Brahman

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā | parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis tathedam akhilaṁ jagat || iti śrī-parāśaroktyā | tathā—‘brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca’ iti śrī-bhagavad-gītādi-vacanena ca ghana-maṇḍala-candra-tejo-ghana-maṇḍala-sūrya-sthānīyasya bhagavac-caraṇāravinda-dvandasya sac-cid-ānanda-ghanasya bhakti-dvārānubhavena sukhaṁ ghanaṁ syād eva | sarva-vyāpi-jyotsnā-tejaḥ-sthānīyasya jīva-svarūpa-bhūtasya jagan-mayasya sac-cid-ānanda-brahmaṇo’nubhavena sukham api tad-anurūpaṁ svalpam eva syāt, na ca māyikaṁ prapañca-jātam idaṁ jyotsnā-sthānīyam iti vācyam | yathā candra-sūryayor jyotsnā-tejaḥ-paramāṇavaḥ prakāśakatvādi-tat-tad-guṇa-yogāt tat-tad-aṁśās tathā jagataḥ sac-cid-ānandatvādy-abhāvena para-brahmaṇo’ṁśatvāsambhavāt śakti-śabda-prayogāc ceti dik |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.180)

“As per the statement of Śrī Parāśara [in VP 1.22.54], ‘As the light of a fire situated in one place is spread out [all around], so the śakti of the Supreme Brahman is [spread out] throughout this entire universe,’ and the statement [of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] in Śrī Bhagavad-gītā [14.27], ‘Since I am the basis of Brahman, of the imperishable nectar, of the eternal dharma, and of the bliss of the one-pointed,’ the bliss (sukham) [felt by the jīva] as a result of experience by means of bhakti to the two lotus feet of Bhagavān, which are constituted of condensed eternal being, consciousness, and bliss and comparable to the condensed orb of the moon and the illuminating condensed orb of the sun, shall verily be condensed [i.e., intense], whereas the bliss as a result of experience of [the aspect of] brahman constituted of [non-condensed] eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, constitutive of the world (jaganmaya), existent as the nature (svarūpa) of a jīva, and comparable to all-pervading light [rather than to the condensed luminous orb of the sun or the moon itself], shall verily be meager in accord with that [i.e., in accord with how it is of less condensed nature, just as a perception of diffused light is far less intense than a perception of the sun or moon directly]. And it is not that this [world] which is māyika and generated by [mere] appearance (prapañca) should be said to be comparable to light [as brahman, i.e., the jīva, has just been compared] because of the impossibility of the world’s being a part (aṁśa) of Parabrahman [as brahman, i.e., the jīva, is] on account of the non-existence of [its, i.e., the world’s] being constituted of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, and so forth, and because of the usage of the word śakti [to describe it, rather than the world ‘part’ (aṁśa)], just as the minute particles of the light of the moon and the sun are parts thereof respectively [i.e., are parts of the moon and the sun] because of the presence of various qualities beginning with being illuminating [i.e., because they share the same qualities as the wholes of which they are said to be parts, unlike the material world, which does not share the same qualities as the whole, viz., Parabrahman, that it is said to be a śakti, but not a ‘part’ (aṁśa), of]. This is the direction.”

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mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes

mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes
tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam |
mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā
vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye |
ye vā mayīśe kṛta-sauhṛdārthā
janeṣu dehambhara-vārtikeṣu ||
gṛheṣu jāyātmaja-rātimatsu
na prīti-yuktā yāvad-arthāś ca loke ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.2–3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.17, 69; Bhakti Sandarbha: 186; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.82)

“Service to the mahats is said to be the door to ultimate mukti, and attachment to those who are attached to women [is said to be] the door to darkness. The mahāntas are they who are of equal mind, tranquil, free from anger, friendly, and virtuous, or, they who (1) have made affection [i.e., prema] for me, Īśa, their aim, (2) are unpossessed of affinity for persons fixated upon affairs related to bodily maintenance and houses accompanied by wives, children, and friends, and (3) are possessed of only so much wealth [as is necessary] in this world.”

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sarvātmakatvena bṛhat-tamatvād bhagavato rūpam eva brahma

sarvātmakatvena bṛhat-tamatvād bhagavato rūpam eva brahma |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.8.78)

“On account of being the greatest [i.e., the most vast entity] by virtue of being the constitution of all [other entities in existence, i.e., of being the totality of existence], only the form of Bhagavān is [the rightful referent of the word] Brahman.”

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yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā

yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā |
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.33; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 3)

“That [vision] wherein the gross and subtle bodies are negated [i.e., understood to not be the self] through full knowledge of the self, such that they are [recognized to have been] superimposed upon the self by ignorance (avidyā) is vision (darśana) [i.e., direct experience (sākṣātkāra)] of Brahman.”

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jīvan-mukto nāma sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahma-jñānena

jīvan-mukto nāma sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahma-jñānena tad-ajñāna-bādhana-dvārā sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahmaṇi sākṣātkṛte’jñāna-tat-kārya-sañcita-karma-saṁśaya-viparyayādīnām api bādhitatvād akhila-bandha-rahito brahma-niṣṭhaḥ |
(Vedānta-sāra: 213)

“A jīvan-mukta [i.e., ‘one who is liberated while living’] is known as one who is fixed in Brahman and free from all bondage on account of ignorance and its effects in the form of accumulated karma, doubt, misapprehension, and so on being negated as a result of direct perception of one’s own essential nature, that is, undivided Brahman, by means of the negation of ignorance of that [i.e., of Brahman] through knowledge of one’s own essential nature, that is, undivided Brahman.”

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atra pūrvaṁ sandarbha-catuṣṭayena sambandho vyākhyātaḥ

atra pūrvaṁ sandarbha-catuṣṭayena sambandho vyākhyātaḥ | tatra pūrṇa-sanātana-paramānanda-lakṣaṇa-para-tattva-rūpaṁ sambandhi ca brahma paramātmā bhagavān iti tridhāvirbhāvatayā śabditam iti nirūpitam | tatra ca bhagavattvenaivāvirbhāvasya paramotkarṣaḥ pratipāditaḥ | prasaṅgena viṣṇv-ādyāś catuḥ-sanādyāś ca tad-avatārā darśitāḥ | sa ca bhagavān svayaṁ śrī-kṛṣṇa eveti nirdhāritam |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 1)

“Here [i.e., in this Bhāgavata Sandarbha], previously, the sambandha [i.e., the relation of the referrer, viz., the text, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, with its referent, the subject of the text] has been explained in [the first] four sandarbhas. Therein, the sambandhin [i.e., the sambandhi-tattva, the bearer of a relation with the text] in form the Para-tattva, who is classified as complete, eternal, paramount bliss, was referred to as per his threefold manifestations of Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān, and thus ascertained. Further therein, the supreme excellence of his manifestation as Bhagavān was established and concomitantly his avatāras beginning with Viṣṇu and the four Kumāras were shown. Also, that he, Bhagavān himself (svayam), is Śrī Kṛṣṇa was determined.”

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kṛṣṇaiśvaryādy-avijñānaṁ kṛtaṁ naiṣām avidyayā

kṛṣṇaiśvaryādy-avijñānaṁ kṛtaṁ naiṣām avidyayā |
kintu premottara-rasa-viśeṣeṇaiva tat kṛtam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 4.4.15)

“Their [i.e., bhaktas’] absence of awareness of Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya and so forth is not caused by ignorance (avidyā). Rather, it is caused solely by a particular rasa overlaid with prema.”

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yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ

yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ
kartāram īśaṁ puruṣaṁ brahma-yonim |
tadā vidvān puṇya-pāpe vidhūya
nirañjanaḥ paramaṁ sāmyam upaiti ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.3; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 37; Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.17; Govinda-bhāṣya on VS: 1.2.23, 1.3.2; Sāraṅga-raṅgadā-ṭīkā on Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.2)

“When a seer sees the golden-complexioned Maker, Īśa, the Puruṣa, the Source of Brahman, then that wise one casts away virtue and sin, and attains taintless, supreme likeness (sāmya) [to the Puruṣa].”

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brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca

brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham amṛtasyāvyayasya ca |
śāśvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 14.27)

“Since I am the basis of Brahman, of the imperishable nectar, of the eternal dharma, and of the bliss of the one-pointed.”

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nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ

nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
tvayi sudhiyo’bhave dadhati bhāvam anuprabhavam |
katham anuvartatāṁ bhava-bhayaṁ tava yad bhrū-kuṭiḥ
sṛjati muhus trinemir abhavac-charaṇeṣu bhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.32)

[Translated according to Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s commentary:] “Understanding the ignorance as a consequence of your māyā among these human beings wherefrom repeated birth ensues, the wise foster bhāva [i.e., render service] profusely for you, Non-existence [i.e., you who are the cause of liberation from material existence]. How could your followers have any distress on account of [material] existence, since the furrowing of your brows—time (trinemi)—creates distress perpetually for those who are not in your shelter?”

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