saṅgaṁ na kuryāt pramadāsu jātu
yogasya pāraṁ param ārurukṣuḥ |
mat-sevayā pratilabdhātma-lābho
vadanti yā niraya-dvāram asya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.39)
“[Kapiladeva:] Neither one desirous of ascending to the highest pinnacle of yoga nor one who has reached realization of the ātma through service to me should become attached to [alt., associate with] women, who the wise say are the door to hell for any man.”
satyaṁ śaucaṁ dayā maunaṁ buddhiḥ śrīr hrīr yaśaḥ kṣamā |
śamo damo bhagaś ceti yat-saṅgād yāti saṅkṣayam ||
teṣv aśānteṣu mūḍheṣu khaṇḍitātmasv asādhuṣu |
saṅgaṁ na kuryāc chocyeṣu yoṣit-krīḍā-mṛgeṣu ca ||
na tathāsya bhaven moho bandhaś cānya-prasaṅgataḥ |
yoṣit-saṅgād yathā puṁso yathā tat-saṅgi-saṅgataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.31.33–35; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.88–90)
“One should never associate with those by whose association truthfulness, cleanliness, grace, quietude, the intellect, wealth, modesty, honor, forgiveness, mental control, sense control, and good fortune are destroyed, and who are restless, foolish, self-destructive, impious, deplorable, and the pet animals of women. A man’s infatuation and bondage do not occur as a result of any other association the way they do as a result of association with women and association with those who associate with them.”
satām ayaṁ sāra-bhṛtāṁ nisargo
yad-artha-vāṇī-śruti-cetasām api |
prati-kṣaṇaṁ navyavad acyutasya yat
striyā viṭānām iva sādhu vārtā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.13.2)
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] “This is the nature of sādhus who grasp the essence, they for whom discussion of Acyuta is truly as though ever-new at every moment even though it is [already and always] the object of their speech, hearing, and mind, just as discussion of women is [as though ever-new] for sensualists.”
vaiṣṇavera guṇa-grāhī, nā dekhaye doṣa |
kāya-mano-vākye kare vaiṣṇava-santoṣa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.8.62)
“He [i.e., Haridāsa Paṇḍita] appreciates the qualities of Vaiṣṇavas and overlooks their faults. With body, mind, and words he pleases the Vaiṣṇavas.”
sarveṣāṁ mārgāṇāṁ tāratamya-jñānena sva-mārgotkarṣa-jñānaṁ bhavati |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.14.31)
“Knowledge of the excellence of one’s own path arises through knowledge of the gradation amidst all paths.”
yadyapi kāśī-khaṇḍam ādhunikaṁ kalpitaṁ kāvyam iti purāṇa-tattvavitsu prasiddham, tathāpi tad-ākāra-skānda-vāyavya-kaurmādi-pratipādita-sadācāra-viṣayakāṇi kānicid vacanāni smṛti-saṁvalitāny atra saṅgṛhītāni ity adoṣaḥ |
(Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.13–14)
“Although the Kāśī Khaṇḍa is well-known among those cognizant of the nature of Purāṇas to be a modern made composition, still some statements of this sort presented in the Skanda, Vāyu, Kūrma, and other Purāṇas related to sadācāra that are part of the Smṛti are accepted here. There is no fault in this regard.”
aṇubhyaś ca mahadbhyaś ca śāstrebhyaḥ kuśalo naraḥ |
sarvataḥ sāram ādadyāt puṣpebhya iva ṣaṭ-padaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.8.10)
“A wise person should collect the essence from the śāstras, both great and small, like a bee collects nectar from flowers everywhere.”
etāṁ sa āsthāya parātma-niṣṭhām
adhyāsitāṁ pūrvatamair mahadbhiḥ |
ahaṁ tariṣyāmi duranta-pāraṁ
tamo mukundāṅghri-niṣevayaiva ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.23.57; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.3.6)
“Taking shelter in fixity in the higher self [alt., Self], as it was practiced by the great souls of the past, I shall cross over the insurmountable darkness [i.e., saṁsāra] by serving the feet of Mukunda.”
mātāpy ekā pitāpy ekā mama ca tasya pakṣiṇo |
ahaṁ munibhir ānītas sa cānīto gavāśanaiḥ |
ahaṁ munīnāṁ vacanaṁ śṛṇomi gavāśanānāṁ sa śṛṇoti vākyam |
na tasya doṣo na ca me guṇo vā saṁsargajā doṣa-guṇā bhavanti ||
(Unknown Source)
[A parrot explains why he and his brother speak and act very differently:] “Although the other bird and I have the same mother and the same father, I was taken by sages, and he was taken by cow-eaters [from our parents’ nest when we were young]. I hear the speech of sages, and he hears the statements of cow-eaters. So, there is no fault on his part or any quality on my part. Faults and qualities are produced by association.”
śrī-sanātana-pādābja-dvandvaṁ vande muhur muhuḥ |
yat prasāda-lavenāpi kṛṣṇe bhakti-raso bhavet ||
(Sādhana-dīpikā: 8)
“I offer obeisance again and again unto the two lotus feet of Śrī Sanātana, by even a trace of whose grace bhakti-rasa related to Kṛṣṇa can manifest.”
