Purification

adhītya caturo vedān sarva-śāstrāṇy anekaśaḥ

adhītya caturo vedān sarva-śāstrāṇy anekaśaḥ |
brahma-tattvaṁ na jānāti darvī pāka-rasaṁ yathā ||
(Muktikā Upaniṣad: 2.65)

“[Even] After repeatedly studying the four Vedas and all the śāstras, one does not understand the nature of Brahman, just as a spoon does not know the taste of cooked food [i.e., to realize Brahman one has to not only acquire knowledge of Brahman but also purify the mind of saṁsārika vāsanās].”

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asmākaṁ tu mataṁ tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ

asmākaṁ tu mataṁ tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ ity-ādi-vacanatas tathā bhakter anāyāsa-siddhatva-śravaṇāt tathā bhaktir eva bhaktim utpādayati iti nyāyāc ca śrī-bhagavat-kṛpayā tad-eka-mātrāpekṣasya sukhaṁ sampadyate |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta Dig-darśinī­-ṭīkā: 2.2.213)

“Our view, however, is that in accord with statements such as tat te’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ [in SB 10.14.8], because it is heard that bhakti is established without difficulty, and in accord with the principle that bhakti itself produces bhakti, the happiness [i.e., the superlative happiness of niṣṭhā in bhakti] of one who depends only on him [i.e., Bhagavān] manifests [just by] by the grace of Śrī Bhagavān [i.e., taking up any other process, such as karma or jñāna, for the sake of citta-śuddhi is unnecessary].”

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yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā

yadi na samuddharanti yatayo hṛdi kāma-jaṭā
duradhigamo’satāṁ hṛdi gato’smṛta-kaṇṭha-maṇiḥ |
asu-tṛpa-yoginām ubhayato’py asukhaṁ bhagavann
anapagatāntakād anadhirūḍha-padād bhavataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.39)

“O Bhagavān, if ascetics do not fully eradicate the roots of desire in the heart, then although you are present in the heart [of these ascetics], you become difficult to attain like a forgotten jewel on the neck, and yogīs who [merely] satisfy the life airs [i.e., who do not sincerely practice yoga to attain you but rather only for bodily and other worldly benefits] attain only distress from both sides [i.e., in this world and the next] because of not being free from causes of death [i.e., because they continue to undergo the threefold sufferings of material existence while living] and because of not having realized your nature [i.e., because they remain subject to saṁsāra in the hereafter].”

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na hy am-mayāni tīrthāni na devā mṛc-chilā-mayāḥ

na hy am-mayāni tīrthāni na devā mṛc-chilā-mayāḥ |
te punanty uru-kālena darśanād eva sādhavaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.84.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.204, Bhakti Sandarbha 184)

[Kṛṣṇa:] “Are places made of water not tīrthas? [They are.] Are figures made of earth and stone are not [deities of] devas? [They are.] They [certainly] purify [a living being] over the course of a long time. Sādhus [however] purify just by sight [i.e., immediately, and should thus be considered the greatest of tīrthas and the greatest of devas].”

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hari-bhakti-parāṇāṁ tu saṅgināṁ saṅga-mātrataḥ

hari-bhakti-parāṇāṁ tu saṅgināṁ saṅga-mātrataḥ |
mucyate sarva-pāpebhyo mahā-pātakavān api ||
(Bṛhan Nāradīya Purāṇa: 1.36.61; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.252 Bhakti Sandarbha: 148)

“Even a great sinner is liberated from all sins just by the association of those who associate with those who are engaged in Hari-bhakti.”

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rucim udvahatas tatra janasya bhajane hareḥ

rucim udvahatas tatra janasya bhajane hareḥ |
viṣayeṣu gariṣṭho’pi rāgaḥ prāyo vilīyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.254)

“For a person endowed with ruci there in bhajana of Hari, even the heaviest attachment to the sense objects largely dissolves.”

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yasya nāmnā vinaśyanti mahāpātaka-rāśayaḥ

yasya nāmnā vinaśyanti mahāpātaka-rāśayaḥ |
tasya śrī-kṛṣṇa-devasya vayam ucchiṣṭa-bhojinaḥ ||
ucchiṣṭa-bhojinas tasya vayam adbhuta-karmaṇaḥ |
yo bālya-līlayā tāṁs tān pūtanādīn apātayat ||
(Unknown source: cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 9.353–4)

“Śrī Kṛṣṇadeva, he by whose name heaps of the most severe sins are completely destroyed—we are partakers of his remnants. We are partakers of the remnants of he of astonishing acts who within his childhood līlā felled those such as Pūtanā.”

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