saṁsāra-viṣa-vṛkṣasya dve phale hy amṛtopame |
mayi kṛṣṇe parā bhaktir mad-bhaktaiś ca samāgamaḥ ||
(Lakṣmī-Nārāyaṇa-saṁhitā: 3.56.72)
“On the poisonous tree of saṁsāra only two fruits are like nectar: pure bhakti to me, Kṛṣṇa, and association with my bhaktas.”
api sahavasatām asatāṁ jalarūha-jalavad bhavaty asaṁśleṣaḥ |
dūre’pi satāṁ vasatāṁ prītiḥ kumudenduvad bhavati ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2078)
“Even by living together with the impious, like water on a lotus leaf, there is no connection [i.e., no real bond or friendship], yet even by residing afar from the sādhus, like a lily afar from the moon, amity [i.e., friendship, affection, love, and joy] develops.”
rasāyanamayī śītā paramānanda-dāyinī |
nānandayati kaṁ nāma sādhu-saṅgati-candrikā ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.98.58)
“Being enriched with elixir [to cure the disease of saṁsāra], cooling [so as to relieve the three miseries], and yielding of the highest bliss [i.e., the bliss of prema], indeed who does the moonlight of association with a sādhu not delight?”
satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ |
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.25; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.273; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.12; Tattva Sandarbha: 33; Bhakti Sandarbha: 11, 172, 202, 340; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.60, 2.22.83, 2.23.16)
“As a result of extensive association with sādhus, discussions [of me] become full perceptions of my potency and elixirs for the heart and the ears. By cherishing them, swiftly śraddhā, rati (bhāva), and bhakti (prema) to I who am the path to liberation will manifest in succession.”
tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.18.13 and 4.30.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.284, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.228; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 31, 112)
[The sages at Naimiṣāraṇya to Sūta Gosvāmī and the Pracetās to Bhagavān:] “We cannot equate Svarga or non-repetition of birth, much less benedictions had by human beings, with even an instant of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”
yaḥ snātaḥ śānti-sitayā sādhu-saṅgati-gaṅgayā |
kiṁ tasya dānaiḥ kiṁ tīrthaiḥ kiṁ tapobhiḥ kim adhvaraiḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.100.5; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.257)
“For one who has bathed in the peaceful, bright Gaṅgā of association with a sādhu, what is the use of charity, tīrthas, austerities, or sacrifices? [There is no need for them at all.]”
gaṅgādi-puṇya-tīrtheṣu yo naraḥ snātum icchati |
yaḥ karoti satāṁ saṅgāṁ tayoḥ sat-saṅgamo varaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 5.98.78; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.256)
“Between a human being who desires to swim in purifying tīrthas such as the Gaṅgā and one who engages in association with sādhus, the one who associates with sādhus is superior.”
sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ sutarāṁ mat-kṛtātmanām |
darśanān no bhaved bandhaḥ puṁso’kṣṇoḥ savitur yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.10.41; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 179)
“As there is no longer any bondage for the eyes upon seeing the sun, so there is no longer any bondage for a person upon seeing sādhus who are equanimous and thus of mind fixed upon me.”
vinu sata-saṁga viveka na hoi |
rāma-kṛpā vinu sulabha na soi ||
sata-saṁgata muda maṁgaka mūlā |
soi phala siddhi saba sādhana phulā ||
(Rāma-carita-mānasa: 1.2.4)
“Without sādhu-saṅga, discernment (viveka) does not manifest, and without Rāma’s grace, that [i.e., sādhu-saṅga] is not readily attained. Sādhu-saṅga is the root of joy and well-being; siddhi [i.e., spiritual realization] is its fruit, and all sādhanas are its flowers.”
na hy adbhutaṁ tvac-caraṇābja-reṇubhir
hatāṁhaso bhaktir adhokṣaje’malā |
mauhūrtikād yasya samāgamāc ca me
dustarka-mūlo’pahato’vivekaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.13.22)
“[Rahūgaṇa to Jaḍa Bharata:] It is certainly not astonishing that by [touch of] the dust of your lotus feet pure bhakti to Adhokṣaja has manifest within me, whose sin has been dispelled, since my indiscrimination rooted in wrong argumentation has been destroyed by [just] momentary association with you.”
