vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ |
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)
“One endowed with śraddhā who shall hear about or describe this extraordinary play and so forth of Viṣṇu with the ladies of Vraja attains superlative bhakti to Bhagavān, quickly casts off the heart disease of kāma, and without delay becomes steadfast.”
he śrīvāsādaya iha kṛpā-mūrtayo gauracandra-
premāmbudheḥ sura-viṭapinaḥ śānta-saumya-svabhāvāḥ |
dīnoddhāre prabala-niyamāḥ premadā yūyam eva
tasmād ajñaṁ prapada-rajasā pāpinaṁ māṁ punīta ||
(Sādhanāmṛta-candrikā: 1.12)
“O Śrīvāsa and so forth! O Embodiments of grace! You are all desire-trees [manifest] from the ocean of prema for Gauracandra, of peaceful and tranquil nature, and givers of prema who are most firm in your vows to deliver the poor. Therefore, please purify me, an ignorant sinner, with the dust from the tips of our feet.”
śuddha-bhaktimatāṁ svata eva śuddhāntaḥ-karaṇatvāt prāṇi-mātrāvajñā prāyo na sambhavet | karma-miśra-bhaktimatāṁ tu sā sambhaved eva yāvad antaḥ-karaṇasyāśuddhiḥ, tasya śuddhau satyāṁ tu sā na tiṣṭhet … |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.25)
“Because the antaḥkaraṇas of those engaged in pure bhakti are pure of their own accord, disrespecting any living being is generally not possible [for them]. For those engaged in karma-miśra-bhakti, however, this [i.e., disrespecting others] is certainly possible as long as impurity of the antaḥkaraṇa remains. When it becomes pure, however, this [i.e., disrespecting others] does not remain.”
pibanti ye bhagavata ātmanaḥ satāṁ
kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṇa-puṭeṣu sambhṛtam |
punanti te viṣaya-vidūṣitāśayaṁ
vrajanti tac-caraṇa-saroruhāntikam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.37; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.441; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.124; Paramātma Sandarbha: 108; Bhakti Sandarbha: 30, 86)
“Those who drink, held in the cups of their ears, the nectar of kathā about Bhagavān, the Ātmā of the sādhus, purify their hearts contaminated by viṣaya and reach the presence of his lotus feet.”
vidyā-tapaḥ-prāṇa-nirodha-maitrī-
tīrthābhiṣeka-vrata-dāna-japyaiḥ |
nātyanta-śuddhiṁ labhate’ntar-ātmā
yathā hṛdi-sthe bhagavaty anante ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.48)
“The inner self does not attain such great purification by learning [i.e., worship of the devatās], austerity, prāṇāyāma, good will, bathing at tīrthas, rites, charity, or japa as [its does] when Bhagavān Ananta is situated in the heart.”
yathā hemni sthito vahnir durvarṇaṁ hanti dhātu-jam |
evam ātma-gato viṣṇur yoginām aśubhāśayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.47)
“As fire set upon gold removes discoloration caused by metals, so Viṣṇu situated in the mind [removes] the inauspicious thoughts of yogīs.”
śrutaḥ saṅkīrtito dhyātaḥ pūjitaś cādṛto’pi vā |
nṛṇāṁ dhunoti bhagavān hṛt-stho janmāyatāśubham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.46)
“When heard about, highly praised, meditated upon, worshipped, or even honored, Bhagavān, situated in the heart, removes ten-thousand births of human beings’ inauspiciousness.”
puṁsāṁ kali-kṛtāṁ doṣān dravya-deśātma-sambhavān |
sarvān harati citta-stho bhagavān puruṣottamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.45)
“Bhagavān, Puruṣottama, situated in the citta, removes from people all the faults created by Kali existing amid objects, places, and the self.”
yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hrdi sthitāḥ |
atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty atra brahma samaśnute ||
(Bṛhad-ārayaṇka Upaniṣad: 4.4.7; Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.14; cited in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Sārātha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.32, Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9, the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55; Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 4.2.7)
“When all the desires present in one’s heart are dispelled, then a mortal becomes immortal and here experiences Brahman.”
cittam eva hi saṁsāras tat prayatnena śodhayet |
yac cittas tanmayo bhāti guhyam etat sanātanam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.3; Śāṭyāyanīya Upaniṣad: 3)
“The citta (mind) itself is saṁsāra [i.e., the condition of one’s citta is the cause of the perpetuation of one’s bondage in saṁsāra]. Purify it with exertion. As is the citta, so one becomes [i.e., one becomes absorbed in, constituted of, and/or identical to the content in one’s citta]. This is the eternal secret.”
