Sūkti Sudhākara

nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam

nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam ṛṣitvaṁ vāsurātmajāḥ |
prīṇanāya mukundasya na vṛttaṁ na bahu-jñatā ||
na dānaṁ na tapo nejyā na śaucaṁ na vratāni ca |
prīyate’malayā bhaktyā harir anyad viḍambanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.51–52; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.590–591, Bhakti Sandarbha: 168)

[Prahlāda:] “O sons of the asuras, neither being a twice-born, being a deva, or being a ṛṣi, nor conduct [i.e., sadācāra], nor being greatly knowledgeable, nor charity, nor austerity, nor worship, nor cleanliness, nor rites are able to please Mukunda. Hari is pleased [only] by taintless bhakti. All else is a sham.”

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brahmānando bhaved eṣa

brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārddha-guṇīkṛtaḥ |
naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.38)

“If this bliss of Brahman [i.e., the bliss of samādhi in nirviśeṣa Brahman] accumulated for a parārddha [i.e., half of the life of Brahmā, fifty quadrillion years], it would not equal even an atom in the ocean of the joy of bhakti.”

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sādhanaughair anāsangair

sādhanaughair anāsangair alabhyā sucirād api |
hariṇā cāśv adeyeti dvidhā sā syāt sudurlabhā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.35)

“Its [i.e., bhakti’s] being very difficult to attain is twofold: (1) [even] through loads of sādhana [performed] devoid of attachment [i.e., āsakti], it is unattainable even after a very long time, and (2) [even when sādhana is performed with attachment] it is not to be given by Hari quickly.”

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kleśa-ghnī śubhadā

kleśa-ghnī śubhadā mokṣa-laghutā-kṛt sudurlabhā |
sāndrānanda-viśeṣātmā śrī-kṛṣṇākarṣiṇī ca sā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.17)

“It [i.e., uttamā-bhakti] is (1) a destroyer of affliction and (2) a bestower of good fortune [in the stage of sādhana], (3) a belittler of liberation and (4) very difficult to attain [at the stage of bhāva], and (5) a special form of intense bliss and (6) an attractor of Śrī Kṛṣṇa [at the stage of prema].”

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mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa

mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.11–12; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.13–15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)

“‘[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] Bhakti which is an uninterrupted, causeless, and unobstructed flow of the mind—solely because of hearing my qualities—towards me, the Supreme Person, who dwells in the hearts [lit., “caves”] of all, like [the flow of] the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean, is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”

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sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ

sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam |
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-sevanaṁ bhaktir ucyate ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.12)

“Service with [all] the senses to Hṛṣīkeśa [i.e., Kṛṣṇa, the master of the senses] with intentness upon him [i.e., upon his pleasure] that is completely free from all upādhis [i.e., adjuncts—extraneous desirousness], and untainted [i.e., unobstructed by jñāna, karma, and so forth] is called bhakti.”

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anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam |
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.11)

“Continuous action for [alt., related to] Kṛṣṇa possessed of favorability that is free from desirousness of anything else and unobstructed by jñāna, karma, and so forth, is uttamā (exalted) bhakti.”

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yad ubhe citta-kāṭhinya

yad ubhe citta-kāṭhinya-hetū prāyaḥ satāṁ mate |
sukumāra-svabhāveyaṁ bhaktis tad-dhetur īritā ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.249)

“Because in the view of sādhus both [i.e., jñāna and vairāgya] are generally causes of hardness of heart, this bhakti, which is of very tender nature, is said to be the cause of that [i.e., of entering into bhakti].”

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jñāna-vairāgyayor bhakti

jñāna-vairāgyayor bhakti-praveśāyopayogitā |
īṣat prathamam eveti nāṅgatvam ucitaṁ tayoḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.248)

“Because jñāna and vairāgya are somewhat useful only at first for entrance into bhakti, their being limbs [of bhakti] is not acceptable.”

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bhaktir hi svataḥ prabalatvād anya-nirapekṣā

bhaktir hi svataḥ prabalatvād anya-nirapekṣā | na tu jñānādivat samyag vairāgyādi-sāpekṣā |
(Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.15)

“Bhakti, because of its own great power, is independent of others [i.e., is not dependent on the paths of jñāna or karma], and not, rather, dependent on complete vairāgya and so forth like jñāna and so forth [i.e., is not like jñāna and karma dependent, respectively, on vairāgya and eligibility for varṇāśrama-dharma].”

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