vāgbhiḥ stuvanto manasā smarantas
tanvā namanto’py aniśaṁ na tṛptāḥ |
bhaktāḥ sravan-netra-jalāḥ samagram
āyur harer eva samarpayanti ||
(Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 12.37; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.29)
“Although they are continuously praising him with their words, remembering him with their minds, and bowing to him with bodies, they are not satiated. The bhaktas, their eyes flowing with tears, offer their entire lives to Hari alone.”
mana diyā bujha, deha chāḍiyā calile |
dhana vā pauruṣa saṅge keho nāhi cale ||
eteke mahānta saba sarva parihari |
karena īśvara-sevā dṛḍha-citta kari ||
eteke chāḍiyā vipra, sakala jañjāla |
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa giyā bhajaha sakāla ||
yāvat maraṇa nāhi upasanna haya |
tāvat sevaha kṛṣṇa kariyā niścaya ||
sei se vidyāra phala jāniha niścaya |
kṛṣṇa-pāda-padme yadi citta-vitta haya ||
mahā-upadeśa ei kahila tomāre |
sabe viṣṇu-bhakti satya ananta-saṁsāre ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata 1.13.174–179; 9.174–179)
[Śrīman Mahāprabhu to the Digvijayī Paṇḍita:] “Mindfully understand: when leaving the body and departing, no one departs with wealth or prowess [alt., possessions]. Therefore, all the great ones forsake everything and engage in service to Īśvara with firm resolve. Therefore, O brāhmaṇa, leaving all this rubbish, go and worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet immediately. So long as death has not arrived, serve Kṛṣṇa resolutely. Know for certain that this is the fruit of learning: when your mind and wealth are fixed on Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. I tell you this great teaching: ‘Amid everything in unending saṁsāra, Viṣṇu-bhakti [alone] is real.’”
yogibhir dṛśyate bhaktyā nābhaktyā dṛśyate kvacit |
draṣṭuṁ na śakyo roṣāc ca matsarāc ca janārdanaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.238.83; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 106; Bhakti Sandarbha: 324; Prīti Sandarbha: 7)
“Janārdana is seen by yogīs through bhakti, and is never seen through non-bhakti. He cannot be seen through anger or through envy.”
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ |
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo’nughāsam ||
ity acyutāṅghriṁ bhajato’nuvṛttyā
bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhaḥ |
bhavanti vai bhāgavatasya rājaṁs
tataḥ parāṁ śāntim upaiti sākṣāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.42–43; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 262, 340; Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“Bhakti, experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from all else—this triad shall occur at one time for one who has taken shelter just as satisfaction, nourishment, and relief from hunger shall for one who eats with each mouthful. Thus, O King, bhakti, detachment, and understanding of Bhagavān occur for a bhāgavata [i.e., a bhakta] engaged in bhajana continuously to the feet of Acyuta, and thereafter one attains complete peace directly.”
etāvān eva loke’smin puṁsāṁ niḥśreyasodayaḥ |
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena mano mayy arpitaṁ sthiram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.44; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 47)
“The mind [in a state of being] offered to me through resolute bhakti-yoga [i.e., through engagement in practices of bhakti, such as hearing] and [thus remaining] steady [i.e., absorbed in me]—this much alone [i.e., being in this state of mind by means of bhakti] is [itself] the manifestation of the highest good [i.e., the attainment of the ultimate puruṣārtha] for the living being in this world.”
sa kiṁ guruḥ sa kiṁ tātaḥ sa kiṁ putra sa kiṁ sakhā |
sa kiṁ rājā sa kiṁ bandhur na dadyād yo harau matim ||
(Garga-saṁhitā: 10.62.11)
“One who shall not focus his mind on Hari—is he a guru? Is he a father? Is he a son? Is he a friend? Is he a king? Is he a relative?”
atha saiva bhajana-viṣayā ruciḥ parama-prauḍhitamā satī yadā bhajanīyaṁ bhagavantaṁ viṣayīkaroti tadeyam āsaktir ity ākhyāyate |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 6.1)
“When ruci related to bhajana reaches its full-blown development and makes worshippable Bhagavān its focus, then it becomes known as āsakti.”
āsaktis tu svārasikī |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.16)
“Āsakti, however, is natural [i.e., nature desire that is not directed by the intellect].”
śravaṇa-kīrtanādīnām anyato vailakṣaṇyena rocakatvaṁ ruciḥ |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 5.1)
“Ruci means special tastefulness for śravaṇa, kīrtana, and so forth respectively [i.e., for each individually].”
rasāsvādaḥ viṣaya-sukhodaya-kāle kīrtanādiṣu mano’nabhiniveśa |
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 4.2)
“Rasāsvāda [i.e., a taste for pleasure] means non-absorption of the mind in kīrtana and so forth at times when pleasure from objects of the senses arises.”
