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.”
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].”
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.”
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.”
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.”
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 attained [i.e., heard about] your superb play, which is the highest auspiciousness for human beings and nectar for the ears, people relinquish [their] desire for all else.’ 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.‘”
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).”
viraktir indriyārthānāṁ syād arocakatā svayam ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.30)
“A self-manifest absence of taste for objects of the senses shall be [considered] non-attachment (virakti).”
preme kṛṣṇāsvāda haile bhava nāśa pāya |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.141)
“When one has a taste of Kṛṣṇa through prema, then worldly existence gets destroyed.”
ahaṅkārasya dve vṛttī ahantā mamatā ca iti | tayor jñānena layo mokṣaḥ, deha-gehādi-viṣayatve bandhaḥ, ahaṁ prabhor janaḥ sevako’smi sevyo me prabhur bhagavān saparikara eva rūpa-guṇa-mādhurī-mahodadhir iti pārṣada-rūpa-vigraha-bhagavad-vigrahādi-viṣayatve premā | sa hi bandha-mokṣābhyāṁ vilakṣaṇa eva puruṣārtha-cūḍāmaṇir ity ucyate |
tatra kramaḥ | ahantā-mamatayor vyavahārikyām eva vṛttāv atisāndrāyāṁ satyāṁ saṁsāra eva | ahaṁ vaiṣṇavo bhūyāsaṁ prabhur me bhagavān sevyo bhavatv iti yādṛcchikyāṁ śraddhā-kaṇikāyāṁ satyāṁ tad-vṛtteḥ pāramārthikatva-gandhe bhaktāv adhikāraḥ | tataḥ sādhu-saṅge sati pāramārthikatva-gandhasya sāndratvaṁ | tato bhajana-kriyāyām aniṣṭhitāyāṁ satyāṁ tayoḥ paramārthe vastuny ekadeśa-vyāpinī vṛttiḥ vyavahāre pūrṇaiva | tasyāṁ niṣṭhitāyāṁ paramārthe bahula-deśa-vyāpinī vyavahāre prāyiky eva | rucāv utpannāyāṁ paramārthe prāyiky eva vṛttir vyavahāre tu bahu-deśa-vyāpinī | āsaktau jātāyāṁ paramārthe pūrṇā vyavahāre tu gandha-mātrī | bhāve tu paramārtha evātyantikī vṛttir vyavahāre tu bādhitānuvṛtti-nyāyenābhāsa-mayī | premaṇi tayor ahantā-mamatayor vṛttiḥ paramārthe paramātyantikī vyavahāre tu naikāpīti |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 8)
“The ahaṅkāra has two vṛttis (functions): ahantā [i.e., I-ness, or identification) and mamatā [i.e., my-ness, or, possessiveness]. Dissolution of these two through jñāna is [called] mokṣa. Their being fixed upon objects of the senses, such as the body and home, is [called] bondage. ‘I am Prabhu’s person [i.e., I belong to Prabhu]. I am a servant, and Prabhu is my object of service. Bhagavān [i.e., Prabhu] along with his companions is verily a vast ocean of sweetness in form and qualities”—their [i.e., these two functions of the ahaṅkāra] being fixed upon the figure of a body of an associate [of Bhagavān] and upon the figure and so forth of Bhagavān [i.e., the vṛtti of ahantā functioning so as to produce identification with the body of an associate of Bhagavān, and the vṛtti of mamatā functioning so as to produce an affectionate sense of my-ness in relation to the figure, qualities, activities, and so forth of Bhagavān] is [called] prema. That [i.e., prema] is distinct from bondage and mokṣa, and is said to be the crown-jewel of puruṣārthas.
“The course [of development] in this regard [is as follows]: when the vṛttis of ahantā and mamatā are present very densely only in worldly affairs, there is only [the condition known as] saṁsāra. When a fortuitous (yādṛcchikī) particle of śrāddhā comes about, [such that one has the resolve,] ‘I shall become a Vaiṣṇava, and my master, Bhagavān, shall be my object of service,’ then those vṛttis have a trace of relation to Ultimate Reality (Paramārtha) and one has eligibility (adhikāra) for bhakti. Then, when association with sādhus occurs, density of that trace of relation to Ultimate Reality develops. Then, when unfixed (aniṣṭhitā) engagement in bhajana occurs, their [i.e., ahantā and mamatā’s] vṛttis are partially in the object, Ultimate Reality, and fully in worldliness. When that [i.e., engagement in bhajana] is fixed (niṣṭhitā), then they are extensively in Ultimate Reality and only mostly in worldliness. When ruci arises, then the vṛttis are mostly in Ultimate Reality, but [still] extensively in worldliness. When āsakti appears, then they are fully in Ultimate Reality, but [still] bearing just a trace in worldliness. In bhāva, however, the vṛttis are absolutely in Ultimate Reality, but possessed of a semblance in worldliness like the continuance of a negated entity. In prema, these vṛttis of ahantā and mamatā are absolutely to the fullest extent in Ultimate Reality and not in worldliness at all.”
