indriyasyendriyasyārthe rāga-dveṣau vyavasthitau |
tayor na vaśam āgacchet tau hy asya paripanthinau ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.34)
“Attraction (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa) to an object of each sense is firmly established [i.e., bound to occur]. One should not come under the control of these since they are one’s obstructions.”
teṣu nityaṁ mahābhāga mahābhāgeṣu mat-kathāḥ |
sambhavanti hi tā nṝṇāṁ juṣatāṁ prapunanty agham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.27; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.277)
“O you of great fortune [i.e., O Uddhava], discussions of me continuously take place among they who are most fortunate [i.e., among the sat as described in the prior verses], and they [i.e., those discussions] completely wash away the sin of human beings who honor [alt., delight in, them].”
tato duḥsaṅgam utsṛjya satsu sajjeta buddhimān |
santa evāsya chhindanti mano-vyāsaṅgam uktibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.26; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.318; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.59)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Thus, an intelligent person should leave bad association and associate with the sat. Only the sat cut away the undue attachment of one’s mind with their words.”
bhagavat-kṛpā-parimala-pātra-bhūtasya śrīmato mahataḥ saṅga eva kāraṇam | … nirguṇāvasthāto’py adhikatvāt parama-nirguṇa eva | … saguṇe devādau tasya kṛpā vāstavī na bhavati, kintu śrīmat-prahlādādiṣv eveti pratipādanān mahatāṁ nirguṇatvābhivyaktyā tat-saṅgasyāpi nirguṇatvaṁ vyaktam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.14.1; 11.25.24; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134)
“The association of a beautiful great personage (mahat) who is a vessel of the fragrance of Bhagavān’s grace is the only cause [of realization of Bhagavān]. … Because of it being superior even to the nirguṇa state [i.e., the state of being free from the material guṇas], it [i.e., such association] is parama-nirguṇa [i.e., the supreme state beyond the material guṇas]. … His [i.e., Bhagavān’s] true grace does not exist in the devas and so forth, who are saguṇa, but the nirguṇatva [i.e., state of being nirguṇa] of even the association of great personages is manifested by the manifestation of their [own] nirguṇatva as a result of bestowal [of Bhagavān’s true grace] upon [such great personages as] Śrīmat Prahlāda and others.”
yadyapy akiñcanā bhaktir evābhidheyeti tat-kāraṇatvena tad-bhakta-saṅga evābhidheye sati … |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 202)
“Although unconditional (akiñcanā) bhakti is certainly the abhidheya [i.e., the principal direction of the śāstra, the means to attain the highest end], association with his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] bhaktas is certainly [also] the abhidheya because of its being the cause thereof [i.e., of unconditional (akiñcanā) bhakti].”
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].”
na yasya cittaṁ bahir-artha-vibhramaṁ
tamo-guhāyāṁ ca viśuddham āviśat |
yad-bhakti-yogānugṛhītam añjasā
munir vicaṣṭe nanu tatra te gatim ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.59; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 7)
“A sage whose heart, pure by virtue of being favored by bhakti-yoga, is not agitated by external objects and does not enter the cave of darkness, rightly and certainly sees your state therein.”
mat-saṅga-śabdenātra mama saṅgo madīyādīnāṁ ca saṅga ity abhidhāpyate | ubhayatrāpi mat-sambandhitvād ity abhiprāyeṇa | tatra svasyāpi sattvāt sat-saṅga-prakaraṇe sva-saṅgo’py antarbhāvitaḥ | yat tu purā bhāgavata-saṅgenaiva bhagavat-kṛpā bhavatīty uktaṁ, tat tu tat-sāmmukhya-janmany eva | atra tu sa eva bhāgavata-saṅgaḥ sādhana-viśeṣatvenocyata iti na doṣaḥ | yadi vātra kutracit sāmmukhya-janma-kāraṇam api bhagavat-saṅgo bhavet, tadāpy evam ācakṣmahe—sac-chabdārtham avatāram aṅgīkṛtya yat kadācit sarvatra kṛpāṁ vitanoti bhagavān, tac ca sat-sambandhenaivety ato nābhyupagama-hānir iti ||
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 240)
“Here [i.e., in SB 11.12.7] by the [compound] word mat-saṅga [lit., ‘my association’], the association of myself [i.e., Bhagavān], and the association of those who are my own [i.e., Bhagavān’s own, meaning, his bhaktas], are [both] indicated with the intention being because of there being a relation with me [i.e., Bhagavān] in both cases [i.e., by means of both types of association]. In that regard, because of himself also being sat [i.e., because Bhagavān himself is also a sādhu], his own saṅga is also included in the subject of sat-saṅga. While it was stated previously [in Anuccheda 180] that Bhagavān’s grace occurs [towards a jīva in saṁsāra] only because of [the jīva first having] association with those devoted to Bhagavān (bhāgavatas) [i.e., his bhaktas], that was [stated] specifically in relation to the production of intentness (sāmmukhya) upon him [i.e., Bhagavān]. Here, however, that very association with those devoted to Bhagavān is [being] referred to as a type of sādhana. Thus, there is no fault [i.e., no inconsistency between these two statements, since sat-saṅga understood as association with bhaktas of Bhagavān specifically, and not association with Bhagavān himself, can be considered the sole cause of the sāmmukhya towards Bhagavān, which is only an initial, general state of intentness upon Bhagavān, whereas association with bhaktas, or association with Bhagavān, or various other practices can all be rightly recognized as forms of sādhana, that is, means to siddhi, meaning, full attainment of Bhagavān, which are all processes that begin after the attainment of the aforementioned initial sāmmukhya towards Bhagavān]. If, alternately in this regard, association with Bhagavān shall also be [seen to be] in some cases a cause of the production of intentness (sāmmukhya) [upon Bhagavān], even then we shall consider the meaning of the word sat [as follows] in this manner: when Bhagavān, after undertaking a decent (avatāra), sometimes distributes his grace everywhere, then that is also because of a relation with the sat [i.e., his bhaktas, meaning, Bhagavān primarily descends for the sake of gracing his bhaktas, as was explained earlier in Anuccheda 93 of Paramātma Sandarbha, and in the process if he happens in some cases to distribute his grace widely to everyone around his bhaktas as well and as a result persons around his bhaktas are seen to attain sāmmukhya towards him, then that extension of grace is still to be considered to have occurred because of Bhagavān’s relation with the sat, that is, his bhaktas]. Therefore, there is no loss in conceding [that sometimes Bhagavān extends his grace directly to some persons who are not seen to have previously had any association with his bhaktas, since even in those cases his bestowing his grace upon such persons is actually still because of a relation with his bhaktas, and thereby the principle that sat-saṅga is the sole cause of sāmmukhya toward Bhagavān stands].”
bhūtānāṁ deva-caritaṁ duḥkhāya ca sukhāya ca |
sukhāyaiva hi sādhūnāṁ tvādṛśām acyutātmanām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.5; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.208)
“[Vasudeva to Nārada Ṛṣi:] The actions of the devas lead to both suffering and happiness for living beings, while those of sādhus like you, whose hearts are fixed on Acyuta, lead only to happiness.”
sat-saṅga-hetuś ca satāṁ svaira-cāritaiva, nānyaḥ | … satāṁ kṛpā ca duravasthā-darśana-mātrodbhavā, na svopāsanādy-apekṣā, yathā śrī-nāradasya nalakūvara-maṇigrīvayoḥ |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 181, 183)
“The cause of sat-saṅga, furthermore, is the independent action of the sat, and not anything else. … The grace of the sat, furthermore, is produced only by [their] sight of plight [in a living being], and is not dependent on their own upāsanā [i.e., on receiving respect, service, and so forth that is offered to them], as was Śrī Nārada’s [grace] upon Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva. … ”
