ūrdhva-bāhur viraumy eṣa na ca kaścic chṛṇoti me |
dharmād arthaś ca kāmaś ca sa kim arthaṁ na sevyate ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.49)
“With arms upraised, I shout this, but no one listens to me. From dharma come artha and kāma. [So,] Why is it [i.e., dharma] not followed?”
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ |
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo’nughāsam ||
ity acyutāṅghriṁ bhajato’nuvṛttyā
bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhaḥ |
bhavanti vai bhāgavatasya rājaṁs
tataḥ parāṁ śāntim upaiti sākṣāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.42–43; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 262, 340; Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“Bhakti, experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from all else—this triad shall occur at one time for one who has taken shelter just as satisfaction, nourishment, and relief from hunger shall for one who eats with each mouthful. Thus, O King, bhakti, detachment, and understanding of Bhagavān occur for a bhāgavata [i.e., a bhakta] engaged in bhajana continuously to the feet of Acyuta, and thereafter one attains complete peace directly.”
śrī-bhāgavate’smin bhagavat-premaiva sarva-puruṣārtha-śiromaṇitvenodghuṣyate | tasya mūla-bhūtāśrayāṇāṁ bhaktānāṁ madhye nitya-siddhatva eva tasya nitya-sthitiḥ sambhavet, teṣv api madhye gokula-vartinas tan-mātādaya eva śreṣṭhāḥ yeṣāṁ vātsalyādi-bhāva-viṣayī-bhūtaḥ kṛṣṇas tad-anugamana-bhaktimadbhir eva sulabho nānyair …|
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.9.21)
“In this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam only Bhagavat-prema is proclaimed to be the crown jewel of all puruṣārthas. Its [i.e., prema’s] eternal existence is possible within its substrata, bhaktas, only because of their being nitya-siddha. Among them, furthermore, the best are the residents of Gokula, such as his [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] mother, the object of whose bhāvas of vātsalya and so forth—Kṛṣṇa—is easily attainable only by devotees who follow them [i.e., those residents of Gokula] and not by others [i.e., those who practice bhakti without following the residents of Gokula].”
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā |
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.2)
“That [aspect of uttamā-bhakti] which is to be accomplished by action [of the senses] and by which bhāva is to be accomplished shall be known as sādhana [-bhakti]. Manifestation of eternally accomplished bhāva into the heart is [the intended sense of its] being an object to be accomplished.”
dūrān niśamya mahimānam upetya pārśvam
antaḥ praviśya śubha-bhāgavatāmṛtābdheḥ |
paśyāmi kṛṣṇa-karuṇāñjana-nirmalena
hṛl-locanena bhagavad-bhajanaṁ hi ratnam ||
(Viṣṇu Purī’s Bhakti-ratnāvalī: 6)
“After hearing from afar, approaching the bank [i.e., studying], and then entering within [i.e., understanding the confidential meaning of] the greatness of the ocean of the nectar that is the bountiful Bhāgavatam, I see with the eyes of my heart purified by the collyrium of Kṛṣṇa’s compassion that Bhagavad-bhajana alone is the jewel [i.e., bhakti is essential to the attainment of all puruṣārthas and furthermore is the ultimate puruṣārtha itself].”
taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ |
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.19.36′; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)
“What grateful person would not worship he who is easily propitiated by persons who are sincere and of undivided shelter yet difficult to propitiate for the unvirtuous [i.e., those who are the opposite]?”
vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam |
brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.11)
“Knowers of the Tattva say that which is non-dual consciousness and is called Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān is the Tattva.”
