Sādhu-saṅga (Sat-saṅga)

atha bhagavat-kṛpaiva tat-sāmmukhye prāthamikaṁ kāraṇam iti ca gauṇam | sā hi saṁsāra-durantānanta-santāpa-santapteṣv api tad-vimukheṣu svatantrā na pravartate, tad-asambhavāt | kṛpā-rūpaś ceto-vikāro hi para-duḥkhasya sva-cetasi sparśe saty eva jāyate | tasya tu sadā paramānandaikarasatvenāpahata-kalmaṣatvena ca śrutau jīva-vilakṣaṇatva-sādhanāt tejo-mālinas timirāyogavat tac-cetasy api tamo-maya-duḥkha-sparśanāsambhavena tatra tasyā janmāsambhavaḥ | ata eva sarvadā virājamāne’pi kartum akartum anyathā kartuṁ samarthe tasmiṁs tad-vimukhānāṁ na saṁsāra-santāpa-śāntiḥ | ataḥ sat-kṛpaikāvaśiṣyate | santo’pi tadānīṁ yadyapi sāṁsārika-duḥkhair na spṛśyanta eva, tathāpi labdha-jāgarāḥ svapna-duḥkhavattve kadācit smareyur apīty atas teṣāṁ saṁsārike’pi kṛpā bhavati, yathā śrī-nāradasya nalakūvara-maṇigrīvayoḥ | tasmāt prastute’pi saṁsārika-duḥkhasya tad-dhetutvābhāvāt parameśvara-kṛpā tu sa evātra mama śaraṇam ity-ādi-dainyātmikā-bhakti-sambandhenaiva jāyate, yathā gajendrādau, vyatireke nāraky-ādau | bhaktir hi bhakta-koṭi-praviṣṭa-tad-ārdrībhāvayitṛ-tac-chakti-viśeṣa iti vivṛtaṁ vivariṣyate ca | dainya-sambandhena ca sādhikam ucchalitā bhavatīti tatra tad-ādhikyam | tasmād yā kṛpā tasya satsu vartate sā sat-saṅga-vāhanaiva vā sat-kṛpā-vāhanaiva vā satī jīvāntare saṅkramate, na svatantreti sthitam |
(Excerpt from Bhakti Sandarbha: 180)

“Now [i.e., in regard to the question, ‘How does intentness (sāmmukhya) upon Bhagavān come about?’ the following may be proposed], ‘Bhagavān’s grace alone is the primary cause of intentness (sāmmukhya) upon him.’ [In reply to this, it should be said:] [No.] That too is secondary. That does not proceed independently towards those oblivious (vimukha) to him, even those [among the oblivious who are] afflicted by the difficult to bear and unending afflictions of saṁsāra, because of the impossibility of that. The transformation of the heart in the form of grace occurs only when the suffering of another touches one’s own heart. Because of the impossibility of the touch of suffering, which consists of darkness (tamas) [alt., ignorance], upon his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] heart, [which is just] like the impossibility of a luminous object’s [becoming covered by] darkness, on account of the establishment in the Śruti of the jīva’s distinctness [from Bhagavān] by virtue of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] always being solely of the highest bliss in affection [i.e., his being constituted of, and having a taste solely for, the highest bliss] and [his] being repellant of sin, its [i.e., grace’s] appearance there [i.e., in Bhagavān’s heart] is an impossibility [i.e., because Bhagavān’s very nature is that of the highest bliss and he is never subject to the influence of sin, he has never had any direct, personal experience of the suffering of saṁsāra, and he can never become subject to any experience of it; the suffering of jīvas in saṁsāra can thus never touch his heart and evoke his grace upon those undergoing it]. Therefore, even though he is ever-present [everywhere] and capable of doing, not doing, and doing otherwise [i.e., even though he is an independent conscious agent capable of any and all forms of action], there is no end to the afflictions of saṁsāra for those who are oblivious of him [i.e., he takes no action to terminate the suffering in saṁsāra of those oblivious of him, since there is no scope for grace specifically for them to arise in his heart which would inspire him to take such action]. Therefore, only the grace of the sat remains [i.e., the grace of the sat, by the elimination of all other possibilities, is determined to alone be the primary cause of jīvas in saṁsāra attaining intentness (sāmmukhya) upon Bhagavān]. Although the sat too are not touched by sāṁsārika suffering then [i.e., while in the midst of saṁsāra], still those who have awakened [after sleeping] may also sometimes remember a dream’s having been filled with suffering, and thus their [i.e., the sat’s] grace comes upon even a saṁsārika [i.e., a worldly person in general], just as Śrī Nārada’s did upon Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva [i.e., the sat’s grace can come upon a worldly person should the sat see a person’s suffering and happen to be thereby reminded of their own past suffering in such a manner that their grace upon the person they observe to be suffering in saṁsāra so happens to be evoked]. Therefore, because of the absence of the suffering of a saṁsārika being a cause thereof [i.e., of grace] even in this analysis [i.e., even in the case of grace coming from the sat], the grace of Parameśvara [i.e., Bhagavān], rather, arises only in relation to bhakti constituted of humility (dainya), such as [praying as follows], ‘He [i.e., Bhagavān] is my only shelter here [i.e., in this world],’ as in the case of Gajendra and others [who prayed to Bhagavān for his shelter in this manner], and in contrast to the denizens of Naraka and others [who may call out to Bhagavān, but not out of bhakti constituted of humility]. Bhakti is a particular śakti of his [i.e., of Bhagavān’s] which is a melter of him [i.e., of Bhagavān, and specifically, of Bhagavān’s heart] upon having entered the class of [his] bhakta [i.e., bhakti is a śakti that belongs to Bhagavān and manifests the capacity to melt Bhagavān’s heart upon it entering the hearts of bhaktas, who, as a separate class, do not by nature possess bhakti but upon receiving bhakti become inspired to perform acts of bhakti that result in Bhagavān’s heart becoming melted]. This has been described [in Paramātma Sandarbha (93)] and will be described [further in Prīti Sandarbha]. Furthermore, in connection with humility (dainya), it [i.e., bhakti] becomes abundantly enkindled. Thus, there is an abundance of that [i.e., of bhakti] therein [i.e., in a bhakta who responds to distress with humility (dainya) as a result of past association with the sat]. Therefore [i.e., because Bhagavān‘s grace manifests directly only in response to bhakti and never directly towards jīvas devoid of bhakti], his grace, which dwells in the sat, being either conveyed solely by association with the sat, or conveyed solely by the grace of the sat, is transmitted to another jīva [from the sat who are carrying it]. Thus it is established that this is not independent [i.e., Bhagavān’s grace is not transmitted to jīvas in saṁsāra directly, that is, independently of the sat, but rather is transmitted to jīvas in saṁsāra only through the sat].”

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