alpākṣaraṁ ramaṇīyaṁ yaḥ kathayati niścitaṁ sa khalu vāgmī |
bahu-vacanam alpa-sāraṁ yaḥ kathayati vipralāpī saḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3197)
“One who explains [a subject] in a few pleasing words is certainly eloquent. One who explains [a subject] with many words of little substance is a prattler.”
alpākṣaraṁ ramaṇīyaṁ yaḥ kathayati niścitaṁ sa khalu vāgmī Read on →
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā
viraktim anyatra karoti puṁsaḥ |
hareḥ padānusmṛti-nirvṛtasya
samasta-duḥkhāpyayam āśu dhatte ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.13)
“That [i.e., inclination (mati), meaning, taste, for discussion of Hari], upon flourishing, produces disinterest for all else in a person endowed with śraddhā. The dissolution of all suffering of one who is delighted by continuous remembrance of Hari’s feet is quickly effected.”
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā Read on →
vādo jalpo vitaṇḍeti trividhā viduṣāṁ kathā |
tattva-nirṇayam uddiśya kevalaṁ guru-śiṣyayoḥ ||
kathānyeṣām api satāṁ vādo vā samiteḥ śubhā |
khyāty-ādy-arthaṁ spardhayā vā satāṁ jalpa itīryate ||
vitaṇḍā tu satām anyais tattvam eṣu nigūhitam |
(Madhvācārya’s Kathā-lakṣaṇam: 2–3)
“The kathā (discussion) of the wise is of three types: vāda, jalpa, and vitaṇḍā. The kathā between a guru and disciple, or, in an assembly of other sādhus as well, that is learned [alt., auspicious] and purely for the purpose of ascertaining tattva is [called] vāda. The kathā of sādhus, on the contrary, for the purpose of [attaining] renown and so forth is called jalpa. The kathā of sādhus, on the contrary, with others [i.e., those whose objective is not ascertaining tattva] wherein tattva is concealed is [called] vitaṇḍā.”
vādo jalpo vitaṇḍeti trividhā viduṣāṁ kathā Read on →
yat pītaṁ śruti-vāṅ-manobhir aniśaṁ tṛṣṇā-pradam adbhutaṁ
saṁsārāmaya-hāry api praṇayajonmādāndhya-mohādi-kṛt |
śaśvac carvitam apy analpa-rasadaṁ dehādi-hṛt-puṣṭidaṁ
taj jīyād amṛta-spṛhā-haram idaṁ govinda-līlāmṛtam ||
(Govinda Līlāmṛta: 1.5)
“May this wonderful Govinda-līlāmṛtam triumph! [Why is it wonderful?] Even when it is drunk with the ears, tongue, and mind, it incessantly produces thirst [for more of itself] and [simultaneously] gives nourishment to the body, heart, and so forth; even though it cures the disease of saṁsāra, it gives rise to the madness, blindness, delusion, and so forth manifest by love (praṇāya) [i.e., the “disease” of Kṛṣṇa-prema]; even when it is chewed constantly [as it wonderfully can continually be both drunk and chewed], it produces no small amount of rasa [i.e., as sugarcane does, but rather again and again produces an abundance of sweet prema-rasa]; and even though it is itself amṛta (nectar), it removes all desire for amṛta [i.e., be it the nectarean beverage drunk by the devas to remain ever-youthful sought by the karmīs or the various forms of liberation from māyā sought by the jñānīs and yogīs].”
yat pītaṁ śruti-vāṅ-manobhir aniśaṁ tṛṣṇā-pradam adbhutaṁ Read on →
vayaṁ dhanyatamā loke guro’pi kṣatra-bandhavaḥ |
vayaṁ pibāmo muhus tvattaḥ puṇyaṁ kṛṣṇa-kathāmṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.12.43)
[Parīkṣit Mahārāja to Śukadeva Gosvāmī:] “O guru, although we are [just] relatives of kṣatriyas [i.e., we are the lowest of kṣatriyas], we are the most fortunate in the world, for we are drinking repeatedly the pure nectar of Kṛṣṇa-kathā from you.”
vayaṁ dhanyatamā loke guro’pi kṣatra-bandhavaḥ Read on →
yāvaj jano bhajati no bhuvi viṣṇu-bhakti-
vārttā-sudhā-rasa-viśeṣa-rasaika-sāram |
tāvaj jarā-maraṇa-janma-śatābhighāta-
duḥkhāni tāni labhate bahu-dehajāni ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Pātāla-khaṇḍa, 85.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.607; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)
“As long as a human being on earth does not partake of [i.e., take shelter with bhakti in] the one essence—the rasa of the exceptional nectar of the tidings of Viṣṇu-bhakti—then one undergoes the sufferings of the lashings of hundreds of infirmities, deaths, and births begotten by numerous bodies [i.e., the severe suffering of saṁsāra is extinguished only when one attains Viṣṇu-bhakti, and thus attaining it is imperative].”
yāvaj jano bhajati no bhuvi viṣṇu-bhakti Read on →
kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ viraktir māna-śūnyatā |
āśā-bandhaḥ samutkaṇṭhā nāma-gāne sadā ruciḥ ||
āsaktis tad-guṇākhyāne prītis tad-vasati-sthale |
ity ādayo’nubhāvāḥ syur jāta-bhāvāṅkure jane ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: Pūrva-vibhāga, 3.25–26)
“(1) Forbearance, (2) not wasting time, (3) non-attachment, (4) pridelessness, (5) hopefulness, (6) longing, (7) constant taste for chanting the name, (8) attachment to discussion of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] qualities, and (9) fondness for his abode—these and other indications shall manifest in a person in whom the sprout of bhāva has arisen.”
kṣāntir avyartha-kālatvaṁ Read on →
mat-kathā-vācakaṁ nityaṁ mat-kathā-śravaṇe ratam |
mat-kathā-prīti-manasaṁ nāhaṁ tyakṣyāmi taṁ naram ||
(Viṣṇu-dharma; Skanda Purāṇa: 2.5.16.53; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)
“[Bhagavān:] I never abandon that person who always recounts discussion of me, who engages in hearing discussion of me, or whose mind fosters fondness (prīti) for discussion of me.”
mat-kathā-vācakaṁ nityaṁ Read on →
yatra yatra mahīpāla vaiṣṇavī vartate kathā |
tatra tatra harir yāti gaur yathā suta-vatsalā ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)
“O Protector of the earth, Hari goes wherever kathā of the Vaiṣṇavas [i.e., discussion of Viṣṇu or Vaiṣṇavas] is present like a cow full of affection for its calf.”
yatra yatra mahīpāla Read on →
