Bhāgavata-dharma

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam |
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahāmuni-kṛte kiṁ vāparair īśvaraḥ
sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.2; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.396; Tattva Sandarbha: 19, 26, 50; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 84; Paramātma Sandarbha: 106, Bhakti Sandarbha: 106, 115, 217; Prīti Sandarbha: 16, 18, 73; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā and Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.244)

“Here [i.e., in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], for the sādhus who are free from envy, is the highest dharma wherein deceit is utterly rejected. Here is the Reality, the real object to be be known, which bestows the highest good and uproots the three miseries. What need is there of any other [śāstra] than this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam compiled by the best of the sages [i.e., Vedavyāsa]? [There is no such need because] Here Īśvara is bound within the heart by the fortunate who desire to serve immediately, from that [very] moment [they begin to listen].”

Read on →

mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ

mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ |
varṇāśrama-kulācāram akāmātmā samācaret ||
anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā dehināṁ viṣayātmanām |
guṇeṣu tattva-dhyānena sarvārambha-viparyayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.10.1–2)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Attentive to one’s dharmas as stated by me and desireless, one whose shelter is in me should observe the conduct of one’s varṇa, āśrama, and family. [Thus] Being of highly purified mind, one should repeatedly observe the reversal of all the endeavors based on thought of real existence in regard to qualities [in objects of the senses] of embodied beings whose minds are [fixed] upon objects of the senses.”

Read on →

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje

sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)

“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”

Read on →

ato niṣevyamāṇāṁ ca sarvathā bhagavat-kathām

ato niṣevyamāṇāṁ ca sarvathā bhagavat-kathām |
muhus tad-rasikān pṛcchen mitho moda-vivṛddhaye ||
tathā vaiṣṇava-dharmāṁś ca kriyamānām api svayam |
sampṛcchet tad-vidaḥ sādhūn anyonya-prīti-vṛddhaye ||
nanu bhagavad-dharmāḥ parama-gopyāḥ praśna-mātreṇa kathaṁ kathyāḥ tatra likhati—śraddhayeti |
śraddhayā bhagavad-dharmān vaiṣṇavāyānupṛcchate |
avaśyaṁ kathayed vidvān anyathā doṣa-bhāg bhavet ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.472, 475–476, with an excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)

“Therefore [i.e., because listening to other topics, as well as non-listening, aversion, and even satiation with Bhagavat-kathā, are to be given up], even though one is continuously engaged in honoring Bhagavat-kathā in all respects [by means of hearing it, praising it, remembering it, and so on] one should repeatedly inquire from rasikas thereof [about Bhagavān and topics related to him] for the sake of enhancing mutual delight [i.e., the delight of both the speaker and fellow listeners]. … Similarly, even though one is practicing the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava oneself, one should inquire from sādhus knowledgeable about them for the sake of mutual delight. [A doubt is raised:] Bhagavat-dharmas [however] are highly confidential. How do they become fit to be explained just because of a question [about them being raised]? In regard to this [doubt], the author writes: When one repeatedly inquires from a Vaiṣṇava about Bhagavat-dharmas with śraddhā, then a knowledgeable person [i.e., a person conversant in the dharmas of a Vaiṣṇava] shall certainly speak [i.e., answer one’s questions], and otherwise shall be at fault [i.e., one who has true knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma based on śāstra yet withholds it from an inquirer possessed of the requisites to learn such knowledge, the foremost of which is śraddhā in bhakti-śāstra, commits a transgression against Bhagavat-dharma, as does someone who gives knowledge of Bhagavat-dharma to an unfit recipient and someone who gives answers about Bhagavad-dharma that contravene the śāstra’s siddhānta].”

Read on →

yathā hi puruṣasyeha viṣṇoḥ pādopasarpaṇam

yathā hi puruṣasyeha viṣṇoḥ pādopasarpaṇam |
yad eṣa sarva-bhūtānāṁ priya ātmeśvaraḥ suhṛt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.6.2)

“[Prahlāda Mahārāja:] Here [i.e., in human life], a person’s approaching the feet of Viṣṇu is certainly appropriate, since he is the beloved, the Self, the Lord, and the well-wisher of all beings.”

Read on →

tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ

tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ |
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātmado hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.22; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)

“One for whom the guru is the self (ātmā) and the Devatā should, through unaffected adherence, learn from him Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who gives his own self, can be pleased.”

Read on →

itthaṁ guror labdha-mantro

itthaṁ guror labdha-mantro guru-bhakti-parāyaṇaḥ |
sevamāno guruṁ nityaṁ tat-kṛpāṁ bhāvayet sudhīḥ ||
satāṁ dharmāṁs tataḥ śikṣet prapannānāṁ viśeṣataḥ |
sveṣṭa-deva-dhiyā nityaṁ vaiṣṇavān paritoṣayet ||
(Sanat-kumāra-saṁhitā: 110–111)

“A wise person who has thus received a mantra from a guru, is engaged in bhakti to the guru, and is regularly serving the guru should meditate on his grace. He should learn the dharmas of the sādhus, in particular, those of the surrendered, and with awareness of his own Iṣṭa-deva [i.e., with awareness of the presence of, and with the intent to please, his Iṣṭa-devata], he should always satisfy the Vaiṣṇavas.”

Read on →

tatra bhāgavatān dharmān

tatra bhāgavatān dharmān śikṣed gurv-ātma-daivataḥ |
amāyayānuvṛttyā yais tuṣyed ātmātmado hariḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.22; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.98; Bhakti Sandarbha: 206)

“One for whom guru is one’s ātmā and devatā should, through unaffected adherence, learn from him Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who gives his own self, can be pleased.”

Read on →

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ

dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītaṁ
na vai vidur ṛṣayo nāpi devāḥ |
na siddha-mukhyā asurā manuṣyāḥ
kuto nu vidyādhara-cāraṇādayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.3.19; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 110, 165)

“Indeed, neither the ṛṣis, nor even the devas, nor the principal siddhas understand the dharma directly enjoined by Bhagavān [alt., the dharma performed purely to attain Bhagavān], so how would asuras, human beings, vidyādharas, cāraṇas, and others [understand it]?”

Read on →

Scroll to Top