evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkte
avidyayātmany upadhīyamāne |
prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve
na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.6)
“Thus, karma subjugates the mind when the ātmā is covered by avidyā. Until one has prīti for me, Vāsudeva, one is not freed from entanglement with the body.”
athātmano’rtha-bhūtasya yato’nartha-paramparā |
saṁsṛtis tad-vyavacchedo bhaktyā paramayā gurau ||
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ samāhitaḥ |
sadhrīcīnena vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca janayiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.36–37)
“Therefore, termination of [ignorance,] that because of which the succession of anarthas, saṁsāra, exists for the ātmā, the [truly] existent entity, occurs through pure bhakti to Guru [i.e., Bhagavān, or, the teacher of Bhagavad-bhakti], for fully performed bhakti-yoga to Vāsudeva, Bhagavān [i.e., bhakti performed entirely for Bhagavān’s satisfaction without any separate interest—prema-bhakti], will produce real non-attachment (vairāgya) and knowledge (jñāna).”
śrī-rūpa-darśita-diśā likhitāṣṭa-kālyā
śrī-rādhikeśa-kṛta-keli-tatir mayeyam |
sevāsya yogya-vapuṣāniśam atra cāsyā
rāgādhva-sādhaka-janair manasā vidheyā ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.94)
“This profusion of play performed by Śrī Rādhikā’s Īśa throughout the eight times [of the day] has been written by me following the direction shown [to me] by Śrī Rūpa. Sevā to him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] and to her [i.e., Śrī Rādhikā] herein [i.e., within this līlā throughout the eight times of the day, or, here in Śrī Vṛndāvana] is to be performed continuously by sādhakas on the path of rāga with a befitting form within the mind.”
alaukika-padārthānām acintyā śaktir īdṛśī |
bhāvaṁ tad-viṣayaṁ cāpi yā sahaiva prakāśayet ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.244)
“Such is the inconceivable śakti of these [five] extraordinary things [i.e., limbs of bhakti], which manifest simultaneously bhāva and its object [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa].”
durūhādbhuta-vīrye’smin śraddhā dūre’stu pañcake |
yatra svalpo’pi sambandhaḥ sad-dhiyāṁ bhāva-janmane ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.238; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.133)
“Let alone having śraddhā in them [i.e., performing them with śraddhā], even slight connection with these five [limbs of bhakti of difficult to comprehend and wonderful power [i.e., even slight performance without śraddhā of sādhu-saṅga, nāma-kīrtana, Bhāgavata-śravaṇa, Mathurā-vāsa, or śrī-mūrti-sevā] gives rise to bhāva in those of pure mind [i.e., those whose minds are free from aparādha].”
yataḥ kauṭilyam, aśraddhā bhagavan-niṣṭhā-cyāvaka-vastv-antarābhiniveśaḥ, bhakti-śaithilyaṁ, sva-bhakty-ādi-kṛta-mānitvam ity evam-ādīni mahat-saṅgādi-lakṣāṇa-bhaktyāpi nivartayituṁ duṣkarāṇi cet, tarhi tasyāparādhasyaiva kāryāṇi, tāny eva ca prācīnasya tasya liṅgāni | … śrī-bhagavati śrī-gurau tad-bhaktādiṣu cāntarānādarādāv api sati bahis tad-arcanādy-ārambhaḥ kauṭilyam | … athāśraddhā dṛṣṭe śrute’pi tan-mahimādau viparīta-bhāvanādinā viśvāsābhāvaḥ | … atha bhakti-śaithilyaṁ yenādhyātmikādi-sukha-duḥkha-niṣṭhaivollasati | … bhakty-ādi-kṛtābhimānatvaṁ cāparādha-kṛtam eva, vaiṣṇavāvamānādi-laksaṇāparādhāntara-janakatvāt |
(Bhakti-sandarbha: 153, 155, 159)
“If (1) crookedness, (2) aśraddhā, (3) absorption in other objects that erodes fixity upon Bhagavān, (4) slackening in bhakti, (5) pridefulness in one’s acts of bhakti and so forth, and other such [behaviors] are difficult to abstain from even by means of bhakti in the form of association with the great (mahat) and so forth, then they are effects of one’s aparādha [committed in this life] and indicators of that [i.e., aparādha committed] in the past [i.e., in previous lives]. … Externally performing worship and so forth of Śrī Bhagavān, śrī guru, his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] bhaktas, and others even while bearing disrespect and so forth towards them internally is [called] crookedness (kauṭilya). … The absence of conviction (viśvāsa) in his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] greatness and so forth, even when it is seen or heard of, as a result of contrary opinion and so forth [e.g., assumption of deception, assumption of impossibility, etc.] is [called] aśraddhā [“faithlessness”]. … Slackening in bhakti is that by which fixity upon pleasures and pains related to the self and so forth [i.e., (1) related to one’s own body and mind (ādhyātmika), (2) related to other living beings (ādhibhautika), and (3) related to natural phenomena (ādhidaivika)] increases. … Pridefulness in one’s acts of bhakti and so forth is created by aparādha because of [it, i.e., such pridefulness] being a cause of other aparādhas, such as disrespecting Vaiṣṇavas [i.e., because an act that is not an effect of aparādha will not give rise to a further effect that is an aparādha, pridefulness in one’s own acts of bhakti is inferred to be an effect of aparādha since it leads to aparādhas such as disrespecting Vaiṣṇavas].”
astu tāvat śuddha-bhakty-ābhāsasya vārttā | aparādhatvena dṛśyamāno’py asau mahā-prabhāvo dṛśyate | … atha śrī-bhagavad-vaśīkāritāyām api sakṛd alpa-prayāsātmikāyā api bhakteḥ kāraṇatā dṛśyate | tad evaṁ yathārtha eva tan-māhātmye saty api yatra samprati tat-tad-bhajana-phalodayo na dṛśyate, kutracic chāstre ca purātanānām apy anyathā śrūyate tatra nāmārthavāda-kalpanā vaiṣṇavānādarādayo durantā aparādhā eva pratibandha-kāraṇaṁ vaktavyam | … yathā prāyeṇādhunikānām … tādṛśāparādhe bhakti-stambhaś … | ataḥ … āvṛttir asakṛd-upadeśāt ity-ādau ca puruṣāṇāṁ prāyaḥ sāparādhatvābhiprāyeṇaivāvṛtti-vidhānam | … atrāparādhālambanatvenaiva vartamānānāṁ pāpa-vāsanānāṁ sahaivāparādhena nāśa iti tātparyam | etādṛśa-pratibandhāpekṣayaivoktaṁ viṣṇu-dharme—rāgādi-dūṣitaṁ cittaṁ nāspadaṁ madhusūdane | badhnāti na ratiṁ haṁsaḥ kadācit kardamāmbuni || na yogyā keśavaṁ stotuṁ vāg duṣṭā cānṛtādinā | tamaso nāśanāyālaṁ nendor lekhā ghanāvṛtā || iti | siddhānām āvṛttis tu pratipadam eva sukha-viśeṣodayārthā | asiddhānām āvṛtti-niyamaḥ phala-paryāpti-paryantas tad-antarāye’parādhāvasthiti-vitarkāt |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)
“Let alone mention of a semblance of pure bhakti [itself], this [i.e., a semblance of pure bhakti] appearing even with the characteristic of being an aparādha is seen to possess great power [e.g., a mouse which performed the act of waving a ghee wick before a deity in the course of trying to remove the wick from its mouth became reborn as a queen with niṣṭhā for the bhakti-sādhana of offering ghee lamps to Bhagavān and then attained Bhagavān’s abode]. … Furthermore, even a single act of bhakti constituted of slight effort being a cause even of bringing Śrī Bhagavān under control is seen [in accounts related in śāstra]. … Therefore, even though its [i.e., bhakti’s] greatness is indeed real, where the manifestation of the result of various types of bhajana is not seen, and in some śāstras where otherwise [i.e., non-attainment of such results] is heard of even in the case of ancient persons, there [i.e., in those cases] it is to be said that the difficult to overcome aparādhas of arthavāda and kalpanā regarding the name, disregard for Vaiṣṇavas, and so forth, are alone the cause of obstruction [of the results of bhakti becoming manifest]. … As for the most part in the case of people of the present-day … because such aparādha is present, there is obstruction of bhakti [i.e., non-manifestation of bhakti’s effects]. … Thus, injunctions [in śāstra] for repetition [of bhakti-sādhana practices], such as (VS 4.1.1), ’Repetition [of sādhana practices] should be done repeatedly because of instructions [to do so in the śāstra]’ (āvṛttir asakṛd upadeśāt), carry the import that people in general are implicated in aparādha. … Here [i.e., in regard to bhakti-sādhana’s purification of aparādha], the intention is that there occurs destruction of [one’s] present inclinations (vāsanās) for sin (pāpa), which are entirely based on [previously committed] aparādhas, along with the aparādhas themselves. Specifically in regard to such obstruction [i.e., the obstruction of bhakti’s effects by aparādha], there is a statement in the Viṣṇu-dharma: ‘A heart polluted by attachment (rāga) and so forth is not a place for Madhusūdana, as a swan is never bound by affection to muddy water. Speech contaminated by untruth and so forth is unfit to praise Keśava, as the rays of the moon blocked by clouds are not able to dispel darkness.’ The repetition [of bhakti-sādhana practices, such as hearing of and praising Bhagavān] of siddhas [i.e., siddha-bhaktas in contrast to non-siddhas, that is, people in general and sādhakas, as discussed above], on the contrary, is a result of the manifestation of special joy at every moment [which they experience as a result of engaging in bhakti]. The regulation [given in śāstra] of repetition for non-siddhas is [applicable] up to attainment of the result [i.e., up to the attainment of siddhi in bhakti] because the existence of aparādha is conjectured when obstruction to it [i.e., to the manifestation of the effect of bhakti] is present.”
yac chraddhayā śrutavatyā ca bhaktyā
sammṛjyamāne hṛdaye’vadhāya |
jñānena vairāgya-balena dhīrā
vrajema tat te’ṅghri-saroja-pīṭham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.42)
“Meditating upon the seat of your lotus feet in our hearts fully purified by bhakti cultivated through hearing with śraddhā, and having become sagacious by virtue of knowledge and the strength of vairāgya, let us approach that [i.e., let us take shelter at that seat of your lotus feet].”
na hi śabda-jñānino brahma-vittvaṁ, kintu tad-anubhāvina eva | na ca madhu madhuram iti śābdī-pratītim upetas tan-mādhurya-vid bhavati | … tathā ca śābda-jñānād anyaivopāsanā | bhakty-anubhava-pada-vācyā vidyā puruṣārtha-hetuḥ | … śābda-jñānaṁ tu vairāgyam iva tat-parikara-bhūtam | … nanu kāya-vāṅ-mano-vyāpāra-rūpā bhaktiḥ | tatra mānasasya dhyānasyānubhavatvaṁ bhavet | kāya-vāg-vyāpāra-rūpasyārcana-japādes tattvaṁ katham iti ced, ucyate–hlādinī-sāra-samaveta-saṁvid-rūpā bhaktiḥ ‘sac-cid-ānandaika-rase bhakti-yoge tiṣṭhati’ iti śruteḥ | itarathā bhagavad-vaśīkāra-hetur asau na syāt | tathābhūtāyās tasyā bhakta-kāyādi-vṛtti-tādātmyenāvirbhūtāyā kriyākāratvaṁ cit-sukha-mūrteḥ kuntalādi-pratīkatvavad avaseyam | ‘śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt’ iti nyāyenālaukike’cintye’rthe tarkas tu nirākṛtaḥ |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra 3.4.12)
“It is not that knowers of the words [i.e., the words of śāstra] are [actual] knowers of Brahman, but rather that only those who have experience of it [i.e., of Brahman] are. It is not that one who possess semantic knowledge based on the statement, ‘Honey is sweet’ becomes a knower of its sweetness [i.e., as only coming to know through language that a substance known as honey is sweet is different from actually experiencing its sweetness, so mere theoretical knowledge of Brahman is distinct from actual experience of Brahman]. … Furthermore, upāsanā [i.e., the process to realize Brahman] is certainly distinct from [mere] knowledge derived from words. Knowledge (vidyā) the referent of which is experience (anubhava) [of Brahman] brought about by bhakti, is the cause of [attaining] the goal of human life (puruṣātha). … Knowledge derived from words, like vairāgya, is an assisting element [of Brahma-vidyā, i.e., it is not Brahma-vidyā itself].” … [An objection is raised:] ‘Well, bhakti is of the nature of operation of the body, speech, and mind. Therein, meditation in the mind could be [considered to be] of the nature of awareness (anubhava), but how could arcana, japa, and so forth, which are of the nature of operation of the body and speech, be of that nature [i.e., be of the nature of awareness (anubhava)]? If [this question is raised, then to that], it is to be said that bhakti is of the nature of awareness (saṁvit) combined with the essence of bliss (hlādinī), as per the Śruti [i.e., GTU 2.78], ‘[He who is of the nature of condensed awareness and condensed bliss, i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] Dwells in bhakti-yoga, which is of the nature of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss.’ Otherwise [i.e., were this not the case], it [i.e., bhakti], would not be a cause of captivation of Bhagavān. Existent as such and manifested with a sameness in nature (tādātmya) [i.e., an acquired, non-ontological, functional oneness] with the functions of a bhakta’s body and so forth [i.e., speech], its [i.e., bhakti’s] being possessed of a form as action [i.e., its being so also manifested as the acts of japa, arcana, and so forth] is to be understood, like hair and so forth’s being a part of the embodiment of consciousness and bliss [i.e., just as the hair and nails of Śrī Bhagavān are understood to be part of his body even though they are perceived to change more so that other parts of his body, to lack the sensitivity found in other parts of his body, to be able to be removed from his body without him loosing his essence, and so on, so bhakti which is essentially of the nature of awareness is to be understood to also manifest in the form of actions performed by the body and speech]. In accord with the principle [stated in VS 2.1.27], ‘It is because of Śruti [i.e., because of the statements in the śāstra] on account of śabda’s [i.e., śabda-pramāṇa’s] being the source [of valid knowledge of Brahman]’ (śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt), argument (tarka) is verily annulled in regard to an otherworldly and inconceivable object [e.g., bhakti].”
yathāgninā hema malaṁ jahāti
dhmātaṁ punaḥ svaṁ bhajate ca rūpam |
ātmā ca karmānuśayaṁ vidhūya
mad-bhakti-yogena bhajaty atho mām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.25; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 112)
[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “As gold smelted with fire sheds dross and regains its own form [i.e., returns to its pure state], so the ātmā through bhakti-yoga to me casts off [the dross of] the residual effects of karma [i.e., the vāsanās produced by karma] and thereafter [i.e., still, even after becoming completely purified] serves me [i.e., attains through a manifestation of great prema the complete path of service to me; alt., attains a pure form resembling my own and serves me directly in my abode].”
