mūrkhā yatra na pūjyante dhānyaṁ yatra susañcitam |
dāmpatyo kalahaṁ nāsti tatra śrīḥ svayam āgataḥ ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti: 3.12)
“Where fools are not worshiped [i.e., given power, regarded as role-models, etc.],
Where grain is well-stored,
And where there is no quarrel in marital relationships,
There Śrī [i.e., Lakṣmī, prosperity] comes of her own accord.”
ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ |
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.13)
“Therefore, O best of the twice-born, the highest accomplishment of dharma aptly performed by human beings in accord with the divisions of the varṇas and āśramas is the satisfaction of Hari.”
tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā |
mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.9; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.553; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.247; Bhakti Sandarbha: 62, 106, 173; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.9.264, 2.22.61)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] One should perform karmas so long as one shall not become disinterested or so long as śraddhā in hearing and so forth of discussion about me does not manifest.”
dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā |
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.22; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.557; Bhakti Sandarbha: 79, 111, 147)
“Devoid of bhakti to me, dharma endowed with truthfulness and compassion, or knowledge accompanied by austerity, certainly do not fully purify the mind.”
mukha-bāhūru-pādebhyaḥ puruṣasyāśramaiḥ saha |
catvāro jajñire varṇā guṇair viprādayaḥ pṛthak ||
ya eṣāṁ puruṣaṁ sākṣād ātma-prabhavam īśvaram |
na bhajanty avajānanti sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.2; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 64, 97, 111, 115, 148)
“The four separate varṇas, brāhmaṇa and so forth, are born from the face, arms, thighs, and feet of the Puruṣa by means of the guṇas along with the [four] āśramas. Those [persons] among these [varṇas and āśramas] who do not worship and [thus] disrespect the Puruṣa himself, the Source of the self, Īśvara, become deviated from their position and fall down.”
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].”
ājñāyaivaṁ guṇān doṣān mayādiṣṭān api svakān |
dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān māṁ bhajet sa ca sattamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.32; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.62; Bhakti Sandarbha: 200; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.62)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Fully understanding qualities and faults in this manner, one who shall completely relinquish all one’s own dharmas even though [they are] instituted by me and worship me is also the best of the sat.”
anādi-pravṛtti-śīlānāṁ pravṛtti-saṅkocāya āśramāḥ śāstreṇa vihitāḥ | atas tad-vidhāne na tasya tātparyaṁ kintu tat-saṅkoca eva | tā hi brahma-rati-pratibandhikā bhavanti | ye tūpakṣīṇa-pravṛttayo brahmaika-ratās teṣāṁ na kiñcid āśramaiḥ phalam iti nairāśramyaṁ varīyaḥ |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 3.4.39)
“The āśramas [i.e., brahmacarya, gārhasthya, etc.] are enjoined by the śāstra for those possessed of a beginningless disposition towards active engagement (pravṛtti) [i.e., towards attached involvement in worldly affairs and experience of worldly objects] for the purpose of the diminution of that active engagement (pravṛtti). Thus, its [i.e., the śāstra’s] aim (tātparya) is not in enjoinment [alt., execution] of that [i.e., its aim is not to perpetuate attached engagement with the worldly (pravṛtti)] but [rather] only in the diminution of that [i.e., of pravṛtti] since those [i.e., the āśramas] become impediments to Brahma-rati [i.e., loving attachment to Bhagavān, when they not observed as a secondary, subordinate aspect of the pursuit of Brahma-rati, if at all]. For those who are attached only to Brahman and in whom active engagement (pravṛtti) has vanished, there is no gain whatsoever by means of [observance of] the āśramas. Thus, being without an āśrama is better [for them].”
na sādhayati māṁ yogo na sāṅkhyaṁ dharma uddhava |
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.20; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.601; Bhakti Sandarbha: 78, 103, 147, 327; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.134)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Uddhava, neither yoga, nor sāṅkhya, nor dharma, nor study, nor austerity, nor renunciation cause attainment of me like powerful bhakti to me [does].”
jñāna-niṣṭho virakto vā mad-bhakto vānapekṣakaḥ |
sa-liṅgān āśramāṁs tyaktvā cared avidhi-gocaraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.18.28)
“One who is detached and fixed in jñāna, or, one who is disinterested and my bhakta, shall relinquish the āśramas along with their paraphernalia and proceed outside the scope of injunctions.”
