ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram |
tasya bhinna-dṛśo mṛtyur vidadhe bhayam ulbaṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.26; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)
[Kapiladeva:] “I, Death, cause tremendous fear for [i.e., subject to saṁsāra] one of disunited vision who differentiates between one’s own belly and another’s.”
hṛdayaṁ sadayaṁ yasya bhāṣitaṁ satya-bhūṣitam |
kāyaḥ para-hitopāyaḥ kaliḥ kurvīta tasya kim ||
(Vairāgya-śataka of Padmanandana)
“What can Kali do to one whose heart is compassionate, whose speech is adorned with truth, and whose body is an instrument for the well-being of others?”
sajjanā eva sādhūnāṁ prathayanti guṇotkaram |
puṣpāṇāṁ saurabhaṁ prāyas tanvate dikṣu mārutaḥ ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍārāgāra)
“Only sādhus proclaim the qualities of [other] sādhus [i.e., the impious, on the contrary, typically engage in discussion of sādhus’ supposed faults instead]. Mostly [it is] the winds [that] spread the fragrance of flowers throughout the directions.”
na pāpaṁ prati pāpaḥ syāt sādhur eva sadā bhavet |
ātmanaiva hataḥ pāpo yaḥ pāpaṁ kartum icchati ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.210.33)
“Let no counter-sin arise in response to a sin. One should always and only be a sādhu [i.e., honest and virtuous, and not succumb to a lower standard of behavior just because others are acting in that manner towards oneself]. A sinner who desires to commit sin is destroyed by his own self.”
guṇāḥ kurvanti dūtatvaṁ dūre’pi vasatāṁ satām |
ketakī-gandham āghrāya svayaṁ gacchanti ṣaṭpadāḥ ||
(Subhāṣita-ratnākara)
“The qualities even of sādhus residing afar act as messengers. Bees go on their own to smell the fragrance of ketakī flowers.”
vastreṇa vapuṣā vācā vidyayā vinayena ca |
va-kāraiḥ pañcabhir hīnaḥ naro nāyāti gauravam ||
(Unknown Source)
“Cloth, figure, speech, knowledge, and good conduct—a person without these five v’s does not attain respect.”
jyeṣṭhatvaṁ janmanā naiva guṇair jyeṣṭhatvam ucyate |
guṇāt gurutvam āyāti dugdhaṁ dadhi ghṛtaṁ kramāt ||
(Unknown Source)
“Seniority [alt., superiority, excellence] is not because of birth. Seniority is recognized because of qualities. Greatness comes from qualities, just as milk, yoghurt, and ghee come in order.”
akṛtvā para-santāpam agatvā khala-namratām |
anutsṛjya satāṁ mārgaṁ yat svalpam api tad bahu ||
(Śārṅgadhara-paddhati)
“Without causing pain to others, without bowing to the wicked, and without giving up the path of the sādhus—even whatever little [that can be done or attained] is [actually] a lot.”
yā sādhūṁś ca khalān karoti viduṣo mūrkhān hitān dveṣiṇaḥ
pratyakṣaṁ kurute parekṣam amṛtaṁ hālāhalaṁ tat-kṣaṇāt |
tām ārādhaya sat-kriyāṁ bhagavatīṁ bhoktuṁ phalaṁ vāñchitaṁ
he sādho vyasanair guṇeṣu vipuleṣv āsthāṁ vṛthā mā kṛthāḥ ||
(Nīti-śatakam: 98)
“O sādhu! To attain your desired goal, worship the goddess of virtuous conduct, which makes the wicked good, the foolish wise, the inimical well-wishers, the invisible visible, and poison nectar in an instant. Do not in vain passionately put faith in numerous [other] qualities.”
hari-bhaktiḥ kevalato vedānta-grantha-vācanābhyāsāt
na bhaved yat pañcāṅge kadā kadā kutra vṛṣṭir iti |
tat koṣṭakaṁ sulikhitaṁ teṣāṁ puñjān na caika jala-binduḥ
tadvad bhakti-prāptau tad-ukta-guṇa-bhāk svayaṁ bhūyāt ||
(Sūkti-muktāvalī)
“Hari-bhakti does not manifest just by studying statements in texts on Vedānta, just as not even a drop of water falls from the multitudes of cells in a finely composed pañcāṅga [i.e., almanac] which state when and where there will be rain. To attain bhakti, one must become personally endowed with the stated qualities thereof [i.e., attaining bhakti is not a matter of simply reading and accumulating knowledge of it but rather requires [in additon to acquring proper knowledge of it] that one’s heart, mind, and conduct all become completely pervaded by it and all that is contrary to it be purged therewith].”
