bhaktyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ śraddhayātmā priyaḥ satām |
bhaktiḥ punāti man-niṣṭhā śvapākān api sambhavāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.21; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.602; Bhakti Sandarbha: 147, 241; Prīti Sandarbha: 1; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.135)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] I, the Self—the Beloved—of the sat, am attainable by means of one-pointed bhakti with śraddhā. Bhakti fixed upon me purifies even dog-cookers of their birth.”
na sādhayati māṁ yogo na sāṅkhyaṁ dharma uddhava |
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.20; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.601; Bhakti Sandarbha: 78, 103, 147, 327; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.134)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Uddhava, neither yoga, nor sāṅkhya, nor dharma, nor study, nor austerity, nor renunciation cause attainment of me like powerful bhakti to me [does].”
The author [of Stavāvalī’s] earnest prayer to Śrī Kṛṣṇa
By Śrīmad Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmīpāda
yathāgnim edhasy amṛtaṁ ca goṣu
bhuvy annam ambūdyamane ca vṛttim |
yogair manuṣyā adhiyanti hi tvāṁ
guṇeṣu buddhyā kavayo vadanti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.6.12; cited in Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 1.7)
“As human beings by [various] means attain fire from wood, milk from cows, food and water from the land, and a livelihood from exertion, so the wise [attain and] speak of you [even] amid the guṇas with the intellect.”
yasya svarūpaṁ kavayo vipaścito
guṇeṣu dāruṣv iva jāta-vedasam |
mathnanti mathnā manasā didṛkṣavo
gūḍhaṁ kriyārthair nama īritātmane ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.18.36)
“Obeisance unto he of manifested self whose true nature, hidden by activities and objects, the wise and learned, desirous of seeing, kindle amid the guṇas with the kindling rod of the mind like fire amid pieces of wood.”
jñāna-niṣṭho virakto vā mad-bhakto vānapekṣakaḥ |
sa-liṅgān āśramāṁs tyaktvā cared avidhi-gocaraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.18.28)
“One who is detached and fixed in jñāna, or, one who is disinterested and my bhakta, shall relinquish the āśramas along with their paraphernalia and proceed outside the scope of injunctions.”
hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ |
kevalenaiva sa tadā gopikātvam iyād vraje ||
(Attributed to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda in Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smaraṇa-paddhati (148) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (151))
“An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga [i.e., the path of rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana] alone then attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”
lakṣeṣu śṛṇute kaścit koṭiṣv ekas tu budhyate |
bhakti-tattvaṁ parijñāya kaścid eva samācaret ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.543)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Śrī Bhagavān:] Among lakhs [of people], someone [i.e., a rare person] hears about the nature (tattva) of bhakti, yet among crores [of those who hear], one understands it, and only someone [i.e., an exceedingly rare person] can perform it after having thoroughly understood it.”
ka utsaheta santyaktum uttamaḥśloka-saṁvidam |
anicchato’pi yasya śrīr aṅgān na cyavate kvacit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.48)
“[The gopīs to Uddhava:] Who could completely give up perception of [alt., private conversations with] he of highest praise, from whose chest Śrī never strays even when he is nonchalant?”
