praśastācaraṇaṁ nityam apraśastasya varjanam |
etad dhi maṅgalaṁ proktam ṛṣibhis tattva-darśibhiḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.21.42)
“Continuous laudable conduct and avoidance of the unlaudable—this specifically is declared well-being [alt., auspiciousness] (maṅgala) by the sages who are seers of the reality.”
taj janma tāni karmāṇi tad āyus tan mano vacaḥ |
nṝṇāṁ yena hi viśvātmā sevyate harir īśvaraḥ ||
kiṁ janmabhis tribhir veha śaukra-sāvitra-yājñikaiḥ |
karmabhir vā trayī-proktaiḥ puṁso’pi vibudhāyuṣā ||
śrutena tapasā vā kiṁ vacobhiś citta-vṛttibhiḥ |
buddhyā vā kiṁ nipuṇayā balenendriya-rādhasā ||
kiṁ vā yogena sāṅkhyena nyāsa-svādhyāyayor api |
kiṁ vā śreyobhir anyaiś ca na yatrātma-prado hariḥ ||
śreyasām api sarveṣām ātmā hy avadhir arthataḥ |
sarveṣām api bhūtānāṁ harir ātmātmadaḥ priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.31.9–13; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 51, 101)
“That is a birth, those are actions, that is a life, that is mind and [that is] is speech on the part of human beings whereby Hari, Īśvara, the Self of the universe, is worshiped. Here [in this world], what [is the use] of the three births—the seminal (śaukra), the sāvitra [i.e., the second birth brought about by dīkṣā into the sāvitra-mantra and investiture with the sacred thread, viz., the upanayana-saṁskāra], and the sacrificial (yājñika) [i.e., the third birth brought about by dīkṣā into the performance of a particular Vedic sacrifice (yajña)], what [is the use] of the rites prescribed in the three [Vedas], what [is the use] of even the lifespan of a deva for a human being, what [is the use] of hearing, austerity, words, and states of mind, what [is the use] of sharp intellect, [physical] strength, and acuity of the senses, what [is the use] of yoga [i.e., aṣṭāṅga-yoga], sāṅkhya [i.e., discrimination between the body and self], sannyāsa, and even study, and what [is the use] of any other means of benefit (śreyas) [e.g., vows (vratas), non-attachment (vairāgya), etc.] whereby Hari does not become a bestower of the Self [alt., himself]? In reality, the Self specifically is the culmination even of all means of benefit, and Hari is the Self, the Bestower of the Self, and the Beloved even of all beings.”
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.”
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye |
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.4; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.608; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 95; Bhakti Sandarbha: 5, 67, 71, 105, 176; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.22, 2.24.170, 2.25.31)
“O Lord, for those who abandon [the path of] bhakti to you, that from which there is a flow of auspiciousnesses [alt., that which is the path to auspiciousness], and struggle to attain awareness of oneness, only this hardship remains and nothing else, as is the case for those who thresh thick chaff.”
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].”
yogās trayo mayā proktā nṝṇāṁ śreyo-vidhitsayā |
jñānaṁ karma ca bhaktiś ca nopāyo’nyo’sti kutracit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.6; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 170)
“Three yogas—jñāna, karma, and bhakti—have been taught by me with the intention of bringing about the weal of human beings. There is no other means [to weal for human beings] anywhere.”
na sādhayati māṁ yogo na sāṅkhyaṁ dharma uddhava |
na svādhyāyas tapas tyāgo yathā bhaktir mamorjitā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.20; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.601; Bhakti Sandarbha: 78, 103, 147, 327; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.134)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Uddhava, neither yoga, nor sāṅkhya, nor dharma, nor study, nor austerity, nor renunciation cause attainment of me like powerful bhakti to me [does].”
sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)
“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”
etasmād viramendriyārtha-gahanād āyāsakād āśraya
śreyo-mārgam aśeṣa-duḥkha-śamana-vyāpāra-dakṣaṁ kṣaṇāt |
svātmībhāvam upaihi santyaja nijāṁ kallola-lolaṁ gatiṁ
mā bhūyo bhaja bhaṅgurāṁ bhava-ratiṁ cetaḥ prasīdādhunā ||
(Vairāgya-śatakam: 63)
“Therefore,
Desist from the troublesome labyrinth
Of the sense-objects.
Take shelter in the path
Of the highest good (śreyas),
Capable in the matter of extinguishing
Endless suffering within a moment.
Reach the state of your own self,
Abandoning your own [present] condition,
Inconstant like a wave.
Do not again
Foster transient affinity for the world
[Much less partake of transient pleasures of the world based on it].
O mind,
Be satisfied now.”
na hy ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ panthā viśataḥ saṁsṛtāv iha |
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogo yato bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 85; Bhakti Sandarbha 28, 86, 115)
“For someone immersed here in saṁsāra, there is certainly no other auspicious path than that by which bhakti-yoga to Bhagavān Vāsudeva can come into being.”
