adhītya caturo vedān sarva-śāstrāṇy anekaśaḥ |
brahma-tattvaṁ na jānāti darvī pāka-rasaṁ yathā ||
(Muktikā Upaniṣad: 2.65)
“[Even] After repeatedly studying the four Vedas and all the śāstras, one does not understand the nature of Brahman, just as a spoon does not know the taste of cooked food [i.e., to realize Brahman one has to not only acquire knowledge of Brahman but also purify the mind of saṁsārika vāsanās].”
asmākaṁ tu mataṁ tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ ity-ādi-vacanatas tathā bhakter anāyāsa-siddhatva-śravaṇāt tathā bhaktir eva bhaktim utpādayati iti nyāyāc ca śrī-bhagavat-kṛpayā tad-eka-mātrāpekṣasya sukhaṁ sampadyate |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā: 2.2.213)
“Our view, however, is that in accord with statements such as tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ [in SB 10.14.8], because it is heard that bhakti is established without difficulty, and in accord with the principle that bhakti itself produces bhakti, the happiness [i.e., the superlative happiness of niṣṭhā in bhakti] of one who depends only on him [i.e., Bhagavān] manifests [just by] by the grace of Śrī Bhagavān [i.e., taking up any other process, such as karma or jñāna, for the sake of citta-śuddhi is unnecessary].”
yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā
duradhigamo’satāṁ hṛdi gato’smṛta-kaṇṭha-maṇiḥ |
asu-tṛpa-yoginām ubhayato’py asukhaṁ bhagavann
anapagatāntakād anadhirūḍha-padād bhavataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.39)
“O Bhagavān, if ascetics do not fully eradicate the roots of desire in the heart, then although you are present in the heart [of these ascetics], you become difficult to attain like a forgotten jewel on the neck, and yogīs who [merely] satisfy the life airs [i.e., who do not sincerely practice yoga to attain you but rather only for bodily and other worldly benefits] attain only distress from both sides [i.e., in this world and the next] because of not being free from causes of death [i.e., because they continue to undergo the threefold sufferings of material existence while living] and because of not having realized your nature [i.e., because they remain subject to saṁsāra in the hereafter].”
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām |
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ||
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ |
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.30–32)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Inclination towards Kṛṣṇa cannot arise on account of another, on its own, or on account of both [i.e., on its own and on account of another] for those intent upon household life, who have entered darkness because of uncontrolled senses and whose chewing is [only] of the chewed [therein] again and again. They, of debased mind, who honor only those whose aim is in the external, certainly do not understand Viṣṇu, he who is the object to be reached [only] for those whose aim is related to the Self. They also become bound by the strong strands of Īśa’s cord like the blind being led by the blind. Their inclination, the need of which is the cessation of the insubstantial, does not touch the feet of he of great stride [i.e., Bhagavān] so long as one shall not accept a bath in the foot-dust of the divested—the great ones.”
sadācāraṁ vinā pāpena citte maline sati bhaktau pravṛttir api na syād |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta-ṭīkā: 2.3.171)
“Without sadācāra, when the mind is contaminated by pāpa, then even inclination for bhakti cannot come about.”
rucim udvahatas tatra janasya bhajane hareḥ |
viṣayeṣu gariṣṭho’pi rāgaḥ prāyo vilīyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.254)
“For a person endowed with ruci there in bhajana of Hari, even the heaviest attachment to the sense objects largely dissolves.”
bhakti-nirdhūta-doṣāṇāṁ prasannojjvala-cetasām |
śrī-bhāgavata-raktānāṁ rasikāsaṅga-raṅgiṇām ||
jīvanī-bhūta-govinda-pāda-bhakti-sukha-śriyām |
premāntaraṅga-bhūtāni kṛtyāny evānutiṣṭhatām ||
bhaktānāṁ hṛdi rājantī saṁskāra-yugalojjvalā |
ratir ānanda-rūpaiva nīyamānā tu rasyatām ||
kṛṣṇādibhir vibhāvādyair gatair anubhavādhvani |
prauḍhānanda-camatkāra-kāṣṭhām āpadyate parām ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.7–10)
“In the hearts of bhaktas who have been purified by bhakti of all faults [e.g., attachment, aversion, delusion, etc.], whose hearts are clear [i.e., fit for the manifestation of higher pure existence (śuddha-sattva-viśeṣa)] and bright [i.e., all knowing by virtue of this manifestation], who cherish [tasting] Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, who rejoice in the company relishers of rasa, whose life is the wealth of the bliss of bhakti to the feet of Govinda, and who engage in all of prema’s natural activities—rati, which is bliss itself, appears bright as a result of the two types of saṁskāras [i.e., impressions in the citta made by pure bhakti in one’s previous births and one’s present birth], reaches the state of being relishable [i.e., of being rasa] on the pathway of perception on account of present vibhāvas and so forth [i.e., anubhāvas, sāttvika-bhāvas, vyabhichārī-bhāvas], beginning with Kṛṣṇa, and reaches the highest pinnacle of intense bliss and wonder [i.e., transforms into sneha, māna, praṇaya, anurāga, bhāva, and mahābhāva].”
nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vā
śuddhaṁ vāśuddha-varṇaṁ vyavahita-rahitaṁ tārayaty eva satyam |
tac ced deha-draviṇa-janatā-lobha-pāṣaṇḍa-madhye
nikṣiptaṁ syān na phala-janakaṁ śīghram evātra vipra ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 3.48.24 or 4.25.24; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.527; Bhakti Sandarbha: 153, 265; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.3.60)
“Be it with proper or improper [pronunciation of] syllables, one name [of Bhagavān] without separation [alt., or even with separation of its syllables] which has entered one’s speech, path of remembrance, or the base of the ears certainly delivers [a living being]. This is certainly true. If that [i.e., the name of Bhagavān] should be cast down among those who are heretical out of greed related to the body, wealth, or people, [however,] O brāhmaṇa, it certainly does not become fruitful quickly here.”
ākṛṣṭiḥ kṛta-cetasāṁ sumahatām uccāṭanaṁ cāṁhasām
ācaṇḍālam amūka-loka-sulabho vaśyaś ca mukti-śriyaḥ |
no dīkṣāṁ na ca dakṣiṇāṁ na ca puraścaryāṁ manāg īkṣate
mantro’yaṁ rasanā-spṛg eva phalati śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmātmakaḥ ||
(Lakṣmīdhara; cited in Padyāvalī: 29; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.15.112)
“This mantra consisting of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s name attracts [even] the highly exalted of purified mind, dispels [even] extremely severe sins, is easily available to [all] people who are not mute, including [even] caṇḍālas, controls the fortune of mukti, does not consider dīkṣā, donations, or prepartory rites (puraścaryā) in the least, and bears fruit just by touching the tongue.”
viṣṇor nāmaiva puṁsāḥ śamalam apaharat puṇyam utpādayac ca
brahmādi-sthāna-bhogād viratim atha guroḥ śrī-pada-dvandva-bhaktim |
tattva-jñānaṁ ca viṣṇor iha mṛti-janana-bhrānti-bījaṁ ca dagdhvā
saṁpūrṇānanda-bodhe mahati ca puruṣaṁ sthāpayitvā nivṛttam ||
(Vyāsapāda; cited in Padyāvalī: 24)
“Only Viṣṇu’s name removes impurity and produces meritorious action, detachment from enjoyment of the positions of Brahmā and so forth, bhakti to the two beautiful feet of guru, and knowledge of the nature of Viṣṇu; [only Viṣṇu’s name] burns away the seed [i.e., cause] of revolving in birth and death here [in this world], establishes a person in deep awareness of complete bliss [in the service of Śrī Viṣṇu], and [finally, seeing its work complete,] retires [i.e., manifests in the form of its bearer, Viṣṇu].”
