śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ |
samyak saṅkalpajaḥ kāmo dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam ||
(Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 1.7; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 58)
“The Śruti, the Smṛti, proper conduct (sadācāra), the satisfaction of one’s own mind, and desire arising from proper resolve—these are known as the basis [i.e., the pramāṇa, the means of knowing] of dharma.”
yadi māṁ prāptum icchanti prāpnuvanty eva nānyathā |
kalau kaluṣa-cittānāṁ vṛthāyuḥ-prabhṛtīni ca |
bhavanti varṇāśramiṇāṁ na tu mac-charaṇārthinām ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa: cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 99)
“If anyone desires to attain me, they certainly attain me. This cannot be otherwise. In [the Age of] Kali, the life and so forth [i.e., the present actions and future destiny] of those of polluted heart who adhere to varṇāśrama are fruitless, but such is not so for those who seek my shelter.”
kṛta-niścayino vandyās tuṅgimā nopabhujyate |
cātakaḥ ko varāko’yaṁ yasyendro vārivāhakaḥ ||
(Pañcatantra: 2.147)
“The resolute are worthy of respect. Such [status] is not enjoyed [just] by one who is tall [i.e., large in size]. Who is this low [i.e., short and apparently insignificant] cātaka for whom Indra is a water-porter?”
santu ramyāṇi bhūrīṇi prārthyaṁ syād idam eva me |
iti yo nirṇayo dhīrair abhimānaḥ sa ucyate ||
(Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: 14.19)
“‘Let many pleasing things be [i.e., let me disregard them], and let this alone be desirable to me [i.e., let me desire only this],’—such determination is called abhimāna by the wise.”
prabhu bole “torā āra nā karis pāpa” |
jagāi-mādhāi bale “āra nāre bāpa” ||
prabhu bale “śuna śuna tumi dui-jana |
satya ei āmi tore balila vacana ||
koṭi koṭi janme yata āche pāpa tora |
āra yadi nā karis, saba dāya mora ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.13.225–227)
“Prabhu said, ‘You should not commit sin any more.‘
Jagāi and Mādhāi replied, ‘We shall not any more, O Father.’
Prabhu said, ‘Listen, listen you two. True are these words I am telling you: all of your sin from crores and crores of births—if you do not commit any more—is all my responsibility [i.e., I will absolve you of all of it].”
paraṁ padaṁ vaiṣṇavam āmananti tad
yan neti netīty atad-utsisṛkṣavaḥ |
visṛjya daurātmyam ananya-sauhṛdā
hṛdopaguhyāvasitaṁ samāhitaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.6.32)
“‘Not this,’ ‘not this, …’ those who are in this way desirous of giving up the unreal [i.e., the non-self] and [so also] of undivided affinity [i.e., of one-pointed affinity for Viṣṇu], having given up ill-naturedness [i.e., the notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’], speak of the supreme nature of Viṣṇu, which is embraced with the heart and understood by the resolute [i.e., those absorbed in samādhi].”
api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk |
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.30)
“If even a person of extreme misconduct serves me exclusively, he should be regarded as a sādhu because he is rightly resolved.”
yad yathā yathopāsate tad eva bhavanti |
(Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa: 10.5.2.20; cited in Prīti Sandarbha 51)
“One indeed becomes that which one meditates upon.”
sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma taj-jalān iti śānta upāsīta | atha khalu kratumayaḥ puruṣo yathā kratur asmil loke puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati sa kratuṁ kurvīta ||
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 3.14.1; cited in Prīti Sandarbha 51)
“All of this is verily Brahman, that from which everything manifests, by which everything is taken [i.e., into which everything dissolves], and in which everything exists. Therefore, be peaceful and meditate [upon Brahman]. Now, verily, a living being is made of intention (kratu). As is a living being’s intention in this world, so the living being becomes upon departing from here. [Therefore,] one should form an intention.”
