Uttama-bhāgavata

evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā

evaṁ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ |
hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty
unmādavan nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.40; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.641; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.6 Bhakti Sandarbha: 188, 263; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.7.94, 2.9.260, 2.23.41, 2.25.141, 3.3.179)

“One whose rite is so, in whom anurāga [i.e., prema] has manifest by chanting the name of one’s Beloved, and who is [thus] of melted heart, loudly laughs, cries, shouts, sings, and dances as though mad, oblivious to society.”

Read on →

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca

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].”

Read on →

khaṁ vāyum agniṁ salilaṁ mahīṁ ca

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.”

Read on →

jñātvājñātvātha ye vai māṁ yāvān yaś cāsmi yādṛśaḥ

jñātvājñātvātha ye vai māṁ yāvān yaś cāsmi yādṛśaḥ |
bhajanty ananya-bhāvena te me bhakta-tamā matāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.24; Bhakti Sandarbha: 201, 312)

“Having understood, or not having understood, me as far as I am, for who I am, and of what nature I am, those who worship me with a one-pointed (ananya) bhāva are considered by me the best of bhaktas.”

Read on →

svakīya-bhāvasyaiva sarvatra parisphūrteḥ śrī-bhagavad-ādi-dviṣatsv

svakīya-bhāvasyaiva sarvatra parisphūrteḥ śrī-bhagavad-ādi-dviṣatsv api sā paryavasyati, tatra ca nāyuktatā, yatas te nija-prāṇa-koṭi-nirmañchanīya-tac-caraṇa-paṅkaja-parāga-leśās teṣāṁ durvyavahāra-dṛṣṭyā kṣubhyanti | svīya-bhāvānusāreṇa tv evaṁ manyante—“aho īdṛśaś cetano vā kaḥ syād yaḥ punar asmin sarvānanda-kanda-kadambe nirupādhi-parama-premāspade sakala-loka-prasādaka-sad-guṇa-maṇi-bhūṣite sarva-hita-paryavasāyi-caryāmṛte śrī-puruṣottame tat-priya-jane vā prītiṁ na kurvīta | tad-dveṣa-kāraṇaṁ tu sutarām evāsmad-buddhi-paddhatim atītam | tasmād brahmādi-sthāvara-paryantā aduṣṭā duṣṭāś ca tasmin bāḍhaṁ rajyanta eva” iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 189)

“Because of a full manifestation (parisphūrti) of their very own bhāva [i.e., their prema for Bhagavān] everywhere [i.e., because they see their own bhāva for Bhagavān manifest in everything in their environment], that [bhāva] encompasses [i.e., appears to be present amid] even those who are inimical to Bhagavān and so forth [i.e., his bhaktas], and there is no unsuitability in this regard [i.e., in regard to this conclusion], since they [i.e., the highest class of bhaktas], for whom [even] the particles of the pollen on his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] lotus feet are worshipable with a crore of their own lives, [do indeed] become disturbed by the sight of their [i.e., the inimical’s] ill behavior [i.e., since Bhagavān is most dear to them, they do feel disturbed by those who are inimical to him, but since they are said to never be disturbed, it must be concluded that they do not ever perceive enmity towards Bhagavān even in those who are inimical, and rather, perceive in the inimical their own prema for Bhagavān]. In accord with their own bhāva, rather [than seeing the inimical to be inimical], they think as follows, ‘Aho! Could there by any such conscious being who would not foster love (prīti) for this Supreme Person (Śrī Puruṣottama) or those dear to him—[this Supreme Person] in whom exists a multitude of sources of all [types of] bliss, [this Supreme Person] who is the unconditional and supreme object of love (prema) [for all living beings], [this Supreme Person] who is adorned with the jewels of virtues that are delightful to all beings, [this Supreme Person] the nectar of whose conduct culminates in the welfare of all? A cause of enmity towards him, rather, is thus entirely beyond the scope of our intellects. Therefore, from Brahmā and so forth down to the immobile, [both] the virtuous and the vile, are all deeply enamored with him.’”

Read on →

na yasya janma-karmabhyāṁ na varṇāśrama-jātibhiḥ

na yasya janma-karmabhyāṁ na varṇāśrama-jātibhiḥ |
sajjate’sminn aham-bhāvo dehe vai sa hareḥ priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.51; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.28)

“One whose sense of ‘I’ does not adhere to this body along with [its] birth [i.e., nobility] and karma [i.e., performance of austerities, japa, meditation, etc.], or [its] varṇa [e.g., being a brāhmaṇa], āśrama [e.g., being a brahmacārī], and jāti [e.g., being born to a particular set of parents, in a particular country, in a particular region, etc.], is dear to Hari.”

Read on →

yuktāsya sphūrti-mātreṇa nirviśeṣeṇa kenacit

yuktāsya sphūrti-mātreṇa nirviśeṣeṇa kenacit |
hṛn-mīlanāt puro’vasthā nidrā bhakteṣu kathyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.176)

“The state, prior to the shutting [down] of the mind (hṛt) [i.e., the state prior to the state of an absence of external functions (bahir-vṛtty-abhāva) in the citta], endowed only with some unspecific manifestation (sphūrti) of him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] is called nidrā (sleep) in the case of bhaktas.”

Read on →

na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ

na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ |
vāsudevaika-nilayaḥ sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.50; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.61; Bhakti Sandarbha: 193)

“One whose sole shelter is Vāsudeva—in whose mind there is no appearance of kāmas, karmas, or [their] causes—is verily the best of Bhāgavatas.”

Read on →

yena sarvātmanā viṣṇu-bhaktyā bhāvo niveśitaḥ

yena sarvātmanā viṣṇu-bhaktyā bhāvo niveśitaḥ |
vaiṣṇaveṣu kṛtātmatvān mahābhāgavato hi saḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.37)

“One by whom one’s being (bhāva) is completely absorbed in Viṣṇu-bhakti by virtue of being dedicated to the Vaiṣṇavas is certainly a Mahābhāgavata.”

Read on →

tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha

tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha-
smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt |
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāl
lava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.53; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.53; Bhakti Sandarbha: 14, 196, 198, 278)

“One of unchecked remembrance who does not even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds diverge for even half a blink of an eye or half of a sixth of that from Bhagavān’s lotus feet, which are to be sought after [even] by the suras and others whose self is Ajita [i.e., the Unconquerable One, viz., Bhagavān], is the foremost Vaiṣṇava.”

Read on →

Scroll to Top