Remembrance

dhī-dhṛti-smṛti-vibhraṁśaḥ samprāptiḥ kāla-karmaṇām

dhī-dhṛti-smṛti-vibhraṁśaḥ samprāptiḥ kāla-karmaṇām |
asātmyārthāgamaś ceti jñātavyā duḥkha-hetavaḥ ||
(Caraka-saṁhita: 4.1.98)

“Divergence of the intellect, will, or memory [i.e., prajñāparādhas], the onset of a time period [e.g., a season], karma [i.e., the results of one‘s past actions], and contact with unwholesome objects of the senses are to be known as causes of suffering.”

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mānasādi-pūjāyāṁ bhūta-pūrva-tat-parikara-līlā-saṁvalitatvam api na kalpanā-mayaṁ

mānasādi-pūjāyāṁ bhūta-pūrva-tat-parikara-līlā-saṁvalitatvam api na kalpanā-mayaṁ, kintu yathārtham eva | yatas tasya prākaṭya-samaye līlās tat-parikarāś ca ye prādurbabhūvuḥ, te tādṛśāś cāprakaṭam api nityaṁ tadīye dhāmni saṅkhyātītā eva vartante |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 286)

“In worship [performed] in the mind and elsewhere, although the content of the meditation is possessed of līlās and associates of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] that were existent in the past, it is not [merely] imaginary but rather real since his associates and the līlās that appeared at the time of his manifestation (prākaṭya) [which one meditates upon] exist eternally beyond enumeration even unmanifestly as such [i.e., in an equally real form] in his abode [as well].”

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divi vā bhuvi vā mamāstu vāso

divi vā bhuvi vā mamāstu vāso
narake vā narakāntaka prakāmam |
avadhīrita-śāradāravindau
caraṇau te maraṇe’pi cintayāmi ||
(Mukunda-mālā-stotram: 8; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.5.29)

“O Destroyer of Naraka! Let my residence be in the sky [i.e., Svarga], or on earth, or in Naraka, as so willed. Even at death, I shall think of your feet, by which [even] autumnal lotuses are surpassed.”

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caitanyacandra mama hṛt-kumudaṁ vikāśya

caitanyacandra mama hṛt-kumudaṁ vikāśya
hṛdyaṁ vidhehi nija-cintana-bhṛṅga-raṅgaiḥ |
kiṁ cāparādha-timiraṁ niviḍaṁ vidhūya
pādāmṛtaṁ sadaya pāyaya durgataṁ mām ||
(Stavāvalī: Abhīṣṭa-sūcana, 11)

“O Caitanyacandra! Please cause the lily of my heart to bloom and make it adorable with the merriments of the bumblebee of thought of you. Furthermore, O gracious One, please dispel the dense darkness [that has engulfed me as a result] of my aparādhas and make my unfortunate self drink the nectar of your rays [alt., feet].”

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tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha

tri-bhuvana-vibhava-hetave’py akuṇṭha-
smṛtir ajitātma-surādibhir vimṛgyāt |
na calati bhagavat-padāravindāl
lava-nimiṣārdham api yaḥ sa vaiṣṇavāgryaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.53; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.53; Bhakti Sandarbha: 14, 196, 198, 278)

“One of unchecked remembrance who does not even for the sake of dominion over the three worlds diverge for even half a blink of an eye or half of a sixth of that from Bhagavān’s lotus feet, which are to be sought after [even] by the suras and others whose self is Ajita [i.e., the Unconquerable One, viz., Bhagavān], is the foremost Vaiṣṇava.”

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ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjito

ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjito |
dasyubhir mūṣitenaiva yuktam ākrandituṁ bhṛśam ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa, cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 277)

“It is befitting to weep intensely like someone who has been robbed by bandits for even one moment that has passed devoid of meditation [on Śrī Hari].”

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alabdhe vā vinaṣṭe vā bhakṣyācchādana-sādhane

alabdhe vā vinaṣṭe vā bhakṣyācchādana-sādhane |
aviklava-matir bhūtvā harim eva dhiyā smaret ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.114)

“Whether food and clothing are attained, not attained, or lost, one should remain undisturbed in mind and with understanding remember Hari alone.”

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kathañcana smāraṇam eva teṣām

kathañcana smāraṇam eva teṣām
avehi taj-jīvana-dānam eva |
teṣāṁ yato vismaraṇaṁ kadācit
prāṇādhikānāṁ maraṇāc ca nindyam ||
na sambhaved asmaraṇaṁ kadāpi
sva-jīvanānāṁ yad api priyāṇām |
tathāpi kenāpi viśeṣaṇena
smṛtiḥ praharṣāya yathā su-jīvitam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.129–130)

[Bhagavān to Nārada:] “Understand that somehow producing remembrance of them [i.e., those who are dear] is to give [those endowed with prema] life itself because any sort of forgetfulness of them who are more [dear] than one’s very life is more contemptible than dying [for those endowed with prema]. Although forgetting those who are as dear as one’s very life is never possible, still any sort of special remembrance [of them] is as great a joy as an abundant life.”

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