kṛṣṇa-bhaktyaiva sādhutvaṁ sādhanaṁ paramaṁ hi sā |
tayā sādhyaṁ tad-aṅghry-abja-yugalaṁ paramaṁ phalam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.202)
“Sādhutva [i.e., the state of being sādhu] comes about only by Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, since that [i.e., Kṛṣṇa-bhakti] is the supreme sādhana, and by that the supreme goal, his two lotus feet, is attainable.”
gopate sādhibe siddhi, sādhana navadhā-bhakti,
prārthanā kariba dainye sadā |
(Prema-bhakti-candrikā: 115)
“In private, pursue siddhi with the sādhana of ninefold bhakti. Pray with humility always.”
siddhasya lakṣaṇaṁ yat syāt sādhanaṁ sādhakasya tat |
(Unknown source; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta-ṭīkā 2.3.167)
“The characteristics [i.e., conduct, etc.] of a siddha [i.e., a prema-bhakta] should be the sādhana [i.e., means of attainment] of a sādhaka.”
tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā |
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.36)
“Therefore, O King, Bhagavān Hari is to be heard about, to be praised, and to be remembered by human beings always and everywhere with the full self [i.e., with full attention].”
tac ca śrī-ballavī-prāṇanātha-pāda-sarojayoḥ |
premaiva tad-vraja-prema-sājātīyaṁ na cetarat ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.214)
“That [i.e., your sādhana to attain your Iṣṭadeva], moreover, is simply prema for the lotus feet of the beautiful ballavī’s Beloved [lit., the Lord of the gopīs’ prāṇas, that is, hearts, lives, or vital airs] which resembles the [highly celebrated] prema for him [found] in Vraja, and is not otherwise.”
nidānaṁ tu paraṁ premṇaḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-karuṇā-bharaḥ |
kasyāpy udety akasmād vā kasyacit sādhana-kramāt ||
yathodārān milaty annaṁ pākvaṁ vā pāka-sādhanam |
sādhakasyocyate śāstra-gatyāyaṁ sādhana-kramaḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.215–216)
“But the primary cause of [such] prema is an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace. That manifests for some without cause and for some through a course of sādhanas, just as either cooked food or the ingredients for cooking come [to someone] from a generous person. This course of sādhanas for a sādhaka [through which an abundance of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s grace manifests] is [now going to be] described [by me] in accord with śāstra.”
tad eva manyate bhakteḥ phalaṁ tad-rasikair janaiḥ |
bhagavat-prema-sampattau sadaivāvyabhicārataḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.165)
“It [i.e., nāma-saṅkīrtana] itself is [also] considered the fruit of bhakti [i.e., of prema] by persons who are connoisseurs of it because of its being always unfailing in manifesting prema for Bhagavān.”
anabhyāsena vidyānām asaṁsargeṇa dhīmatām |
anigraheṇa cākṣāṇāṁ jāyate vyasanaṁ nṛṇām ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“The plight [alt., addictions, vices, depravity, misfortune, distress, etc.] of human beings arises from a lack of practice of knowledge [i.e., a lack of adherence to the education they receive], a lack of association with the wise, and a lack of restraint of the senses.”
anabhyāse viṣaṁ śāstram ajīrṇe bhojanaṁ viṣam |
daridrasya viṣaṁ goṣṭhī vṛddhasya taruṇī viṣam ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti: 4.15)
“Without regular practice, śāstra is poison [because it can lead to delusion]. When undigested, food is poison [because it causes disease]. For a poor person, congregating is poison [because one cannot properly host others], and for an elderly man, a young woman is poison [because he cannot fulfill all her needs].”
pūjādimaya-bhakter api tādṛśatvaṁ nānumeyam | apūrvavad bhakter niṣpādyatvābhāvāt | guṇamayaṁ hi niṣpādyaṁ syāt nāguṇamayam | ‘kaivalyaṁ sāttvikaṁ jñānam’ ity ārabhya ekādaśe śrī-bhagavataivāguṇamayatvam aṅgīkṛtam | ataḥ svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti-viśeṣatvena tasyāḥ bhagavat-prasāde sati svayam āvirbhāva eva na janma | sa cāvirbhāvo’nanta eva tadīya-phalānantya-śravaṇāt | tasmāt parmeśvarānāśrayatvaṁ tatropādhir bhaviṣyati | … atra bhakteḥ sādhana-bhūtatve na tādṛśatvaṁ mantavyam | bhagavat-prema-vilāsa-rūpatayā siddhānām api tad-atyāga-śravaṇāt ||
(Prīti Sandarbha: 5)
“Bhakti constituted of [acts of] worship and so forth also being such [i.e., perishable, non-eternal] is not to be inferred because of the non-existence of bhakti’s niṣpādyatva [i.e., quality of being something that needs to be effected] like apūrva [i.e., bhakti does not have niṣpādyatva like the results of performing sacrifice (yajñā), which are called apūrva]. That which is constituted of the [material] guṇas (guṇamaya) shall be niṣpādya [i.e., something that needs to be effected], and [shall] not [be] that which is not constituted of the [material] guṇas (aguṇamaya). Starting from [the statement] kaivalyaṁ sāttvikaṁ jñānam [i.e., SB 11.25.24], [bhakti’s] being not constituted of the [material] guṇas (aguṇamaya) is accepted by Śrī Bhagavān. Therefore, because of [bhakti’s] being a specific function (vṛtti-viśeṣa) of the intrinsic potency (svarūpa-śakti) [of Bhagavān], when Bhagavān is pleased [alt., when Bhagavān’s grace occurs], its [i.e., bhakti’s] appearance (āvirbhāva), and not [its] production (janma), occurs of its own accord [i.e., bhakti manifests in the heart of a living being not as something that was produced there but rather as something that was pre-existent elsewhere which has now appeared there]. That appearance [of bhakti], furthermore, is verily endless [i.e., once bhakti appears there, it remains existent there without end] because of hearing [in śāstra] of the endlessness of its result [i.e., since bhakti gives rises to results that are known to be endless, bhakti‘s presence after manifesting is also to be understood to be endless].Therefore, not being sheltered in Parameśvara shall be the condition (upādhi) in this regard [i.e., if an act that involves perishable objects, such as a yajña, is performed by one who has taken shelter in Parameśvara, then the result shall be imperishable, but if one has not taken shelter in Parameśvara, then the acts performed shall not produce imperishable results]. … In this regard [i.e., in regard to the principle that something which is perishable and a means to another goal cannot itself be the ultimate goal (paramārtha)], bhakti’s being such [i.e., being not the ultimate goal (paramārtha)] because of [its] being existent as a sādhana (means) is not be considered on account of hearing [in śāstra] of non-abandonment of it even on the part of siddhas [i.e., those in whom bhakti is established and thus is no longer a sādhana] because of [bhakti’s] being a form of the play of prema for Bhagavān [i.e., bhakti is indeed the ultimate goal (paramārtha) because it is not perishable or merely a means to attain another goal; this is proven by the fact that even siddhas never give it up, and rather, eternally foster it, in the form of prema, in the midst of the eternal līlā of Śrī Bhagavān].”
