mananāt trāyate yasmāt tasmān mantraḥ prakīrtitaḥ |
(Matsya-sūkta; cited in in Śabda-kalpa-druma)
“That by meditating upon which one is delivered is called a mantra [lit., ‘a means (tra) of meditation (man)’].”
mananāt trāyate yasmāt tasmān mantraḥ prakīrtitaḥ Read on →
apauruṣeyaṁ vākyaṁ vedaḥ | sa ca vidhi-mantra-nāmadheya-niṣedhārthavāda-bhedāt pañca-vidhaḥ |
(Artha-saṅgraha: 1 (10))
“Veda is a statement that is not produced by a puruṣa (apauruṣeya) [i.e., a statement that is beginninglessly self-existent and thus not produced by any living being]. That [i.e., Veda], furthermore, is of five types according to the divisions of (1) vidhi [i.e., injunction], (2) mantra [i.e., hymn], (3) nāmadheya [i.e., name], (4) niṣedha [i.e., prohibition], and (5) arthavāda [i.e., explanatory or eulogistic passage].”
apauruṣeyaṁ vākyaṁ vedaḥ Read on →
avaiṣṇavopadiṣṭena mantreṇa nirayaṁ vrajet |
punaś ca vidhinā samyag grāhayed vaiṣṇavād guroḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 4.366 and the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.54; Bhakti Sandarbha: 207)
“One shall go to hell as a result of [receiving] a mantra imparted by a non-Vaiṣṇava. [If one has received a mantra from a non-Vaiṣṇava] Again and properly according to rule, one should occasion reception [of a mantra] from a Vaiṣṇava guru.”
avaiṣṇavopadiṣṭena mantreṇa nirayaṁ vrajet Read on →
yo vakti nyāya-rahitam anyāyena śṛṇoti yaḥ |
tāv ubhau narakaṁ ghoraṁ vrajataḥ kālam akṣayam ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.101; Bhakti Sandarbha: 238)
“Both one who speaks devoid of rule [i.e., without adherence to śāstra] and one who listens devoid of rule [i.e., without adherence to śāstra] proceed to a dark hell for unlimited time.”
yo vakti nyāya-rahitam anyāyena śṛṇoti yaḥ Read on →
gopayed devatām iṣṭāṁ gopayed gurum ātmanaḥ |
gopayec ca nijaṁ mantraṁ gopayen nija-mālikām ||
(Sammohana Tantra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 2.147)
“One should conceal [one’s] Iṣṭa-devatā. One should conceal one’s guru. One should conceal one’s mantra. One should conceal one’s mālikā.”
gopayed devatām iṣṭāṁ gopayed gurum ātmanaḥ Read on →
atha dīkṣitasya pūjāyā nityatā |
labdhvā mantraṁ tu yo nityaṁ nārcayen mantra-devatām |
sarva-karmāphalaṁ tasyāniṣṭaṁ yacchati devatā ||
(Āgama-śāstra; cited Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.3)
“Now, the necessity of pūjā for one who has [received] dīkṣā [is described]: All the activities of one who receives a mantra but does not daily worship the devatā of the mantra are fruitless, and the devatā imposes disadvantage upon him.”
labdhvā mantraṁ tu yo nityaṁ Read on →
mantre tīrthe dvije deve daivajñe bheṣaje gurau |
yādṛśī bhāvanā yasya siddhir bhavati tādṛśī ||
(Skanda Purāṇga: 5.3.227.38–9; cited in Pañcatantra: 5.96)
“In regard to a mantra, tīrtha, brāhmaṇa, deva, astrologer, medicine, or guru—as is one’s attitude (bhāvanā), so is one’s attainment.”
mantre tīrthe dvije deve Read on →
