kālena pādaṁ labhate tathārthaṁ
tataś ca pādaṁ guru-yogataś ca |
utsāha-yogena ca pādam ṛcchec
chāstreṇa ca pādaṁ ca tato’bhiyāti ||
(Mahābhārata: Udyoga-parva, 44.16)
“A student acquires one-fourth in time, one-fourth by association with the guru, one-fourth by his own enthusiasm and endeavor, and one-fourth by discussion.”
śruti-pramāṇo dharmo hi vṛddhānām iti bhāṣitam |
sūkṣmā gatir hi dharmasya bahu-śākhā hy anantikā ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.200.2)
“The means of knowing (pramāṇa [of]) dharma is hearing [i.e., learning from those who understand it], and [in regard to dharma] there is a saying of the wise: ‘The course of dharma is subtle, many-branched, and without end.’”
sauvīra-patir api sujana-samavagata-paramātma-satattva ātmany avidyādhyāropitāṁ ca dehātma-matiṁ visasarja | evaṁ hi nṛpa bhagavad-āśritāśritānubhāvaḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.13.25)
“The ruler of Suvīra [i.e., King Rahūgana], having fully understood from Sujana [i.e., Jaḍa Bharata] the Paramātmā in truth, forsook the notion superimposed by ignorance (avidyā) upon the ātmā [i.e., self] that the body is the self. Such, O King, is the result of taking shelter of one who has taken shelter of Bhagavān.”
sūryakānter raver yogād vahnis tatra prajāyate |
evaṁ vai sādhu-saṁyogād dharau bhaktiḥ prajāyate ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.132.13)
“Fire manifests there from the combination of a sun-crystal [lsy., a magnifying class] and the sun. Similarly, bhakti to Hari verily manifests from association with a sādhu.”
bhaktis tu bhagavad-bhakta-saṅgena parijāyate |
sat-saṅgaḥ prāpyate puṁbhiḥ sukṛtaiḥ pūrva-sañcitaiḥ ||
(Bṛhan Nāradīya Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.279)
“Bhakti, however, manifests from association with bhaktas of Bhagavān, and [such] association with sādhus is attained by human beings by previously accumulated sukṛti.”
śraddhā viśeṣataḥ prītiḥ śrī-mūrter aṅghri-sevane |
śrīmad-bhāgavatārthānām āsvādo rasikaiḥ saha ||
sajātīyāśaye snigdhe sādhau saṅgaḥ svato vare |
nāma-saṅkīrtanaṁ śrīman-mathurā-maṇḍale sthitiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.90–2)
“(60) Śraddhā and special affinity (prīti) for serving the feet of the śrī-mūrti, (61) tasting the meanings of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam with relishers of rasa (rasikas), (62) associating with sādhus who are of like aspiration, affectionate, and superior to oneself, (63) saṅkīrtana of the name, and (64) residing in the beautiful district of Mathurā.”
tataḥ prathamānantaraṁ dvitīyaḥ sādhu-saṅgo bhajana-rīti-śikṣā-nibandhanaḥ |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.15)
“Then, following the first [stage, viz., śraddhā], a second [type of] association with a sādhu, that is, that the purpose of which is learning the practice of bhajana, occurs.”
ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo’tha bhajana-kriyā |
tato’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ |
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati |
sādhakānām ayaṁ premnaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.15–16)
“First śraddhā, then sādhu-saṅga, then bhajana-kriyā, then anartha-nivṛtti, then niṣṭhā, then ruci, then āsakti, then bhāva, and then prema appear. These are the stages in the appearance of prema in a sādhaka.”
taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ |
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.19.36′; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)
“What grateful person would not worship he who is easily propitiated by persons who are sincere and of undivided shelter yet difficult to propitiate for the unvirtuous [i.e., those who are the opposite]?”
kalpayitvātmanā yāvad ābhāsam idam īśvaraḥ |
dvaitaṁ tāvan na viramet tato hy asya viparyayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.12.10)
[Translation based on Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “As long as the jīva is not capable by means of the ātmā [i.e., by virtue of self-realization, ātma-sākṣātkāra] of determining this [i.e., the body, senses, and so forth] to be a guise [i.e., a mere false appearance], then duality [i.e., perception of distinctions such as, “He is a man; she is a woman,”] does not cease, and certainly thereby one’s misapprehension [i.e., one’s mentality of enjoyment] remains.”
