Bhagavān

yasya sākṣād bhagavati jñāna-dīpa-prade gurau

etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā puruṣo hy añjasā jayet ||
yasya sākṣād bhagavati jñāna-dīpa-prade gurau |
martyāsad-dhīḥ śrutaṁ tasya sarvaṁ kuñjara-śaucavat ||
eṣa vai bhagavān sākṣāt pradhāna-puruṣeśvaraḥ |
yogeśvarair vimṛgyāṅghrir loko yaṁ manyate naram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.25–27)

“A person certainly can quickly conquer all of these by means of bhakti to the guru. All the hearing of one who has the misconception of a mortal in relation to the guru, who is the giver of the lamp of knowledge and Bhagavān in person, is like the bathing of an elephant. He whom a [worldly] person considers [to be merely] a [ordinary] human being is verily Bhagavān in person, the Īśvara of pradhāna and the puruṣa [i.e., of māyā and the jīvas], he whose feet are sought by masters of yoga.”

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sa vai priyatamaś cātmā yato na bhayam aṇv api 

sa vai priyatamaś cātmā yato na bhayam aṇv api |
iti veda sa vai vidvān yo vidvān sa gurur hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.51; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 202)

“He [viz., Hari] is indeed the dearmost Self (Ātmā), [he] on account of whom not even a trace of fear arises. One who understands this is verily knowledgeable, and one who is knowledgeable is a guru and Hari.”

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dviṣataḥ para-kāye māṁ

dviṣataḥ para-kāye māṁ mānino bhinna-darśinaḥ |
bhūteṣu baddha-vairasya na manaḥ śāntim ṛcchati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.23; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)

[Kapiladeva:] “The mind of one who is inimical towards me in another’s body, [that is,] of disunited vision, [thus] conceited, and [thus] bound by enmity towards [other] beings, does not attain peace.”

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ṣaḍ-vargādy-ari-kṛta-saṁsāra-bhaya-bādhyamāna eva hi śaraṇaṁ

ṣaḍ-vargādy-ari-kṛta-saṁsāra-bhaya-bādhyamāna eva hi śaraṇaṁ praviśaty ananya-gatiḥ | bhakti-mātra-kāmo’pi tat-kṛta-bhagavad-vaimukhya-bādhyamānaḥ | ananya-gatitvaṁ ca dvidhā darśyate—āśrayāntarasyābhāva-kathanena, nātiprajñayā kathañcid āśritasyānyasya tyājanena ca | pūrveṇa yathā—‘martyo mṛtyu-vyāla-bhītaḥ palāyan lokān sarvān nirbhayaṁ nādhyagacchat | tvat-pādābjaṁ prāpya yadṛcchayādya susthaḥ śete mṛtyur asmād apaiti ||’ iti | uttareṇa yathā—‘tasmāt tvam uddhavotsṛjya codanāṁ praticodanām | pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca śrotavyaṁ śrutam eva ca || mām ekam eva śaraṇam ātmānaṁ sarva-dehinām | yāhi sarvātma-bhāvena mayā syā hy akuto-bhayaḥ ||’ iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 236)

“Being troubled by the fear [i.e., suffering] of saṁsāra caused by the enemies beginning with the ṣaḍ-varga [i.e., ‘the group of six,’ viz., desire (kāma), anger, greed, delusion, conceit, and envy], one who is devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatiḥ) [i.e., one who feels oneself to have no shelter from such trouble] enters shelter [i.e., takes shelter in Bhagavān], as also does one whose sole desire is bhakti, being troubled by the obliviousness (vaimukhya) [i.e., forgetfulness] of Bhagavān caused by them [i.e., by the aforementioned enemies, meaning, one whose sole desire is bhakti takes shelter in Bhagavān for the sake of becoming free from the impediments to apt enactment of bhakti created by the ṣaḍ-varga so that one can aptly engage in bhakti to Bhagavān]. [The state of] Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) is seen, furthermore, to be of two types: [it comes about] (1) by [hearing and understanding] explanation of the absence of any other shelter [besides Bhagavān from the troubles one undergoes in saṁsāra], and (2) by abandoning another in which one has somehow taken shelter [for the sake of attaining relief from the troubles one is undergoing in saṁsāra] out of a lack of great discrimination [as to who is truly a capable shelter in this regard, i.e., as a result of not having earlier understood that Bhagavān alone, and nothing and no one else, is truly capable of providing shelter to jīvas in saṁsāra]. [Being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the former [i.e., by the first aforementioned means, that is, by hearing and understanding explanation of the absence of any real shelter other than Bhagavān] is [described in SB 10.3.27] as follows, ‘Scared of the serpent of death and fleeing throughout all the planes [that constitute this universe], a mortal cannot attain fearlessness [anywhere]. [But] Upon reaching your lotus feet fortuitously [i.e., by means of bhakti somehow attained by the grace of a mahat], O Foremost Being [i.e., O Bhagavān], one rests peacefully, and death withdraws from one.’ [The state of being devoid of any other recourse (ananya-gatitva) coming about] By the latter [i.e., by the second aforementioned means, that is, by abandoning another in which one has unwisely taken shelter] is [described by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa himself in SB 11.12.14–15] as follows: ‘Therefore, O Uddhava, abandoning injunctions and prohibitions [i.e., the injunctions and prohibitions given in the Śruti and the Smṛti], engagement and resignation [i.e., the dharmas of a gṛhastha and of a sannyāsī], and that which can be heard and that which has been heard [i.e., all that pertains to such dharmas and the injunctions and prohibitions related to them in śāstra; alt., all else that is can be heard from śāstra], you should take shelter exclusively in me alone, the Self of all embodied beings, with the full existence of your self. With me [i.e., by thus becoming situated in my shelter], be completely fearless.’”

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jahyād yad-arthe svān prāṇān hanyād vā pitaraṁ gurum

jahyād yad-arthe svān prāṇān hanyād vā pitaraṁ gurum |
tasyāṁ svatvaṁ striyāṁ jahyād yas tena hy ajito jitaḥ ||
kṛmi-viḍ-bhasma-niṣṭhāntaṁ kvedaṁ tucchaṁ kalevaram |
kva tadīya-ratir bhāryā kvāyam ātmā nabhaś-chadiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.12–13)

“The Unconquerable One [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] becomes conquered by one who can relinquish possessiveness of one’s wife, for the sake of whom one [who is attached to one‘s wife] may relinquish [even] one’s vital airs [i.e., give up one’s life] or may kill [even] one’s father or guru [if a circumstance arises in which one’s wife’s life is in danger]. Where is this insignificant body, the end-state of which is in insects, excrement, or ashes? Where is a wife, whose attachment is to that [i.e., to that insignificant body]? And where is this Self, he who eclipses [even] the sky?”

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adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ

adhokṣajālambham ihāśubhātmanaḥ
śarīriṇaḥ saṁsṛti-cakra-śātanam |
tad brahma-nirvāṇa-sukhaṁ vidur budhās
tato bhajadhvaṁ hṛdaye hṛd-īśvaram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.37)

“The wise know the impure mind’s contact with Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān] to be destructive of the cycle of saṁsāra for an embodied being in this world and to be [inclusive of] the bliss of immersion (nirvāṇa) in Brahman. Therefore, you all should worship the Lord of the heart in the heart.”

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prabho! bhagavan! kṛpā-pārāvāra! ghora-saṁsāra-pravāha-prāpita

prabho! bhagavan! kṛpā-pārāvāra! ghora-saṁsāra-pravāha-prāpita-kleśa-cakra-nakra-vyūha-carvyamāṇaṁ māṁ vilokya, kāruṇyodyota-drava-ceto-navanīto’khila-lokātīto bhagavan śrī-guru-rūpa-dhārī mad-anādy-avidyā-vidāri-sva-darśanena sudarśanenaiva tan nirbhidya, tad-daṁṣṭrā-taṭād evonmocya, nija-caraṇa-kamala-yugala-dāsī-cikīrṣayā sva-mantra-varṇa-vīthīṁ mat-karṇa-vīthīṁ praveśya, nirvyathīkṛtya, muhur muhur api sva-guṇa-nāma-śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇādibhir māṁ yad aśūśudhan nija-bhaktair api saṅgamitaiḥ sva-sevām apy abūbudhat, tad api durmedho’ham adhamatamo divasam ekam api prabhuṁ na paryacaraṁ, kadarya-caryas tad ayaṁ jano daṇḍayitum evārhaḥ, pratyutaitāvad darśana-mādhurīṁ pāyitaḥ |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 8.9)

“O Master! O Bhagavān! O Ocean of grace! Seeing me being chewed by the crocodile bask of the cycle of afflictions engendered by the frightful course of saṁsāra, [you,] Bhagavān, who are beyond all planes [in saṁsāra] and the butter of whose heart becomes melted by the radiance of [your] compassion, have assumed the form of śrī-guru, cut that [bask of crocodiles] asunder with the sudarśana [cakra] of your own darśana rending of my beginningless ignorance (avidyā), freed me from their jaws, caused the syllables of your mantra to enter the path of my ears out of desire to engage me [in service] as a maidservant of your two lotus feet, freed me from all pain, purified me by means of repeated hearing, chanting, remembering, and so forth of your names and qualities, and enlightened me about your own service by means of the association of your own bhaktas, yet still I of dull wit, the most fallen, have not served my Master [i.e., you, O Bhagavān] for even one day. Thus, this ill-behaved person [i.e., my most-fallen self] is certainly fit to be punished. Despite all this [however] I have been given the chance to drink the sweetness of your darśana.”

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vimuñcati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān

vimuñcati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān |
tarhy eva puṇḍarīkākṣa bhagavattvāya kalpate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9)

“O you of lotus eyes! When a human being completely casts away desires situated in the mind, only then does one become fit for Bhagavattva.”

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ṛṣe vidanti munayaḥ praśāntātmendriyāśayāḥ

ṛṣe vidanti munayaḥ praśāntātmendriyāśayāḥ |
yadā tad evāsat-tarkais tirodhīyeta viplutam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.6.41)

“O sage, when of calm body, senses, and mind, contemplatives know him [i.e., Bhagavān]. [When] Assailed by spurious argumentation (asat-tarka) [however] he conceals himself.”

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tad-darśanāhlāda-pariplutāntaro

tad-darśanāhlāda-pariplutāntaro
hṛṣyat-tanuḥ prema-bharāśru-locanaḥ |
nanāma pādāmbujam asya viśva-sṛg
yat pāramahaṁsyena pathādhigamyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.9.17)

“Completely overwhelmed at heart
By the delight of his [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān’s] sight,
His bodily horripilating,
And his eyes filled with tears of prema,
The emanator of the universe [i.e., Brahmā]
Offered obeisance to his [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān’s] lotus feet,
Which are attained by the path of the paramahaṁsas [i.e., the path of bhakti].”

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