dharma-mūlaṁ hi bhagavān sarva-vedamayo hariḥ |
smṛtaṁ ca tad-vidāṁ rājan yena cātmā prasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 58)
“O King, the basis of dharma [i.e., the pramāṇa, the means of knowing dharma], by which the ātmā [i.e., the mind] is satisfied, definitively is Bhagavān, Hari, the embodiment [i.e., the source] of all the Vedas, and that which is remembered by those who know him [i.e., the Smṛti-śāstras].”
sad-guroḥ sakāśād vedāntādy-akhila-śāstrārtha-vicāra-śravaṇa-dvārā yadi sā āvaśyaka-parama-kartavyatvena jñāyate, punaś ca … yadi viparīta-bhāvanā-tyājakau manana-yogyatā-mananābhiniveśau syātāṁ, tataḥ śraddadhānaiś ca sā bhaktir upāsana-dvārā labhyate |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 7)
“If, through hearing deliberation upon the meaning of all the śāstras beginning with Vedānta from a sad-guru, that [i.e., bhakti] is understood to be the supreme necessary duty, and furthermore … if they [i.e., listeners] develop capability for contemplation, and absorption in contemplation, which dispel contradictory notions, then that, bhakti, is attainable through upāsana by those endowed with śraddhā.”
heloddhūnita-khedayā viśadayā pronmīlad-āmodayā
śāmyac-chāstra-vivādayā rasa-dayā citārpitonmādayā |
śaśvad-bhakti-vinodayā samadayā mādhurya-maryādayā
śrī-caitanya dayā-nidhe tava dayā bhūyād amandodayā ||
(Caitanya-candrodaya-nāṭakam: 8.14; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.10.119)
“O ocean of grace, Śrī Caitanya! May your grace arising in abundance with the limit of mādhurya—[mādhurya] by which lamentation is easily cast away, which is brilliant [i.e., pure], which fully expands delight, which resolves dispute over śāstra, which bestows rasa, by which unmāda [i.e., madness] is cast into the mind, which manifests eternal delight in bhakti, and which is endowed with mada [i.e., jubilation]—be [bestowed upon me].”
strī-putrādi-kathāṁ jahur viṣayiṇaḥ śāstra-pravādaṁ budhā
yogīndrā vijahur marun-niyama-ja-kleśaṁ tapas tāpasāḥ |
jñānābhyāsa-vidhiṁ jahuś ca yatayaś caitanya-candre parām
āviṣkurvati bhakti-yoga-padavīṁ naivānya āsīd rasaḥ ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 113)
“The viṣayīs abandoned talk of their wives, sons, and so on; the intellectuals abandoned their debates regarding the śāstra, the masters of yoga abandoned the hardships produced by their practices of breath regulation, the ascetics abandoned their austerities, and the sannyāsīs abandoned their studies when Caitanyacandra revealed the highest path of bhakti-yoga. No other rasa remained.”
yasya nāsti svayaṁ prajñā śāstraṁ tasya karoti kim |
locanābhyāṁ vihīnasya darpaṇaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 10.9)
“What does the śāstra do for he who himself has no discernment [alt., intelligence]? What can a mirror do for he who has no eyes?”
bhāro’vivekinaḥ śāstraṁ bhāro jñānaṁ ca rāgiṇaḥ |
aśāntasya mano bhāraḥ bhāro’nātmavido vapuḥ ||
(Yoga Vāsiṣṭa: 1.14.13; Mahopaniṣad: 2.16)
“The śāstra is a burden for the indiscriminate. Knowledge is a burden for the passionate. The mind is a burden for the disquieted, and the body is a burden for one devoid of knowledge of the self.”
aneka-śāstraṁ bahu-veditavyam
alpaś ca kālo bahuvaś ca vighnāḥ |
yat sāra-bhūtaṁ tad upāsitavyaṁ
haṁso yathā kṣīram ivāmbhum adhyāt ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpanam: 15.10)
“There are various texts and so many things to be known. Time is short, and obstacles are numerous. Therefore, the essence is to be appreciated, as a swan can extract milk for the midst of water.”
ananta-pāraṁ kila śabda-śāstraṁ
svalpaṁ tathāyur bahavaś ca vighnāḥ |
sāraṁ tato grāhyam apāsya phalgu
haṁsair yathā kṣīram ivāmbum adhyāt ||
(Pañcatantra: Kathā-mukham, 6)
“Endless indeed are words and texts. Life is short, and obstacles are numerous. Therefore, the essence is to be grasped and the insubstantial set aside, just as milk can be extracted from water by swans.”
vede rāmāyaṇe caiva purāṇe bhārate tathā |
ādāv ante ca madhye ca hariḥ sarvatra gīyate ||
(Hari-vaṁśa: Bhaviṣyat-parva, 132.95; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 22)
“Throughout the Vedas, Rāmāyaṇa, the Purāṇas, and Mahābhārata, at the beginning, at the end, and in the middle, Hari is sung of everywhere.”
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata |
śraddhāmayo’yaṁ puruṣo yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 17.3)
“The śraddhā of all beings corresponds to their disposition (sattva), O descendant of Bhārata. A person is made of śraddhā. One verily is the śraddhā one has.”
