uttama hañā vaiṣṇava habe nirabhimāna |
jīve sammāna dibe jāni’ kṛṣṇa-adhiṣṭhāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.25)
“Although exalted, a Vaiṣṇava should be prideless and give respect to all jīvas, knowing them to be dwelling places of Kṛṣṇa.”
ātmā nadī saṁyama-puṇya-tīrthā
satyodakā śīla-taṭā dayormiḥ |
tatrābhiṣekaṁ kuru pāṇḍu-putra
na vāriṇā śuṣyati cāntarātmā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 93)
“The self is a river: discipline is its auspicious bathing places, truth its water, character its banks, and compassion its waves. Bath there, O son of Pāṇḍu. The inner self is not purified by water.”
śucitvam atra tad-ananya-vṛttitvam |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 106)
“Purity (śucitvam) in this regard [i.e., on the part of a bhakta] is the state of having a vṛtti [i.e., conduct, alt., mode of being, mentality] exclusively related to him [i.e., Bhagavān, and thus being free from any inclination and activity unrelated to Bhagavān].”
yadi vahasi tridaṇḍaṁ nagra-muṇḍaṁ jaṭāṁ vā
yadi vasasi guhāyāṁ parvatāgre śilālayām |
yadi paṭhasi purāṇaṁ veda-siddhānta-tattvaṁ
yadi hṛdayam aśuddhaṁ sarvam etan na kiñcit ||
(Unknown source)
“Someone may bear a tridaṇḍa [lit., “triple-staff”] and a shaved head or dreadlocks,
Someone may live in a cave or in a stone recess at the top of a mountain,
Someone may study the Purāṇas and the conclusions and principles of the Vedas,
But if one’s heart is impure, then all of this goes for nothing.”
santuṣṭyā manaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.5.4)
“The mind is purified by contentment.”
akartuḥ mad-bhaktāv api bhagavān eva me bhaktiṁ kārayatīti buddhyā svātantryeṇa kartṛtvābhimāna-śūnyāt |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.33)
“‘Non-doer’ means one who is such [i.e., a non-doer] on account of being free from the pride of being a doer independently by virtue of the mentality, ’Even in my bhakti [i.e., the bhakti I perform], Bhagavān causes my bhakti to be performed [i.e., I myself perform no action independently without being enabled to perform that action by him].’”
akartur arpitātmatvena sva-bharaṇādi-karmānapekṣamāṇāt | yad bhagavati bhaktiḥ kriyate, tatrāpi svasya bhagavad-adhīnatvaṁ jñātvā tad-abhimāna-śūnyāc ca |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.33 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)
“‘Non-doer’ means one who is such [i.e., a non-doer] on account of being unconcerned about activities beginning with maintaining oneself because of having offered oneself [to me, Bhagavān], and on account of being free from pride in the bhakti to Bhagavān one performs by understanding one’s own dependence upon Bhagavān therein as well.”
harau ratiṁ vahann eṣa narendrāṇāṃ śikhāmaṇiḥ |
bhikṣām aṭann ari-pure śvapākam api vandate ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.33)
“Holding rati for Hari [in his heart], this crest jewel among kings [i.e., Bhagīratha Mahārāja] went to beg alms at the homes of enemies and bowed down even to outcastes [lit., dog-cookers].”
na svalpam apy adhyavasāya-bhīroḥ
karoti vijñāna-vidhir guṇaṁ hi |
andhasya kiṁ hasta-tala-sthito’pi
prakāśayaty artham iha pradīpaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.165)
“Application of knowledge [alt., of the faculty of discrimination] does not do even a little good for one who is afraid of determined action [i.e., putting one’s knowledge and conclusions into practice in the face of obstacles]. What object in this world does even a lamp present in the palm of the hand illuminate for a blind person?”
anirvedaḥ śriyo mūlyaṁ duḥkha-nāśe sukhasya ca |
mahān bhavaty anirviṇṇaḥ sukhaṁ cātyantam aśnute ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.39.45; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Perseverance [lit., non-despondence] is the root of fortune, elimination of suffering, and happiness. One who is perseverant [alt., non-despondent] is great and enjoys the greatest happiness.”
