atha jape mantrārthasya nānātve’pi puruṣārthānukūla evāsau cintyaḥ
atha jape mantrārthasya nānātve’pi puruṣārthānukūla evāsau cintyaḥ | yathā śrīmad-aṣṭākṣarādāv ātma-nivedana-lakṣaṇa-caturthy-ādy-abhāvavati mantre tad-anusandhāneneti | evam anye’pi pūjā-vidhayo yathāyathaṁ yojanīyāḥ, śuddha-bhakti-siddhy-arthaṁ sarvāsāṁ bhaktīnām eva śuddhatvāśuddhatva-rūpeṇa dvividho hi bhedaḥ sammata iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 296)
“Now, in regard to japa, although there is variety in the meaning of mantras, only that [meaning] which is favorable for [attaining] one’s object of life (puruṣārtha) is to be meditated on, as in the case of mantras such as the sacred eight-syllable one which do not have the fourth case indicative of offering of the self or otherwise; [one is to meditate on such mantras] with one’s aim upon that [i.e., on the meaning of the mantra that facilitates one’s attainment of one’s object of life (puruṣārtha)]. In others as well [i.e., in other aspects of the performance of worship], the rules of worship are to be applied as appropriate in like manner [i.e., they are to be applied in such a manner that one’s observance of them facilitates one’s attainment of one’s object of life]. For the sake of the establishment of pure bhakti, a twofold division of all acts of bhakti in the form of [their] being pure or being impure is accepted [by qualified authorities, i.e., any form of bhakti can be performed for the sake of attaining bhakti itself as one’s puruṣārtha (such an act of bhakti is categorized as being pure) or for the sake of attaining any of the four conventional puruṣāṛthas—dharma, artha, kāma, or mokṣa (such an act of bhakti is categorized as being impure)].”