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 [viz., the guru] Bhāgavata-dharmas by which Hari, he who is the Self and the Bestower of himself, can be pleased.”
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.”
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]?”
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ |
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam ||
dvādaśaite vijānīmo dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ |
guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.3.20–21; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 110)
[Yamarāja to his emissaries:] “O servants, Brahmā, Nārada, Śambhu [i.e., Śiva], [Sanat] Kumāra, Kapila, [Svāyambhuva] Manu, Prahlāda, Janaka, Bhīṣma, Bali, Vaiyāsaki [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], and we [i.e., I myself]—these twelve understand Bhāgavata-dharma, which is confidential, completely pure [i.e., beyond the guṇas], and difficult to comprehend, and which, by understanding, one relishes amṛta [i.e., one attains the nectar of immortality].”
