Nyāyas

rasena yena yenānte veśākārādinā tathā

rasena yena yenānte veśākārādinā tathā |
sevitvā kṛṣṇa-pādābje yo yo vaikuṇṭham āgataḥ ||
tasya tasyākhilaṁ tat tac chrīmad-bhagavataḥ priyam |
tasmai tasmai praroceta tasmāt tat-tad-rasādikam ||
te ca sarve’tra vaikuṇṭhe śrī-nārāyaṇam īśvaram |
tat-tad-varṇādi-yuktātma-deva-rūpaṁ vicakṣate ||
pūrvavad bhajanānandaṁ prāpnuvanti navaṁ navam |
sarvadāpy aparicchinnaṁ vaikuṇṭhe’tra viśeṣataḥ ||
ye tv asādharaṇaiḥ sarvaiḥ pūrvair ātma-manoramaiḥ |
parivārādibhir yuktaṁ nijam iṣṭataraṁ prabhum ||
sampaśyanto yathā-pūrvaṁ sadaivecchanti sevitum |
te’tyanta-tat-tan-niṣṭhāntya-kaṣṭhavanto mahāśayāḥ ||
te cāsyaiva pradeśeṣu tādṛśeṣu purādiṣu |
tathaiva tādṛśaṁ nāthaṁ bhajantas tanvate sukham ||
ye caikatara-rūpasya prīti-niṣṭhā bhavanti na |
aviśeṣa-grahās tasya yat-kiñcid-rūpa-sevakāḥ ||
ye ca lakṣmī-pater aṣṭākṣarādi-manu-tat-parāḥ |
te hi sarve sva-dehānte vaikuṇṭham imam āśritāḥ ||
yathā-kāmaṁ sukhaṁ prāpuḥ sarvato’py adhikaṁ sukhāt |
teṣāṁ sva-sva-rasānaikyāt tāratamye’pi tulyatā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.145–154)

“That particular beautiful rasa, as well as the garb, form, and so forth, dear to Bhagavān, with which they have worshiped the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and finally reached Vaikuṇṭha—all of that is deeply relished by them [i.e., by bhaktas who thereafter dwell eternally in Vaikuṇṭha] because of that [i.e., because of that form, garb, rasa, and so forth being dear to Śrī Bhagavān]. Furthermore, in Vaikuṇṭha, they all behold Śrī Nārāyaṇa, the Īśvara, in the form of their own Deva [i.e., in the form of their personal Iṣṭa-devatā] replete with that particular complexion and so forth [i.e., replete with the complexion, appearance, associates, and so forth unique to their Iṣṭa-devatā]. Although always unceasing as before, they attain newer and newer bliss in worship here in Vaikuṇṭha especially [i.e., as the bliss they felt during their worship in their final body in saṁsāra was unceasing, it is felt to increase and become ever-new upon entering their Iṣṭa-devatā’s personal abode and presence]. They as previously [aspired for] behold in full their own dearmost Prabhu [i.e., their Iṣṭa-devatā] replete with all the previous extraordinary associates and so forth [i.e., characteristics, activities, and so on] pleasing to their hearts which they always desired to worship [directly while they were in saṁsāra] since these high-minded ones [i.e., these bhaktas endowed with extremely deep, imperturbable cognitive functions (parama-gambhīrākṣobhya-citta-vṛttayaḥ)] are possessed of the extremity of superlative fixity [i.e., one-pointedness] in these [i.e., in these associates, characteristics, activities, and so forth specifically of their Iṣṭa-devatā]. Furthermore, they worship the Lord as such only in that way in such domains as the city [i.e., Dvārakā] and expand their bliss [i.e., they worship the Lord only in the particular form of their Iṣṭa-devatā along with his particular associates, particular abode, and so forth that are the specific object of their superlative fixity]. [On the contrary,] All of the worshipers of any particular form of the Lord of Lakṣmī who do not have fixity in love (prīti) for one particular form [of his] because they do not have any specific inclination [towards any one particular form of his] and who are devoted to a mantra such as the eight-syllable become sheltered in this Vaikuṇṭha after the demise of their own [final sāṁsārika] bodies and attain bliss as desired [by them] greater even than all [the] bliss [previously experienced by them while performing worship in saṁsāra]. Even in the midst of a gradation [in the degree of the bliss these bhaktas of various types experience] on account of the non-singularity of their own respective rasas, there is an equality among them.”

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tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja

tvaṁ bhakti-yoga-paribhāvita-hṛt-saroja
āsse śrutekṣita-patho nanu nātha puṁsām |
yad yad dhiyā ta urugāya vibhāvayanti
tat tad vapuḥ praṇayase sad-anugrahāya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 7.383; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6, 40; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.3.111)

“[Brahmā to Śrī Bhagavān:] O Nātha! You, he the path to whom is seen by hearing, dwell in the lotus-hearts of living beings that have been purified by bhakti-yoga [alt., that have been made fit (for you) by virtue of prema]. O you of highest praise! [Alt., O you who are sung of in many ways!] Out of favor upon the sat, you bring forth that very form of yours which they distinctively meditate on [alt., visualize] with the mind.”

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ekasmin vāsanā-dehe yadi cānyasya bhāvanā

ekasmin vāsanā-dehe yadi cānyasya bhāvanā |
tarhi tat-sāmyam eva syād yathā vai bharate nṛpe ||
(Bhakti-tattva-kaumudī; cited in Gaura-Govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhati (149) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (152))

“If thought of another [body] occurs while in one cognitional body, then likeness with that specifically shall occur [i.e., then one will attain a body like the one that was thought of], as in the case of King Bharata [who attained the body of a deer after being prolongedly absorbed in thought of a deer he had taken into his care].”

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na hi nindā nindayituṁ prayujyate

na hi nindā nindayituṁ prayujyate | kiṁ tarhi? ninditād itarat praśaṁsitum |
(Śabara-bhāṣya on Mīmāṁsā-sūtra: 2.4.21)

“The criticism (nindā) is not employed to criticize. Then what [is it employed for]? To praise something other than that which is criticized.”

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tad evaṁ tat-kratu-nyāyena ca śuddha-bhaktānām anyā gatir nāsty eva

tad evaṁ tat-kratu-nyāyena ca śuddha-bhaktānām anyā gatir nāsty eva | śrutiś ca—‘yathā kratur asmin loke puruṣo bhavati, tathetaḥ pretya bhavati’ iti, kratur atra saṅkalpa iti bhāṣyakārāḥ | śruty-antaraṁ ca—‘sa yathā-kāmo bhavati, tat kratur bhavati | yat-kratur bhavati, tat karma kurute | yat karma kurute, tad abhisampadyate’ iti | anyac ca ‘yad yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavanti’ iti | śrī-bhagavat-pratijñā ca—‘ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham’ iti | tathaiva brahma-vaivarte—‘yadi māṁ prāptum icchanti prāpnuvanty eva nānyathā’ iti | … tāḥ prati svayam abhyupagacchati—‘saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo …’ |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 51)

“Thus, in this way, by the ‘principle of like intention’ (tat-kratu-nyāya) [i.e., the principle that the result of a sacrifice will manifest in accord with the performer’s intention], pure bhaktas verily have no other attainment (gati) [i.e., they verily attain the prīti for Bhagavān that they aspire for along with a form, paraphernalia, service, and entrance into an abode of Bhagavān that are suited to that particular type of prīti]. The Śruti also [states this in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1], ‘As is a living being’s intention (kratu) in this world, so the living being becomes upon departing from here.’ Here, [the word] ‘intention’ (kratu) means ‘resolve’ (saṅkalpa) according to the commentator [i.e., Śrī Śaṅkarācāryapāda]. Another Śruti [i.e., Bṛhadārayaṇka Upaniṣad 4.4.5] also [states this], ‘As is one’s desire, so is one’s intention. As is one’s intention, so is the action one performs, and as is the action one performs, so is that which one attains [i.e., the result].’ Elsewhere also [in Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 10.5.2.20], ‘As one worships [him], so indeed one becomes.’ Śrī Bhagavān’s vow as well [is stated in BG 4.11], ‘‘As they approach me, so exactly I reciprocate with them.’ Similarly in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa [it is also stated by Śrī Bhagavān], ‘If they desire to attain me, they certain attain [me] and not otherwise.‘ … Śrī Bhagavān himself affirms [this principle] before them [i.e., before the gopīs] in saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo … [i.e., SB 10.22.25–26].”

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aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi

aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi |
utsarpati rajo ghoraṁ tato vaikārikaṁ manaḥ ||
rajo-yuktasya manasaḥ saṅkalpaḥ sa-vikalpakaḥ |
tataḥ kāmo guṇa-dhyānād duḥsahaḥ syād dhi durmateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.9–10)

[In response to Uddhava’s inquiry as to why human beings engage in sensual enjoyment even though they generally know it ultimately results only in suffering, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:] “When a false notion of ‘I’ [i.e., identification with the material body and mind] surges in the heart of a bewildered person [i.e., someone devoid of proper discrimination], then frightful rajas surges in the sāttvika mind [i.e., even though the mind is sāttvika by nature]. Resolve along with fancy arise in a mind possessed by rajas, and then irresistible desire arises because of the deluded person’s [consequent] meditation on qualities [i.e., mental absorption in the qualities of the object of the mind’s resolve and fancy].”

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yasya sphūrti-lavāṅkureṇa laghunāpy antar munīnāṁ manaḥ

yasya sphūrti-lavāṅkureṇa laghunāpy antar munīnāṁ manaḥ
spṛṣṭaṁ mokṣa-sukhād virajyati jhaṭity āsvādyamānād api |
premṇas tasya mukunda sāhasitayā śaknotu kaḥ prārthane
bhūyāj janmani janmani pracayinī kintu spṛhāpy atra me ||
(Stava-mālā: Aṣṭādaśa-cchanda, Vastra-haraṇa, 2)

“O Mukunda, who could have the capability to boldly pray for that prema upon being touched by even a tiny sprout of a minute manifestation of which the inner minds of sages immediately become disaffected from even the satisfaction of mokṣa they are relishing? [No one.] Birth after birth, however, let me just have [ever-] increasing desire for that [i.e., that prema].”

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janma-trayānuguṇita-vaira-saṁrabdhayā dhiyā

janma-trayānuguṇita-vaira-saṁrabdhayā dhiyā |
dhyāyaṁs tan-mayatāṁ yāto bhāvo hi bhava-kāraṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.74.46)

“Meditating [on Bhagavān] with a mind enflamed with enmity over the course of three births, he [i.e., Śiśupāla] reached [after giving up his body] a state of absorption [in him, i.e., he again became his pārṣada, personal associate], as bhāva [i.e., one’s continuous meditation, contemplation, and focus] is the cause of [one’s future] birth [be it within saṁsāra or beyond].”

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vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām

vairānubandha-tīvreṇa dhyānenācyuta-sātmatām |
nītau punar hareḥ pārśvaṁ jagmatur viṣṇu-pārṣadau ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.1.47)

“By meditation [on Bhagavān] with an intense sense of enmity, these two associates of Viṣṇu [i.e., Jaya and Vijaya] attained a state of being of the same form as Acyuta [i.e., they merged into him, and later, they attained forms like his], and returned to the side of Hari [i.e., resumed their roles as his gatekeepers in Vaikuṇṭha].”

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dharmārthaṁ yasya vittehā

dharmārthaṁ yasya vittehā varaṁ tasya nirīhatā |
prakṣālanād dhi paṅkasya dūrād asparśanaṁ varam ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.2.49; cited in Hitopadeśa: 1.174)

“For one who desires [alt., pursues] wealth for the sake of dharma, desirelessness [alt., non-pursuit] is better, just as remaining untouched by mud from afar is better than washing [it off after touching it].”

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