sakṛt tvad-ākāra-vilokanāśayā
tṛṇī-kṛtānuttama-bhukti-muktibhiḥ |
mahātmabhir mām avalokyatāṁ naya
kṣaṇe’pi te yad viraho’ti-duḥsahaḥ ||
(Stotra-ratna: 56)
“Please bring me into the sight of those great souls who out of longing to once behold your figure consider unparalleled enjoyment and mukti to be straw, [those great souls] whose separation is extremely difficult to bear for a moment even for you.”
vajrād api kaṭhorāṇi mṛdūni kusumād api |
lokottarāṇāṁ cetāṁsi ko nu vijñātum īśvaraḥ ||
(Uttara-rāma-carita: 2.7; cited in Caitanya Caritāmṛta: 2.7.73)
“Who has the ability to understand hearts of extraordinary persons, which are [both] harder than a lightning bolt and softer than a flower?”
tad etad vyākhyātam abhidheyam | atrānyo’pi viśeṣaḥ śāstra-mahājana-dṛṣṭyānusandheyaḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 340)
“Thus, this abhidheya has been explained. In this regard, other additional detail is to be investigated by consulting the śāstra and great persons (mahājanas).”
manasy anyad vacasy anyat karmaṇy anyad durātmanām |
manasy ekaṁ vacasy ekaṁ karmaṇy ekaṁ mahātmanām ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.102)
“The wicked think one thing, say something else, and do yet another thing. Great souls think, say, and do one [and the same] thing.”
aloka-sāmānyam acintya-hetukaṁ
dviṣanti mandāś caritaṁ mahātmanām ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.75)
“Fools deride the character of great souls because it is extraordinary and its cause is incomprehensible [to them].”
tarko’pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā
nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataṁ na bhinnam |
dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Vana-parva, 313.117; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.17.186, 2.25.57)
“Reasoning is inconclusive, the Śrutis are variegated, and one whose opinion is not distinctive is not a ṛṣi. The nature of dharma is [thus] hidden in secret. [Therefore,] That by which a mahājana has gone is the path.”
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].”
tatratyānāṁ jīva-mātrāṇām eva kṣemaṁ kartum iti tataś ca kāliyāgamanena teṣāṁ sarveṣām akṣemam evābhūd iti mahad-aparādhinaḥ kṛpāpi viparīta-phalava bhaved iti dyotitam |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.17.10)
“Regarding [Saubhari’s speaking] ‘to [try to] benefit all the jīvas situated there,” thereafter, with Kāliya’s arrival, all of them were only harmed [rather than benefitted], and thus even the grace of one who is an aparādhī against great persons may produce opposite results. This is illustrated [by Saubhari’s aparādha to Gaurḍa].”
āyuḥ śriyaṁ yaśo dharmaṁ lokān āśiṣa eva ca |
hanti śreyāṁsi sarvāṇi puṁso mahad-atikramaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.4.46; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.15.270 and 2.25.84)
“Disrespecting the great [i.e., great persons] destroys a person’s lifespan, wealth, fame, virtue, destinations [in this life and the next], and desired ends, as well as all one’s auspicious endeavors.”
