etan nirvidyamānānām icchatām akuto-bhayam |
yogināṁ nṛpa nirṇītaṁ harer nāmānukīrtanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.1.11; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.414; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.230; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115, 198, 265, 275)
“O King, this anukīrtana of Hari’s name, wherein there is no fear from anywhere, is enjoined for the indifferent, the desirous, and the yogīs.”
etan nirvidyamānānām icchatām akuto-bhayam Read on →
prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena
samyag bhavet tad-rasikasya tasya |
tat sādhanaṁ śreṣṭhatamaṁ susevyaṁ
sadbhir mataṁ pratyuta sādhya-rūpam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.152)
“The sādhana related to him [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] of a relisher of him for which one’s complete affinity (__prīti__), and by which [one’s complete] satisfaction, shall come about is the best of all, [is] to be excellently performed, and [is] considered, rather, the goal and a form [of that goal] by the sat.”
prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena Read on →
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.”
kṛṣṇa-bhaktyaiva sādhutvaṁ sādhanaṁ paramaṁ hi sā Read on →
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 it being always unfailing in manifesting prema for Bhagavān.”
tad eva manyate bhakteḥ phalaṁ tad-rasikair janaiḥ Read on →
tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye sati tat-tad-rāga-prayuktā śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇa-pāda-sevana-vandanātma-nivedana-prāyā bhaktis teṣāṁ rāgātmikā bhaktir ity ucyate | tasyāś ca sādhyāyāṁ rāga-lakṣaṇāyāṁ bhakti-gaṅgāyāṁ taraṅga-rūpatvāt sādhyatvam eveti, na tu sādhana-prakaraṇe’smin praveśaḥ | ato rāgānugā kathyate |
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)
“Since [this] natural (svābhāvika) rāga has distinctiveness [i.e., is of various types] on account of [each of its manifestations having] a distinctive bhāva the characteristic of which is a particular sense of identity (abhimāna) [in relation to Bhagavān, viz., that of being a servant, friend, elder, or beloved of Bhagavān], the bhakti on their part [i.e., on the part of Bhagavān’s personal associates who have one of these senses of identity] beget by a particular rāga [i.e., by a rāga characterized by one of the aforementioned specific senses of identity in relation to Bhagavān] and largely [consisting of] hearing, praising, remembering, serving the feet, and offering obeisances [to Bhagavān] is known as rāgātmikā-bhakti [i.e., bhakti constituted of rāga]. On account of its [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti’s] being, in form, [like] waves in the Gaṅgā of bhakti that is possessed of the characteristic of rāga, the goal (sādhya) [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is constituted of rāga for Bhagavān and expressions of rāga for him, just as waves of the Gaṅgā are made of the Gaṅgā’s water and are expressions of the Gaṅgā, and since rāga for Bhagavān is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, the object to be attained by engaging in sādhana-bhakti], it is itself the goal (sādhya) [i.e., rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), that is, sādhya-bhakti], and thus [it] has no entry into this section on sādhana [i.e., since rāgātmikā-bhakti is itself the goal (sādhya), it will not be discussed further here in Bhakti Sandarbha, where only the abhidheya, that is, the means to attain, viz., the process of sādhana-bhakti, is discussed; rāgātmikā-bhakti will instead be discussed further ahead in Prīti Sandarbha, where sādhya-bhakti is explained in detail]. Therefore, rāgānugā [-bhakti] is [now] discussed.”
tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣaṇena svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye Read on →
sabe eka sakhī-gaṇera ihā̐ adhikāra |
sakhī haite haya ei līlāra vistāra ||
sakhī vinu ei līlā puṣṭi nāhi haya |
sakhī līlā vistāriyā, sakhī āsvādaya ||
sakhī vinu ei līlāya nāhi anyera gati |
sakhī-bhāve tā̐re yei kare anugati ||
rādhā-kṛṣṇa-kuñja-sevā-sādhya sei pāya |
sei sādhya pāite āra nāhika upāya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.8.201–204)
“Among all, only the sakhīs have eligibility here [i.e., within Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s līlā], and expansion of this līlā occurs [only] through the sakhīs. Without the sakhīs, this līlā is not nourished. The sakhīs expand this līlā, and the sakhīs taste it. Apart from the sakhīs, others have no entrance into this līlā. One who with the bhāva of a sakhī follows them attains the sādhya [i.e., goal] of service in the kuñja to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. There is no other way to attain this sādhya.”
sabe eka sakhī-gaṇera ihā̐ adhikāra | Read on →
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.”
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya Read on →
