aprameyānubhāvo’yam akutaścid-bhayo’maraḥ |
nūnam etad-virodhena mṛtyur me bhavitā na vā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.47)
[Hiraṇyakaśipu of Prahlāda Mahārāja:] “He is of immeasurable might, completely fearless, and deathless. My death will certainly occur as a result of opposing him, or may not.”
kim ātmanānena jahāti yo’ntataḥ
kiṁ riktha-hāraiḥ svajanākhya-dasyubhiḥ |
kiṁ jāyayā saṁsṛti-hetu-bhūtayā
martyasya gehaiḥ kim ihāyuṣo vyayaḥ ||
itthaṁ sa niścitya pitāmaho mahān
agādha-bodho bhavataḥ pāda-padmam |
dhruvaṁ prapede hy akutobhayaṁ janād
bhītaḥ svapakṣa-kṣapaṇasya sattama ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.22.9–10)
[Bali Mahārāja explains to Vāmanadeva why Prahlāda Mahārāja took shelter in him:] “‘What good is this body, which leaves one in the end? What good are the bandits known as kinsmen, who steal away one’s wealth? What good is a wife, who is a cause of saṁsāra? And what good are houses, wherein there is [only] the loss of a mortal’s life?’ Thus resolved and wary of the world, that great grandfather [of mine], of unfathomable understanding, took shelter in your unwavering lotus feet, because of which there can be no fear whatsoever, even though you were the destroyer of his own dynasty, O Best of the virtuous!”
pitāmaho me bhavadīya-sammataḥ
prahrāda āviṣkṛta-sādhu-vādaḥ |
bhavad-vipakṣeṇa vicitra-vaiśasaṁ
samprāpitas tvaṁ paramaḥ sva-pitrā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.22.8)
[Bali Mahārāja to Vāmanadeva:] “Highly honored by those who are your own, and known to be of virtuous renown, my grandfather, Prahrāda [i.e., Prahlāda], underwent multifarious torture from his own father, who was inimical to you, and [still] held you to be his refuge.”
bhavanti puruṣā loke mad-bhaktās tvām anuvratāḥ |
bhavān me khalu bhaktānāṁ sarveṣāṁ pratirūpa-dhṛk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.21)
[Nṛsiṁhadeva to Prahlāda Mahārāja:] “People in the world who follow you become my bhaktas, for you are indeed the paragon for all of my bhaktas.”
abhyāso na hi tyaktavyo abhyāso hi paraṁ balam |
anabhyāse viṣaṁ vidyā ajīrṇe bhojanaṁ viṣam ||
(Subhāṣita-mañjarī)
“Practice (abhyāsa) is never to be abandoned. Practice is indeed the greatest strength. Without practice, knowledge is poison, just as food is poison during indigestion.”
durbalasya balaṁ rājā bālānāṁ rodanaṁ balam |
balaṁ mūrkhasya maunitvaṁ caurāṇām anṛtam balam ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti)
“The strength of the weak is the king. The strength of children is crying. The strength of a fool is silence, and the strength of thieves is deceit.”
āvirbhūya mano-vṛttau vrajanti tat-svarūpatām |
svayaṁ-prakāśa-rūpāpi bhāsamānā prākāśyavat ||
vastutaḥ svayam āsvāda-svarūpaiva ratis tv asau |
kṛṣṇādi-karmakāsvāda-hetutvaṁ pratipadyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.4–5)
“Although self-luminous in form, this rati appears in a vṛtti of the mind, assumes the state of its nature, and shines like something to be illuminated [by that vṛtti]. In reality this rati is itself taste just by [its own] nature, yet it enters the state of being the cause of tasting its objects, Kṛṣṇa and so forth.”
ārtārte mudite hṛṣṭā proṣite malinā kṛśā |
mṛte mriyeta yā patyau sā strī jñeyā pativratā ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A woman who is distressed when her husband is distressed, pleased when he is happy, and unclean and emaciated when he is abroad, and who dies when her husband dies, is to be known as devoted to her husband.”
yo vā etad akṣaraṁ gārgy aviditvāsmāl lokāt praiti sa kṛpaṇaḥ |
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 3.8.10; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 62)
“[Yājñavalkya:] O Gārgī, one who departs this world without knowing the Absolute is indeed wretched [alt., pitiable, lowly].”
śrīmad-bhāgavataṁ purāṇam amalaṁ yad vaiṣṇavānāṁ priyaṁ
yasmin pāramahaṁsyam ekam amalaṁ jñānaṁ paraṁ gīyate |
tatra jñāna-virāga-bhakti-sahitaṁ naiṣkarmyam āviskṛtaṁ
tac chṛṇvan su-paṭhan vicāraṇa-paro bhaktyā vimucyen naraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.18; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.407)
“Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the flawless Purāṇa, is dear to the Vaiṣṇavas as within it is sung the unique, flawless, and supreme knowledge that is beneficial even to paramahaṁsas. Therein, the cessation of karma (naiṣkarmya) is brought forth along with knowledge, detachment, and bhakti. A human being who hears, properly recites, and engages in deliberation upon it with bhakti attains the highest liberation.”
