śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ |
syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.16)
“O learned ones, taste for discussion of Vāsudeva shall come about for one possessed of śraddhā and desirous to hear [such discussion] as a result of service to a mahat as an outcome of pilgrimage to a holy place.”
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ Read on →
Uddhava-gītā
Six verses in praise of the Vraja-gopīs expressed by Śrī Uddhava after delivering Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s messages from Mathurā.
Excerpted from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.58–63.
ka utsaheta santyaktum uttamaḥśloka-saṁvidam |
anicchato’pi yasya śrīr aṅgān na cyavate kvacit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.47.48)
“[The gopīs to Uddhava:] Who could completely give up perception of [alt., private conversations with] he of highest praise, from whose chest Śrī never strays even when he is nonchalant?”
ka utsaheta santyaktum uttamaḥśloka-saṁvidam Read on →
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā
viraktim anyatra karoti puṁsaḥ |
hareḥ padānusmṛti-nirvṛtasya
samasta-duḥkhāpyayam āśu dhatte ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.13)
“That [i.e., inclination (mati), meaning, taste, for discussion of Hari], upon flourishing, produces disinterest for all else in a person endowed with śraddhā. The dissolution of all suffering of one who is delighted by continuous remembrance of Hari’s feet is quickly effected.”
sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā Read on →
tad evaṁ teṣāṁ bahu-bhedeṣu satsu teṣām eva prabhāva-tāratamyena kṛpā-tāratamyena bhakti-vāsanā-bheda-tāratamyena sat-saṅgāt kāla-śaighrya-svarūpa-vaiśiṣṭyābhyāṁ bhaktir udayate | … tatra prathamaṁ tāvat tat-tat-saṅgāj jātena tat-tac-chraddhā-tat-tat-paramparā-kathā-rucy-ādinā jāta-bhagavat-sāmmukhyasya tat-tad-anuṣaṅgenaiva tat-tad-bhajanīye bhagavad-āvirbhāva-viśeṣe tat-bhajana-mārga-viśeṣe ca rucir jāyate |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 202)
“Thus, in this way, bhakti manifests with speciality in nature (svarūpa) and with swiftness or time [i.e., relative slowness] as a result of sat-saṅga in accord with a gradation in types of bhakti-vāsanās [i.e., the predilections for particular forms of bhakti fostered by the sādhus with whom one associates], [as well as] in accord with a gradation in [the degree of] grace [received by an individual from the sādhus with whom one associates], and in accord with a gradation in the potency [i.e., spiritual prowess] of those [sādhus] among the numerous types of sādhus there among [i.e., among all the sādhus who are Vaiṣṇavas]. … In this regard, taste [alt., liking] (ruci) for a specific appearance [i.e., form] of Bhagavān as one’s specific object of worship (bhajanīya), as well as for a specific path of worship (bhajana) of him, manifest in the course of ongoing specific association [i.e., association with a specific type of Vaiṣṇava sādhu] for someone in whom intentness (sāmmukhya) upon Bhagavān has manifested by means first of all of a specific form of śraddhā, a specific form of taste (ruci) for the kathā [i.e., discussion of Bhagavān] of a [specific] paramparā [i.e., lineage of Vaiṣṇava sādhus], and so forth, [which become] manifest as a result of a specific form of association [i.e., the association of a particular Vaiṣṇava sādhu].”
tad evaṁ teṣāṁ bahu-bhedeṣu satsu teṣām eva Read on →
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)
“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje Read on →
athāṅga-rājād avatārya cakṣur yāhīti janyām avadat kumārī |
nāsau na kāmyo na ca veda samyag-draṣṭuṁ na sā bhinna-rucir hi lokaḥ ||
(Raghu-vaṁśa: 6.30)
“Then, lowering her eyes from King Aṅga, the girl said to her mother’s friend, ‘Please go.’ It was not that he was not desirable, and it was not that she did not know how to see properly; people are just of varied taste.”
athāṅga-rājād avatārya cakṣur yāhīti janyām avadat kumārī Read on →
svalpāpi rucir eva syād bhakti-tattvāvabodhikā |
yuktis tu kevalā naiva yad asyā apratiṣṭhatā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.45)
“Even just a little ruci [i.e., ‘taste’] shall be an illuminator of the nature of bhakti. Pure reasoning, however, is certainly not, because of its inconclusiveness.”
svalpāpi rucir eva syād bhakti-tattvāvabodhikā Read on →
tad evam adhikāri-viśeṣaṁ prāpyaiva tat-tat-phalodayo dṛṣṭaḥ | … yathā ca jāta-ruciṁ prāpya—tava vikrīḍitaṁ kṛṣṇa nṛṇāṁ parama-maṅgalam | karṇa-pīyūṣam āsādya tyajanty anya-spṛhāṁ janāḥ || ata evoktam—na krodho na ca mātsaryaṁ na lobho nāśubhā matiḥ | bhavanti kṛta-puṇyānāṁ bhaktānāṁ puruṣottama || jāta-premāṇaṁ prāpya—naiṣātiduḥsahā kṣun māṁ tyaktodam api bādhate | pibantaṁ tvan-mukhāmbhoja-cyutaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam ||
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 163–164)
“Thus, in this way, the manifestation of various results [of engaging in acts of bhakti] only after attaining someone of specific eligibility [i.e., a person who is free from inoffensiveness] is seen [i.e., the results of bhakti manifest only in those who engage in bhakti free from aparādha]. So also [the various results of engaging in acts of bhakti manifesting] after attaining one in whom relish (ruci) has manifest [is described in SB 11.6.44]: ‘O Kṛṣṇa, having tasted the nectar for the ears of your extraordinary play, which is the supreme auspiciousness for human beings, people abandon [all] other desires [i.e., all desires other than the desire to be further absorbed in your līlā].’ Therefore, it is said [in Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma-stotra (133)], ‘O Puruṣottama, bhaktas established in purity have neither anger, nor envy, nor greed, nor an inauspicious disposition.’ [So also the results of engaging in acts of bhakti manifesting] After attaining one in whom prema has manifest [is described by Mahārāja Parīkṣit to Śukadeva Gosvāmī in SB 10.1.13], ‘Even though I have given up [taking even] water, this extremely difficult to bear hunger does not trouble me as I drink the nectar of discussion of Hari flowing from your lotus mouth.‘”
tad evam adhikāri-viśeṣaṁ prāpyaiva tat-tat-phalodayo dṛṣṭaḥ Read on →
satāṁ kṛpā mahat-sevā śraddhā guru-padāśrayaḥ |
bhajaneṣu spṛhā bhaktir anarthāpagamas tataḥ ||
niṣṭhā rucir athāsaktī ratiḥ premātha darśanam |
harer mādhuryānubhava ity arthāḥ syuś caturdaśe ||
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.21)
“There are fourteen steps [mentioned in SB 1.2.16–21 to describe how a jīva in saṁsāra reaches the highest attainment]: (1) the grace of sādhus, (2) service to a great person, (3) śraddhā, (4) taking shelter at the feet of a guru, (5) desire for [engagement in] practices of bhakti (bhajana), (6) bhakti [i.e., engagement in sādhana-bhakti], (7) disappearance of anarthas, (8) niṣṭhā [i.e., fixity in the practice of bhakti], (9) ruci (taste), (10) āsakti (affinity), (11) rati [i.e., bhāva-bhakti], (12) prema (divine love), (13) darśana [i.e., direct perception of Bhagavān], and then (14) experience of his mādhurya (mellifluousness).”
satāṁ kṛpā mahat-sevā śraddhā guru-padāśrayaḥ Read on →
