yad yad iṣṭatamaṁ loke yac cātipriyam ātmanaḥ |
tat tan nivedayen mahyaṁ tad ānantyāya kalpate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.41; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.119, 10.513, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.199, Bhakti Sandarbha: 295)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Whatever is most desired in the world and whatever is most dear to oneself—offer that to me. This leads to the infinite.”
na kāṣṭhe vidyate devo na śilāyāṁ kadācana |
bhāve hi vidyate devas tasmād bhāvaṁ samācaret ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 2.38.13)
“Deva is never present in wood or in stone. Deva is present in bhāva. Therefore, cultivate bhāva.”
kāṣṭha-pāṣāṇa-dhātūnāṁ kṛtvā bhāvena sevanam |
śraddhayā ca tathā siddhis tasya viṣṇu-prasādataḥ ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 8.12)
“If one serves that which is made of wood, stone, or metal [i.e., a deity] with bhāva and śraddhā, then siddhi [i.e., success in one’s worship] occurs by Viṣṇu’s grace.”
śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ śrī-mūrter aṅghri-sevane |
śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha ||
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare |
nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ śrīman-mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.90–2)
“(60) Śraddhā and special affinity (prīti) for serving the feet of the śrī-mūrti, (61) tasting the meanings of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam with relishers of rasa (rasikas), (62) associating with sādhus who are of like aspiration, affectionate, and superior to oneself, (63) saṅkīrtana of the name, and (64) residing in the beautiful district of Mathurā.”
śrī-mūrter mādhurīṁ prekṣya tat-tal-līlāṁ niśamya vā |
tad-bhāvākāṅkṣiṇo ye syus teṣu sādhanatānayoḥ |
purāṇe śruyate pādme puṁsam api bhaved iyam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.300)
“After seeing the beauty of the śrī-mūrti [i.e., the beauty of the śrī-mūrti of Śrī Kṛṣṇa along with the śrī-mūrtis of his beloveds engaged in their various līlās], or hearing of the beauty of their various līlās, those who shall become desirous of that bhāva [i.e., the bhāva of the Vraja-gopīs] possess the means [i.e., the adhikāra, eligibility] for these two [i.e., either of the two types of kāmānugā-bhakti]. This can occur even in men, as is heard of in Padma Purāṇa.”
