karma vikṣepakaṁ tasyā vairāgyaṁ rasa-śoṣakam |
jñānaṁ hāni-karaṁ tat-tac-chodhitaṁ tv anuyāti tām ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.205)
“Karma [i.e., observance of the practices enjoined for those following the path of karma] is a cause of distraction from it [i.e., from bhakti]. Vairāgya is a cause of desiccation of rasa [for it]. Jñāna is cause of detriment [to it]. [When] Rectified, however, these attend to it.”
tasmān mad-bhakti-yuktasya yogino vai mad-ātmanaḥ |
na jñānaṁ na ca vairāgyaṁ prāyaḥ śreyo bhaved iha ||
yat karmabhir yat tapasā jñāna-vairāgyataś ca yat |
yogena dāna-dharmeṇa śreyobhir itarair api ||
sarvaṁ mad-bhakti-yogena mad-bhakto labhate’ñjasā |
svargāpavargaṁ mad-dhāma kathañcid yadi vāñchati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.31–33)
“Therefore, for a yogī engaged in bhakti to me with mind on me, neither jñāna nor vairāgya shall in general be a means of benefit here. What can come to be by means of righteous acts, what can come to be by means of austerity, and what can come to be by means of jñāna and vairāgya, as well as by yoga, charity, and other means of benefit—all of that, as well as Svarga, apavarga [i.e., mukti], and my abode, my bhakta attains quickly by means of the practice (yoga) of bhakti to me if one somehow desires [to attain any of those ends].”
śrī-gurūpasatti-kāraṇam—
kṛpayā kṛṣṇa-devasya tad-bhakta-jana-saṅgataḥ |
bhakter māhātmyam ākarṇya tām ichchan sad-guruṁ bhajet ||
atrānubhūyate nityaṁ duḥkha-śreṇī paratra ca |
duḥsahā śrūyate śāstrāt titīrṣed api tāṁ sudhīḥ ||
(Śrī Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.28–29)
“The cause of approaching a blessed guru [is described as follows]: Upon hearing by Kṛṣṇadeva’s grace in the company of his bhaktas of the greatness of bhakti and [then consequently] desiring that, one shall worship an excellent guru. A difficult to bear succession of sufferings is experienced continuously here [i.e., in this world] and from the śāstra is heard of [as also continuing] in the hereafter. One of sharp intellect shall desire [at least] just to cross beyond that.”
kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā |
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.3; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 76)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] This speech known as the Veda [which is] lost because of time [and] in the dissolution [of the universe] in which dharma based of me is present was dictated to Brahmā by me at the beginning [of the universe’s emanation following its prior dissolution].”
apīpalad dharma-rājaḥ pitṛvad rañjayan prajāḥ |
niḥspṛhaḥ sarva-kāmebhyaḥ kṛṣṇa-pādānusevayā ||
sampadaḥ kratavo lokā mahiṣī bhrātaro mahī |
jambūdvīpādhipatyaṁ ca yaśaś ca tridivaṁ gatam ||
kiṁ te kāmāḥ sura-spārhā mukunda-manaso dvijāḥ |
adhijahrur mudaṁ rājñaḥ kṣudhitasya yathetare ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.12.4–6)
“Free from covetousness for all objects of desire by way of continuous service to the feet of Kṛṣṇa, Dharmarāja [viz., Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja], like his father, pleased and protected the citizens [of his kingdom]. Riches, sacrifices, planes [attained by the performance of sacrifices], queens, brothers, the earth, rulership over Jambūdvīpa, and fame situated in Svarga—O twice-born ones, like other objects [i.e., things other than food, like garlands and sandalwood paste] for one who is hungry, could these objects of desire, coveted by the devas, cause delight for the king, whose mind was given over to Mukunda? [Certainly not].”
yathā ca tatra tat-kālaṁ bhakter yogyaṁ na sat-phalam |
sañjātam iti tac chuddha-bhaktimadbhir vinindyate ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.222)
“Furthermore, since the real result befitting of bhakti is not produced at that time in that case [i.e., in an instance of desirous (sakāma) bhakti], that is condemned by those endowed with pure bhakti.”
yeṣāṁ sa eṣa bhagavān dayayed anantaḥ
sarvātmanāśrita-pado yadi nirvyalīkam |
te dustarām atitaranti ca deva-māyāṁ
naiṣāṁ mamāham iti dhīḥ śva-śṛgāla-bhakṣye ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.7.42; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.86; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.6.235)
“If those whom he, this Bhagavān, the Unlimited, may grace take shelter in his feet in all respects without duplicity, they will cross beyond his difficult to surmount, divine māyā [and come to know him], and they will have no notion of ‘my’ or ‘I’ in regard to that which is food for dogs and jackals [i.e., the material body].”
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-sudhā-pānād deha-daihika-vismṛteḥ |
teṣāṁ bhautika-dehe’pi sac-cid-ānanda-rūpatā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.3.61)
“On account of non-remembrance of the body and the bodily as a result of drinking the nectar of bhakti to Kṛṣṇa, their having a form [constituted] of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss can come about even [when they are] in a body [made] of the [material] elements.”
vimuktākhila-tarṣair yā muktir api vimṛgyate |
yā kṛṣṇenātigopyāśu bhajadbhyo’pi na dīyate ||
sā bhukti-mukti-kāmatvāc chuddhāṁ bhaktim akurvatām |
hṛdaye sambhavaty eṣāṁ kathaṁ bhāgavatī ratiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.42–43)
“That which is sought even by the liberated who are completely free from all [extraneous] desires, which is highly confidential and [which is] not given by Kṛṣṇa quickly even to worshippers [of himself]—how can [that] rati for Bhagavān appear in the heart of those who do not perform pure bhakti on account of being possessed of desire for enjoyment or liberation?”
vinā sarva-tyāgaṁ bhavati na bhajanaṁ hy asu-pateḥ |
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 5.22)
“Without relinquishment of everything [apart from it], worship of the Lord of the life airs [i.e., the Lord of the heart, or, the Lord of one’s life] certainly does not occur [as it is meant to in truth].”
