s desire. Hari, the Lord of the universe and destroyer of distress, [upon being] worshiped even with water, quickly becomes fully satisfied just as a person afflicted with thirst does by [receiving] pure water.’ … In rendering attendance [to Śrī Bhagavān], hundreds of pleasing arrangements in accord with the time and place are enjoined, and their opposites are forbidden [i.e., all offerings of service to Śrī Bhagavān should be in accord with the time and place so as to be pleasing to him, and offerings that are contrary to what is pleasing in a given time and place are forbidden]. … Therefore, it is said [by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa in SB 11.11.41], ‘Whatever is most desired in the world and whatever is most dear to oneself—offer that to me. This leads to the infinite.’ … In each case, it is enjoined to meditate on the place of meditation related to the mantra of one’s cherished object [i.e., as one meditates on one’s Iṣṭa-devatā and one’s mantra related to him, the environment in which one’s Iṣṭa-devatā is situated is to be meditated on] as being filled with forms, tastes, fragrances, textures, and sounds that are charming and pleasing in all seasons. Otherwise, futility of the insistence on such particulars [i.e., of the śāstra’s injunctions to meditate on one’s Iṣṭa-devatā situated in his abode being served in a pleasing manner] would occur. Therefore, it is established that in fire and elsewhere only the appropriate form of the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) is to be meditated [and not the form of one’s Iṣṭa-devatā].”
atrāgny-ādau tad-antaryāmi-rūpasyaiva cintanaṁ kāryam Read on →
evaṁ tad-āśraya-rūpasya vilakṣaṇa-prakāśa-sthānatvād eva śrī-viṣṇor vyāpakatve’pi śālagrāmādiṣu nirdhāraṇam | tac ca puruṣavan nāntaryāmi-dṛṣṭy-apekṣam, kintu svabhāva-nirdeśa-param eva, tan-nivāsa-kṣetrādīnāṁ mahātīrthatvāpādanādinā kīkaṭādīnām api kṛtārthatva-kathanāt |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 294)
“Although Śrī Viṣṇu is all-pervading, there is determination [of his presence in particular] in Śālagrāmas and elsewhere because of [Śālagrāmas and so forth] being places of the special manifestation of his form as their [i.e., prema-bhaktas’] shelter. This [conclusion], furthermore, is not based on vision of the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī) as in a human being [i.e., Śrī Viṣṇu’s presence in Śālagrāmas and so on is not understood to be because of Śrī Viṣṇu’s being the omnipresent Inner Regulator of every living being], but rather is based solely on ascertainment of his nature [i.e., Śrī Viṣṇu is understood to be naturally manifest in objects of worship such as Śālagrāmas in a special way, that is, under the pull of his bhaktas’ bhakti], as per the narrations of the successfulness even of the Kīkaṭas and others [i.e., other non-Aryans] as a result of the transformation into grand tīrthas of regions and other places of their [i.e., a Śālagrāma and so forth’s] residence.”
evaṁ tad-āśraya-rūpasya vilakṣaṇa-prakāśa-sthānatvād Read on →
