kṛṣṇonmukhaṁ svayaṁ yānti yamāḥ śaucādayas tathā |
ity eṣāṁ ca na yuktā syād bhakty-aṅgāntara-pātitā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.261)
“The restraints (yamas) and cleanliness and so on [i.e., the niyamas] come of their own accord to those who are intent upon Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, they are not fit to be included among the limbs of [uttama-] bhakti.”
yat-sevayāgner iva rudra-rodanaṁ
pumān vijahyān malam ātmanas tamaḥ |
bhajeta varṇaṁ nijam eṣa so’vyayo
bhūyāt sa īśaḥ paramo guror guruḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.48)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “He by means of whose service a person can relinquish the taint of darkness [i.e., ignorance] within themself [i.e., within the mind] and realize their own form [i.e., essential nature], just like gold [can do so] by means of fire—may he, the imperishable Īśa, be [our] guru, since he is the Supreme Guru [i.e., the greatest of all persons who perform the function of a teacher].”
taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ |
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.19.36′; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)
“What grateful person would not worship he who is easily propitiated by persons who are sincere and of undivided shelter yet difficult to propitiate for the unvirtuous [i.e., those who are the opposite]?”
atra pariśramam iti kṛpayety ābhyāṁ dvy-aṅgula-nyūnatā-samāhitā bhakta-niṣṭhā bhajanotthā śrāntis tad-darśanotthā sva-niṣṭhā kṛpā ceti dvābhyām eva bhagavān baddho bhavet | te dve yāvan nābhūtāṁ tāvad dvy-aṅgula-nyūnatā āsīt | tayor udbhūtayos tu baddho’bhūd iti premnā sva-baddhena prakāra sva-mātari svayam udāhṛto bhagavateti jñeyam ||
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.18)
“Here exertion (pariśrama) and grace (kṛpā)—by these the [cause of the] shortness of two fingers is inferred; the fatigue arising from bhajana present in the bhakta and the grace arising from seeing this present in him—specifically by these two Bhagavān became bound. As long as these two did not manifest, the shortness of two fingers was present. When these two manifested, however, he became bound. Thus, it is to be understood that the way to bind him with prema has been demonstrated by Bhagavān Himself through his own mother.”
na me‘bhaktaś catur-vedī mad-bhaktaḥ śva-pacaḥ priyaḥ |
tasmai deyaṁ tato grāhyaṁ sa ca pūjyo yathā hy aham ||
(Itihāsa-samuccaya; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.127 and Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.50, 2.20.58)
“One who knows the four Vedas but is not my bhakta is not dear to me, whereas my bhakta, even if he is a dog-cooker [i.e., an outcaste], is [dear to me]. To him, things are fit to be given, and from him, things are fit to be accepted. He is indeed as worshippable as I am.”
yasmai dattaṁ ca yaj-jñānaṁ jñāna-dātā hariḥ svayam |
jñānena tena sa stauti bhāva-grāhī janārdanaḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra: 1.12.40)
“One offers praises [to Hari] with the knowledge which Hari himself, the bestower of knowledge, has bestowed upon one, but Janārdana [i.e., “the instigator of the people”] is a partaker of bhāva [i.e., Hari relishes primarily the bhāva of his bhaktas, and not their knowledge].”
mūrkho vadati viṣṇāya dhīro vadati viṣṇave |
ubhayos tu samaṁ puṇyaṁ bhāva-grāhī janārdanaḥ ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 1.11.108)
“[When making offerings with mantras to Bhagavān Viṣṇu:] An uneducated persons says, “Viṣṇāya,” and a learned person says, “Viṣṇave,” but their merit is the same [i.e., they both attain the same benefit from performing the offering even though one uses correct grammar and the other does not], as Janārdana [i.e., “the instigator of the people”] is a partaker of bhāva.”
jīva-rāśibhir ākīrṇa aṇḍa-kośāṅghripo mahān |
tan-mūlatvād acyutejyā sarva-jīvātma-tarpaṇam||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.36)
“The vast tree of this universe is filled with multitudes of jīvas. Worship of Acyuta satisfies all jīvas and one’s self because He is the root of the tree.”
yathā taror mūla-niṣecanena
tṛpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopaśākhāḥ |
prāṇopahārāc ca yathendriyāṇāṁ
tathaiva sarvārhaṇam acyutejyā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.31.14)
“As the trunks, branches, and sub-branches of a tree are all satiated by watering the root thereof, and as [satiation] of the sense organs comes about as a result of an offering [of food] to the vital air, so exactly honoring of all [beings] comes about by worship of Acyuta.”
athāpy upāyo mama devi cintyaḥ
santoṣitasya vrata-caryayā te |
mamārcanaṁ nārhati gantum anyathā
śraddhānurūpaṁ phala-hetukatvāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.17.17)
“[Bhagavān to Aditi:] O Devi, satisfied by your observance of the vrata [i.e., the payo-vrata I prescribed for you], I should now think of a means [to fulfill your desire]. Because it is a cause of results in accord with one’s śraddhā, worship of me should not go otherwise [i.e., should never go in vain or lead to any unbefitting result].”
