na deśa-kāla-niyamo na śaucāśauca-nirṇayaḥ |
paraṁ saṅkīrtanād eva rāma rāmeti mucyate ||
(Vaiśvānara-saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.411)
“There is no regulation in regard to place or time, and there is no consideration of pure or impure. One is liberated just by the saṅkīrtana of ‘Rāma, Rāma.’”
cakrāyudhasya nāmāni sadā sarvatra kīrtayet |
nāśaucaṁ kīrtane tasya sa pavitra-karo yataḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa; Skanda Purāṇa; Viṣṇu-dharmottama; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.409)
“One should always and everywhere chant the names of the Wielder of the cakra since he is purifying and there is no [consideration of] impurity in chanting about him.”
dāna-vrata-tapas-tīrtha-yātrādīnāṁ ca yāḥ sthitāḥ |
śaktayo deva-mahatāṁ sarva-pāpa-harāḥ śubhāḥ ||
rājasūyāśvamedhānāṁ jñānasyādhyātma-vastunaḥ |
ākṛṣya hariṇā sarvāḥ sthāpitāḥ sveṣu nāmasu ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.398–399)
“All the auspicious śaktis dispelling of all sin which are present in charity, rites, austerity, pilgrimages to tīrthas, and so forth, as well as in devas and mahats, and in coronations, horse sacrifices, knowledge, and spiritual objects, have been extracted by Hari and established in his own names.”
dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā |
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.22; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.557; Bhakti Sandarbha: 79, 111, 147)
“Devoid of bhakti to me, dharma endowed with truthfulness and compassion, or knowledge accompanied by austerity, certainly do not fully purify the mind.”
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye |
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.4; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.608; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 95; Bhakti Sandarbha: 5, 67, 71, 105, 176; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.22, 2.24.170, 2.25.31)
“O Lord, for those who abandon [the path of] bhakti to you, that from which there is a flow of auspiciousnesses [alt., that which is the path to auspiciousness], and struggle to attain awareness of oneness, only this hardship remains and nothing else, as is the case for those who thresh thick chaff.”
tais tāny aghāni pūyante tapo-dāna-vratādibhiḥ |
nādharmajaṁ tad-dhṛdayaṁ tad apīśāṅghri-sevayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.2.17)
“Those sins [i.e., sins both mild and severe] are destroyed by those austerities, charities, rites, and so forth [i.e., conventional forms of austerities, etc.]. The heart thereof, produced by adharma, is not. That too [i.e., the heart of those sins, however,] is [destroyed] by service to the feet of Īśa.”
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.”
sadā droha-paro yas tu saj-janānāṁ mahī-tale |
jāyate pāvano dhanyo harer nāmānukīrtanāt ||
(Laghu-bhāgavata; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.340)
“[Even] One who is constantly malicious towards virtuous people becomes purified [alt., purifying] and fortunate as a result of continuous chanting of Hari’s name.”
naiṣa jñānavatā śakyas tapasā naiva cejyayā |
saṁprāptum indriyāṇāṁ tu saṁyamenaiva śakyate ||
bāhye cābhyantare caiva karmaṇi manasi sthitaḥ |
nirmalī-kurute buddhyā so’mutrānantyam aśnute ||
yathā hiraṇyakartā vai rūpyam agnau viśodhayet |
bahuśo’tiprayatnena mahatātma-kṛtena ha ||
tadvaj jāti-śatair jīvaḥ śudhyate’nena karmaṇā |
yatnena mahatā caivāpy eka-jātau viśudhyate ||
līlayālpaṁ yathā gātrāt pramṛjyād ātmano rajaḥ |
bahu-yatnena mahatā doṣa-nirharanaṁ tathā ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 280.9–14)
“He [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] is attainable neither by possessing knowledge (jñāna), nor by austerity (tapas), nor by sacrifice. He is able to be attained in full, rather, only by control of the senses. Remaining steadfast in the mind in the midst of external and internal acts [i.e., perseveringly engaging in external acts that are means of purifying the mind, such as sacrifices and austerities, and internal acts that are means of purifying the mind, such as non-attachment and meditation], one purifies [the mind] by means of the intellect (buddhi) and in the hereafter tastes the Infinite [i.e., attains mokṣa and experiences Śrī Bhagavān]. As a goldsmith should highly purify wrought gold with persevering effort performed repeatedly indeed by he himself, so a jīva is purified by these acts over the course of hundreds of births, and someone may indeed be highly purified in one birth as a result of great effort. As one should sportively wipe a small amount of dust away from the body [before it creates a difficult to remove stain], so the complete removal of faults [from the mind] should be accomplished with great persevering effort [lest those faults become even more deeply ingrained in the psyche].”
