gṛhaṁ vanaṁ vopaviśet pravrajed vā dvijottamaḥ |
āśramād āśramaṁ gacchen nānyathāmat-paraś caret ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.17.38)
“One [i.e., a brahmacārī who has graduated from guru-kula] should enter household life or the forest. Alternately, one who is foremost among the twice born should roam. One should go from āśrama to āśrama. One who is not devoted to me should not proceed otherwise.”
na cyavante hi yad-bhaktāḥ mahatyāṁ pralayāpadi |
ato’cyuto’khile loke sa ekaḥ sarvago’vyayaḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.33)
“He the all-pervading, immutable Supreme Entity throughout all planes whose bhaktas are not certainly vanquished [even] during the severe tribulation of universal dissolution (pralaya) is thus [known as] Acyuta [i.e., ‘the Imperishable One’].”
namo brāhmaṇa-rūpāya nija-bhakta-svarūpiṇe |
namaḥ pippala-rūpāya go-rūpāya namo’stu te ||
nānā-tīrtha-svarūpāya namo nanda-kiśora he |
sarvadā loka-rakṣārtha-rūpa-pañcaka-dhāriṇe ||
(Kṛṣṇa-līlā-stava: 407–408 (105))
“Obeisance unto you in the form of the brāhmaṇa,
And unto you in the form of your own bhakta.
Obeisance unto you in the form of the sacred fig tree.
May my obeisance be [offered] unto you in the form of the cow.
Obeisance unto you in the form of various holy places.
O Adolescent Son of Nanda!
[Obeisance] Unto you who always assume these five forms
For the sake of protecting the world.”
bhaume cāsmin sapadi mathurā-maṇḍale yāna-mātrāt
sidhyeyus tāḥ sakala-samaye yasya kasyāpi naiva |
kintv etasya priya-jana-kṛpā-pūrataḥ kasyacit syus
tad bho mātaś cinu pada-rajas tat-padaika-priyāṇām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.76)
“Those [various delightful līlās of Madana Gopāla] certainly cannot be attained by anyone at all times just by suddenly going to the district of Mathurā on this earth [i.e., only during the time of the descent of the blessed Lord of Goloka to the district of Mathurā on earth can someone simply arrive there suddenly and perceive his delightful līlās by his grace]. [At all other times,] Rather, those can be had by someone [only] as a result of a flood of grace from a person dear to him [as in the case of Janaśarmā receiving the grace of Sarūpa (Gopa Kumāra)]. Therefore, O Mother, gather dust from the feet of those to whom only his feet are dear [i.e., gather dust from the feet of his bhaktas who hold Kṛṣṇa-bhakti alone and not mokṣa or anything else dear].”
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.57; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.285; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 189, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 30)
“[Bhagavān Śiva to the Pracetas:] I equate neither Svarga nor non-repetition of birth, much less the benedictions had by human beings, with even half a moment of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”
bhaktānāṁ hṛdayaṁ śāntaṁ saśriyo me priyaṁ gṛham |
vasāmi tatra śobhaiva vaikuṇṭhākhyādi-varṇanā ||
(Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 14.57; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 102)
“The peaceful heart of [my] bhaktas is the beloved abode of myself along with Śrī. I reside there, and the beauty [therein] is verily that the description of which is known as Vaikuṇṭha and so forth [i.e., the beauty found along with Śrī Bhagavān in the heart of his bhakta is that of his own divine abode of Vaikuṇṭha].”
ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate |
śraddadhānā mat-paramā bhaktās te’tīva me priyāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.20)
“But those bhaktas who take shelter in this dharma—[this] nectar—as [thus] described [by me], being endowed with faith (śraddhā) and devoted to me, are exceedingly dear to me.”
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ |
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ ||
tulya-nindā-stutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit |
aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.18–19)
“A person possessed of bhakti [who is] equal towards an enemy and a friend and honor and dishonor, equal towards cold and heat, happiness and suffering, free from attachment, equal towards defamation and praise, silent, satisfied with whatever comes, non-attached to house, and of steady mind is dear to me.”
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati |
śubhāśubha-parityāgī bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.17)
“One who does not become elated, does not become hostile, does not lament, and does not hanker, and who is a relinquisher of the auspicious and inauspicious is dear to me.”
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ |
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.15)
“One because of whom any person is not disturbed, who is not disturbed because of any person, and who is free from elation, jealousy, fear, and anxiety is dear to me.”
