anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam |
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.11)
“Continuous action for [alt., related to] Kṛṣṇa possessed of favorability that is free from desirousness of anything else and unobstructed by jñāna, karma, and so forth, is uttamā (exalted) bhakti.”
yad ubhe citta-kāṭhinya-hetū prāyaḥ satāṁ mate |
sukumāra-svabhāveyaṁ bhaktis tad-dhetur īritā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.249)
“Because in the view of sādhus both [i.e., jñāna and vairāgya] are generally causes of hardness of heart, this bhakti, which is of very tender nature, is said to be the cause of that [i.e., of entering into bhakti].”
jñāna-vairāgyayor bhakti-praveśāyopayogitā |
īṣat prathamam eveti nāṅgatvam ucitaṁ tayoḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.248)
“Because jñāna and vairāgya are somewhat useful only at first for entrance into bhakti, their being limbs [of bhakti] is not acceptable.”
bhaktir hi svataḥ prabalatvād anya-nirapekṣā | na tu jñānādivat samyag vairāgyādi-sāpekṣā |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.15)
“Bhakti, because of its own great power, is independent of others [i.e., is not dependent on the paths of jñāna or karma], and not, rather, dependent on complete vairāgya and so forth like jñāna and so forth [i.e., is not like jñāna and karma dependent, respectively, on vairāgya and eligibility for varṇāśrama-dharma].”
yasmai dattaṁ ca yaj-jñānaṁ jñāna-dātā hariḥ svayam |
jñānena tena sa stauti bhāva-grāhī janārdanaḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra: 1.12.40)
“One offers praises [to Hari] with the knowledge which Hari himself, the bestower of knowledge, has bestowed upon one, but Janārdana [i.e., “the instigator of the people”] is a partaker of bhāva [i.e., Hari relishes primarily the bhāva of his bhaktas, and not their knowledge].”
labdhveha mānuṣīṁ yoniṁ jñāna-vijñāna-sambhavām |
ātmānaṁ yo na buddhyeta na kvacit kṣemam āpnuyāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.16.58)
“Having attained a human form, which has the potential for jñāna [i.e., knowledge based on śāstra] and vijñāna [i.e., direct perception of reality], one who is not able to understand the ātmā [i.e., the jīva and the Parameśvara] cannot [alt., can never] attain weal anywhere [i.e., in any condition of human life, no matter how well endowed with wealth, power, etc.].”
athātmano’rtha-bhūtasya yato’nartha-paramparā |
saṁsṛtis tad-vyavacchedo bhaktyā paramayā gurau ||
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogaḥ samāhitaḥ |
sadhrīcīnena vairāgyaṁ jñānaṁ ca janayiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.36–37)
“Therefore, termination of [ignorance,] that because of which the succession of anarthas, saṁsāra, exists for the ātmā, the [truly] existent entity, occurs through pure bhakti to Guru [i.e., Bhagavān, or, the teacher of Bhagavad-bhakti], for fully performed bhakti-yoga to Vāsudeva, Bhagavān [i.e., bhakti performed entirely for Bhagavān’s satisfaction without any separate interest—prema-bhakti], will produce real non-attachment (vairāgya) and knowledge (jñāna).”
yac chraddhayā śrutavatyā ca bhaktyā
sammṛjyamāne hṛdaye’vadhāya |
jñānena vairāgya-balena dhīrā
vrajema tat te’ṅghri-saroja-pīṭham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.42)
“Meditating upon the seat of your lotus feet in our hearts fully purified by bhakti cultivated through hearing with śraddhā, and having become sagacious by virtue of knowledge and the strength of vairāgya, let us approach that [i.e., let us take shelter at that seat of your lotus feet].”
