śāstreṣv iyān eva suniścito nṛṇāṁ
kṣemasya sadhryag-vimṛśeṣu hetuḥ |
asaṅga ātma-vyatirikta ātmani
dṛḍhā ratir brahmaṇi nirguṇe ca yā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.22.21)
“In the śāstras of united deliberation the means to well-being for human beings has been fully determined exactly to this extent: non-attachment to all that is not the Ātmā which is also [of the nature of] firm attachment to the unqualified, absolute Ātmā.”
śāstrera nā jāne marma adhyāpanā kare |
gardabhera prāya yena śāstra vahi mare ||
paḍhiyā śuniñā loka gela chārakhāre |
kṛṣṇa mahāmahotsave vañcila tāhāre ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.1.158–159)
“One who does not know the purport of the śāstra yet teaches [śāstra to others only] bears the śāstra and languishes like a donkey [i.e., as a beast of burden suffers from bearing a load without ever experiencing the benefit the goods it carries can provide, such as the fragrance that can be released from a load of sandalwood it carries, so someone who teaches the śāstra but does not understand its purport only undergoes the trouble of studying and teaching without experiencing the benefit that the knowledge meant to be conveyed by the śāstra can produce, that is, the superlative joy of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti].[Even] After hearing and studying [the śāstra], the person [who teaches the śāstra without understanding its purport] is laid to waste. Kṛṣṇa deprives them of the ultimate grand festival [i.e., the superlative joy of discussion, realization, and so forth of himself].”
gatānugatiko mūrkhaḥ śāstronmādaś ca paṇḍitaḥ |
nitya-kṣībāś ca veśyānāṁ jaṅgamāḥ kalpa-pādapāḥ ||
(Samaya-mātṛkā: 5.67; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 7755)
“A fool is an imitator [lit., ‘a goer after that which has gone,’ i.e., just an uncritical follower of what those before them have done], a scholar (paṇḍita) is crazed by śāstra [i.e., undone as a result of pedantry, excessive concern for theory that results in a lack of practical application, etc.], and the ever-debased [alt., weak-minded] are the mobile desire-trees of prostitutes.”
tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā |
mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.9; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.553; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.247; Bhakti Sandarbha: 62, 106, 173; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.9.264, 2.22.61)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] One should perform karmas so long as one shall not become disinterested or so long as śraddhā in hearing and so forth of discussion about me does not manifest.”
āmnāya-prathitānvayā smṛtimatī bāḍhaṁ ṣaḍ-aṅgojjvalā
nyāyenānugatā purāṇa-suhṛdā mīmāṁsayā maṇḍitā |
tvāṁ labdhāvasarā cirād guru-kule prekṣya sva-saṅgārthinaṁ
vidyā nāma vadhūś caturdaśa-guṇā govinda śuśrūṣate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.77; cited in Sāhitya-kaumudī: 6.3)
“[Siddhas and Cāraṇas praise Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Govinda,
The young bride named Knowledge,
Whose lineage is extended by the [four] Vedas,
Who is possessed of the Smṛtis,
Who is exceedingly bright with the six [Veda-] aṅgas,
Who is followed by Nyāya,
Who is decorated by Mīmāṁsā
The friends of which are the Purāṇas,
Who is [thus] possessed of fourteen attributes,
And who upon seeing you seeking her own company
At the house of a guru
Has found an opportunity after a long time,
Desires to serve [you].”
A second translation as per the second intended meaning of the verse:
“[Siddhas and Cāraṇas praise Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Govinda,
The young bride named Knowledge,
Whose family is renowned for [its] nobility,
Who is endowed with good memory,
Whose six parts are exceedingly bright,
Who is observant of good conduct,
Who is decorated with discernment
The supporters of which are elders,
Who is present in the home of [her] parents,
Who upon seeing you seeking her own company
Has found an opportunity after a long time,
And is [thus] possessed of fourteen qualities,
Desires to serve [you].”
asmin karmādhikāriṇi manuṣya-loke dvivdhau bhūta-sargau manuṣya-sṛṣṭī bhavataḥ | yadāyaṁ manuṣya-loke śāstrāt svābhāvikau rāga-dveṣau vinirdhūya śāstrīyārthānuṣṭhāyī tadā daivaḥ | yadā śāstram utsṛjya svābhāvika-rāga-dveṣādhīno’śāstrīyān dharmān ācarati, tadā tv āsuraḥ |
(Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 16.6)
“In this world of human beings governed by karma, the elementary nature of emanated human beings is twofold. When in the world of human beings one on account of the śāstra shakes off the attachment (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa) belonging to one’s acquired disposition (svabhāva), and acts in accord with the aim of the śāstra, then one is daiva [i.e., of godly nature]. When one is controlled by the attachment (rāga) and aversion (dveṣa) belonging to one’s acquired disposition (svabhāva), rejects the śāstra, and observes practices that are non-śāstric [i.e., contrary to the teaching of the śāstra], then one is āsura [i.e., of ungodly nature].”
dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam |
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahāmuni-kṛte kiṁ vāparair īśvaraḥ
sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.2; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.396; Tattva Sandarbha: 19, 26, 50; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 84; Paramātma Sandarbha: 106, Bhakti Sandarbha: 106, 115, 217; Prīti Sandarbha: 16, 18, 73; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā and Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.244)
“Here [i.e., in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], for the sādhus who are free from envy, is the highest dharma wherein deceit is utterly rejected. Here is the Reality, the real object to be be known, which bestows the highest good and uproots the three miseries. What need is there of any other [śāstra] than this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam compiled by the best of the sages [i.e., Vedavyāsa]? [There is no such need because] Here Īśvara is bound within the heart by the fortunate who desire to serve immediately, from that [very] moment [they begin to listen].”
nārāyaṇaḥ paraṁ brahma taj jñānenātha gamyate |
jñānasya sādhanaṁ śāstraṁ śāstraṁ ca guru-vaktragam ||
brahma-prāptir ato hetor gurv-adhīnā sadaiva hi |
hetunānena vai viprā gurur gurutaraḥ smṛtaḥ ||
yasmād devo jagannāthaḥ kṛtvā martyamayīṁ tanum |
magnān uddharate lokān kāruṇyāc chāstra-pāṇinā ||
tasmād bhaktir gurau kāryā saṁsāra-bhaya-bhīruṇā |
śāstra-jñānena yo’jñānaṁ timiraṁ vinipātayet ||
śāstraṁ pāpa-haraṁ puṇyaṁ pavitraṁ bhoga-mokṣadam |
śāntidaṁ ca mahārthaṁ ca vakti yaḥ sa jagad-guruḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.413–417)
“Nārāyaṇa is the Supreme Brahman, and he is attained by means of knowledge (jñāna). The means of acquiring knowledge (jñāna) is the śāstra, and the śāstra is learned from the mouth of the guru. For this reason, the attainment of Brahman is indeed verily always dependent on the guru, and for that reason, O brāhmaṇas, the guru is known to be very important [lit., ‘very heavy’]. Because Deva, the Lord of universe, out of compassion adopts a mortal form [i.e., the human form of the guru] and delivers the people immersed [in the ocean of saṁsāra] with the hand of the śāstra, bhakti to the guru is to be performed by those who are frighted by the fear of saṁsāra [i.e., by those who aspire to transcend saṁsāra]. He who can completely dispel the darkness of ignorance with knowledge of the śāstra—[he] who is a speaker of the śāstra, which is a remover of sin, sacred, purifying, a bestower of enjoyment and mokṣa, a bestower of peace, and possessed of deep meaning—is a guru of the world.”
sarvajña munira vākya śāstra—paramāṇa |
āmā-sabhā-jīvera haya śāstra-dvārā jñāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.350)
“The statements of the all-knowing sages—the śāstra—is the pramāṇa [i.e., the means of attaining valid knowledge]. All of us jīvas have knowledge by means of the śāstra.”
śāstraṁ hy abuddhvā tattvena kecid vāda-balāj janāḥ |
kāma-dveṣābhibhūtatvād ahaṅkāra-vaśaṁ gatāḥ ||
yāthātathyam avijñāya śāstrāṇāṁ śāstra-dasyavaḥ |
brahma-stenā nirārambhā dambha-moha-vaśānugāḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 269.53)
“Not understanding śāstra accurately, some persons become captivated by arrogance (ahaṅkāra) on account of being overcome by desire or enmity on the strength of argument. Without knowing the truth of the śāstras, the robbers of the śāstras—thieves of Brahman—controlled by deceit and delusion, remain without undertaking [i.e., they do not take up the practices taught in the śāstras beginning with equanimity and so on].”
