bhagavān iti śabdo’yaṁ tathā puruṣa ity api |
vartate nirupādhiś ca vāsudeve’khilātmani ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Tattva Sandarbha 30)
“The words ‘Bhagavān‘ and ‘Puruṣa’ free from upādhis (limiting modifiers) refer to Vāsudeva, the Self of all.”
bhagavāṁs tāvad asādhāraṇa-svarūpaiśvarya-mādhuryas tattva-viśeṣaḥ | tatra svarūpaṁ paramānandaḥ, aiśvaryam asamordhvānanta-svābhāvika-prabhutā, mādhuryam asamordhvatayā sarva-manoharaṁ svābhāvika-rūpa-guṇa-līlādi-sauṣṭhavaṁ … |
(Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.12.11)
“Bhagavān specifically is that particular entity (tattva) who possesses extraordinary nature (svarūpa), capability (aiśvarya), and mellifluousness (mādhurya). In this regard, his nature (svarūpa) is supreme blissfulness, his capability (aiśvarya) is unparalleled and unending natural mastery, and his mellifluousness (mādhurya) is the excellence of his natural figure, qualities, līlās, and so forth, which are captivating to all on account of being unparalleled.”
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate |
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmyaham ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.22)
“I [personally] provide the acquisition and protection [of the bodily necessities] of those one-pointed, meditative, and ever-absorbed persons who worship me in full.”
cakṣur vinā yathā dīpaṁ dṛṣṭvā darpaṇam eva ca |
samīpasthā na paśyanti tathā viṣṇuṁ bahirmukhāḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.132.55)
“As the blind do not see a lamp or a mirror situated nearby even after looking towards it, so the averse do not see Viṣṇu [situated nearby, i.e, invariably present everywhere always].”
yadā carmavad ākāśaṁ veṣṭayiṣyanti mānavāḥ |
tadā devam avijñāya duḥkhasyānto bhaviṣyati ||
(Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: 6.20)
“When human beings are able to roll up the sky like leather, then [their] suffering will come to an end without understanding Deva.”
ātatatvāc ca mātṛtvād ātmā hi paramo hariḥ |
(Cited in Krama Sandarbha in relation to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.2.34 and Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.24.78)
“Because of being [all-] pervasive and being the mother [i.e., the source of everything in the universe], the Ātmā is indeed the Supreme, Hari.”
na hy asyāsti priyaḥ kaścin nāpriyaḥ svaḥ paro’pi vā |
ātmatvāt sarva-bhūtānāṁ sarva-bhūta-priyo hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.17.33)
“No one is dear to him, and no one is undear; no one is his own or estranged from him either. Because he is the ātmā of all living beings, Hari is dear to all living beings [alt., he is the object of their unconditional prīti].”
yathā yathātmā parimṛjyate’sau
mat-puṇya-gāthā-śravaṇābhidhānaiḥ |
tathā tathā paśyati vastu sūkṣmaṁ
cakṣur yathaivāñjana-samprayuktam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.26; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 80, 147)
[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “To whatever extent the mind is purified by hearing and reciting narrations of my virtuous acts, to that same extent, it, like an eye treated with collyrium, perceives the subtle reality [i.e., my nature, figure, qualities, and līlā in actuality].”
ūrjitaṁ sarvato balavat paramānanda-rūpatvāt—ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt yad eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt iti śruteḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavata: 1.3.3; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 3)
“‘Potent’ [alt., ‘powerful’, or, ‘excellent’] (ūrjita) means the most powerful of all, because of [Bhagavān’s form] being the embodiment of the supreme bliss, as it is stated in the Śruti [i.e., Taitirīya Upaniṣad: 2.7.1]: ‘If he, Bliss, were not present in the sky [of the heart], who indeed would breathe? Who would live?’”
vipadaḥ santu tāḥ śaśvat tatra tatra jagad-guro |
bhavato darśanaṁ yat syād apunar bhava-darśanam ||
janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrībhir edhamāna-madaḥ pumān |
naivārhaty abhidhātuṁ vai tvām akiñcana-gocaram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.8.25–26)
“[Kuntī Devī to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Guru of the universe, let those dangers occur constantly everywhere in the midst of which shall occur the sight of you, by virtue of which the sight of material existence again does not! A person swelling with conceit as a result of birth, capability, learning, or beauty is never fit to speak of you, who are attainable [only] by the disinterested [i.e., those who foster no attachment to anything of the world].”
