na kāma-karma-bījānāṁ yasya cetasi sambhavaḥ |
vāsudevaika-nilayaḥ sa vai bhāgavatottamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.50; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.61; Bhakti Sandarbha: 193)
“One whose sole shelter is Vāsudeva—in whose mind there is no appearance of kāmas, karmas, or [their] causes—is verily the best of Bhāgavatas.”
te prīty-eka-puruṣārthino’pi bhāva-viśeṣeṇānyad vāñchantu na vāñchantu vā sva-sva-bhakti-jāty-anurūpā bhakti-parikarāḥ padārthāḥ saṁsāra-dhvaṁsa-pūrvakam udayanta eva |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)
“Whether those whose sole aim of human life is prīti desire or do not desire anything else on account of a particular bhāva [i.e., anything in addition to prīti, such as a particular type of mukti to facilitate the fulfillment of a particular desire to serve Bhagavān in a particular way], the elements supporting their bhakti and corresponding to their personal type of bhakti certainly manifest [to them] after the destruction of saṁsāra [i.e., after they are liberated from saṁsāra].”
teṣu ajāta-prītitibhiḥ sarva-puruṣārthatvena tat-prītir eva prārthanīyā |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)
“Prīti for him [i.e., Bhagavān] is verily to be prayed for as the foremost goal of human life by those amongst them [i.e., amongst one-pointed (ekānta) bhaktas of Bhagavān] in whom prīti has not manifested.”
taṁ durārādhyam ārādhya satām api durāpayā |
ekānta-bhaktyā ko vāñchet pāda-mūlaṁ vinā bahiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.55; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 165)
“Having propitiated you [i.e., Bhagavān], who are difficult to propitiate, through one-pointed bhakti, which is difficult to attain even for sādhus [i.e., jñānīs], who would desire an external [i.e., any form of happiness, such as that found in Svarga] in lieu of the soles of your feet?”
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru |
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.34)
“Be of mind fixed on me, [be] my bhakta, and [be] my worshipper. Offer obeisance to me. You will come to me alone, having engaged your self [i.e., the body and mind] in this way [in me] as one whose shelter is in me.”
tad evaṁ tasyāḥ śravaṇādi-rūpāyāḥ sākṣād-bhakteḥ sarva-vighna-nivāraṇa-pūrvaka-sākṣād-bhagavat-prema-phaladatve sthite parama-durlabhatve ca saty anya-kāmanayā ca nābhidheyatvam | … tan-mātra-kāmanāyāṁ ca bhakter evākiñcanatvam akāmatvaṁ ca saṁjñāpitam | … tatheyam evaikāntitety ucyate … |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 165)
“Thus, when, in this way, direct (sākṣāt) bhakti in the form of hearing and so forth is established as first a remover of all obstacles and [then] a bestower of the goal of prema for Bhagavān himself, and as being supremely difficult [alt., rare] to attain, its not being the abhidheya [i.e., the means to attain the highest good enjoined by the śāstra for all beings] with another desire [i.e., when it is performed with a desire for anything other than prema for Bhagavān] is also [established]. … When [performed] out of desire only for that [i.e., for bhakti itself], bhakti is known as being akiñcanā [lit., ‘without anything’] and akāmā [lit., ‘without desire’]. … Similarly, it is called ekāntitā [lit., ‘one-pointed’].”
bhagavan-matir anapekṣaḥ suhṛdo dīneṣu sānukampo yaḥ |
bahudhā-bodhana-caturo vaktā sammānito munibhiḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 4.22)
“One whose mind is fixed on Bhagavān, and who is impartial [alt., without any desire, such as for obtaining wealth and fame], well-wishing, compassionate to the unfortunate, and expert in teaching in numerous ways is honored as a speaker by the sages.”
śrotāro’tha nirūpyante śrīmad-viṣṇu-kathāśrayāḥ |
pravarā avarāś ceti śrotāro dvi-vidhā-patāḥ ||
pravarāś cātako haṁsaḥ śuko mīnādayas tathā |
avarā vṛka-bhūruṇḍa-vṛṣoṣṭādyāḥ prakīrtitāḥ ||
akhilopekṣayā yas tu kṛṣṇa-śāstra-śrutau vratī |
saḥ cātako yathāmbhoda-mukte pāthasi cātakaḥ ||
haṁsaḥ syāt sāram ādatte yaḥ śrotā vividhāc chrutāt |
dugdhenaikyaṁ gatāt toyād yathā haṁso’malaṁ payaḥ ||
śukaḥ suṣṭhu mitaṁ vakti vyāsam śrotṝṁś ca harṣayan |
supāṭhitaḥ śuko yadvat śikṣakaṁ pārśvagān api ||
śabdaṁ nānimiṣo jātu karoty āsvādayan rasam |
śrotā snigdho bhaven mīno mīnaḥ kṣīra-nidhau yathā ||
yas tudan rasikān śrotṝn vrauty ajño vṛko hi saḥ |
veṇu-svana-rasāsaktān vṛko’raṇye mṛgān yathā ||
bhūruṇḍaḥ śikṣayed anyāt śrutvā na svayam ācaret |
yathā himavataḥ śṛṅge bhūruṇḍākhyo vihaṁgamaḥ ||
sarvaṁ śrutam upādatte sārāsārāndha-dhīr vṛṣaḥ |
svādu-drākṣāṁ khaliṁ cāpi nirviśeṣaṁ yathā vṛṣaḥ ||
sa uṣṭro madhuraṁ muñcan viparīte rameta yaḥ |
yathā nimbaṁ caraty uṣṭro hitvāmram api tad-yutam ||
anye’pi bahavo bhedā dvayor bhṛṅga-kharādayaḥ |
vijñeyās tat-tad-ācāraiḥ tat-tat-prakṛti-sambhavaiḥ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya, 4.10–20)
“Now, listeners focused on Śrīmad Viṣṇu-kathā are examined. Listeners are set down in two categories: superior and inferior. The superior are called the cātaka, swan, parrot, fish, and so forth, and the inferior are [called] the wolf, bhūruṇḍa, bull, camel, and so forth. One who is avowed to listening [only] to Kṛṣṇa-śāstra with indifference towards all [else] is a cātaka, as the cātaka [bird] is avowed [exclusively] to water released by clouds. A listener who extracts the essence from various śāstras, just as a swan extracts pure milk from water that has been combined with milk, shall be [known as] a swan. A parrot [i.e., the class of listeners known as a parrot] speaks [i.e., recounts what has been heard] superlatively and concisely, delighting the expounder [i.e., the speaker of the Bhāgavatam] and the [other] listeners, just as a well-trained parrot delights his teacher and passers-by. A listener who never makes a sound or blinks, tastes the rasa [i.e., the rasa of the Bhāgavatam], and is affectionate [alt., lustrous] shall be [known as] a fish and is like a fish in the ocean of kṣīra. One who troubles and barks at rasikas and other listeners and is ignorant is a wolf, like a wolf who barks at and troubles deer in the forest fixated upon the rasa of the sound of a flute [played by a hunter]. The bhūruṇḍa will instruct others after listening but not practice himself [what he has heard and instructed others], just as the bird known as the bhūruṇḍa is found on the peaks of the Himalayas [where it listens to the talk of the sages there but does not practice those teachings itself]. The bull, whose mind is blind to [the distinction between] essence and non-essence, takes in everything that is heard, just as a bull indiscriminately takes in tasty grapes and oil-cakes as well. One who leaves aside what is sweet and enjoys the opposite [i.e., bitter things] is a camel, just as a camel grazes on neem and avoids even mangoes beside it. There are many other divisions of these two [i.e., superior and inferior listeners], such as the bee and the mule. They are to be known by their respective behaviors arising from their respective natures.”
na pārameṣṭhyaṁ na mahendra-dhiṣṇyaṁ
na sārvabhaumaṁ na rasādhipatyam |
na yoga-siddhīr apunar-bhavaṁ vā
mayy arpitātmecchati mad vinānyat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.14; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.580; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.42; Bhakti Sandarbha: 132, 168; Prīti Sandarbha: 23)
[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “One who has offered oneself to me desires neither the post of Brahmā, nor the abode of Indra, nor dominion over the entire earth, nor reign over Pātāla, nor the siddhis of yoga, nor non-repetition of birth [i.e., mokṣa], nor anything else apart from me.”
sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ sutarāṁ mat-kṛtātmanām |
darśanān no bhaved bandhaḥ puṁso’kṣṇoḥ savitur yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.10.41; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 179)
“As there is no longer any bondage for the eyes upon seeing the sun, so there is no longer any bondage for a person upon seeing sādhus who are equanimous and thus of mind fixed upon me.”
