yac chraddhayā śrutavatyā ca bhaktyā
sammṛjyamāne hṛdaye’vadhāya |
jñānena vairāgya-balena dhīrā
vrajema tat te’ṅghri-saroja-pīṭham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.42)
“Meditating upon the seat of your lotus feet in our hearts fully purified by bhakti cultivated through hearing with śraddhā, and having become sagacious by virtue of knowledge and the strength of vairāgya, let us approach that [i.e., let us take shelter at that seat of your lotus feet].”
yathā yathātmā parimṛjyate’sau
mat-puṇya-gāthā-śravaṇābhidhānaiḥ |
tathā tathā paśyati vastu sūkṣmaṁ
cakṣur yathaivāñjana-samprayuktam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.26; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 80, 147)
[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “To whatever extent the mind is purified by hearing and reciting narrations of my virtuous acts, to that same extent, it, like an eye treated with collyrium, perceives the subtle reality [i.e., my nature, figure, qualities, and līlā in actuality].”
baḍa kīrti haile caitanya nāhi pāi |
‘bhakti-vaśa sabe prabhu’—cāri-vede gāi ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.10.279)
“[Even] If one acquires great renown, one does not attain Caitanya. The four Vedas sing, ‘Prabhu is completely captivated [only] by bhakti.’”
abhimānaṁ surāpānaṁ gauravaṁ rauravaṁ samam |
pratiṣṭhā śūkarī-viṣṭhā trayaṁ tyaktvā hariṁ bhajet ||
(Viṣṇu-sūkti: 99)
“Pride is like drinking liquor. Reverence [i.e., being revered] is like Raurava [loosely, hell]. Pratiṣṭhā is like pig-stool. Avoid these three and worship Hari.”
pratiṣṭhāśā dhṛṣṭā śvapaca-ramaṇī me hṛdi naṭet
kathaṁ sādhu-premā spṛśati śucir etan nanu manaḥ |
sadā tvaṁ sevasva prabhu-dayita-sāmantam atulaṁ
yathā tāṁ niṣkāsya tvaritam iha taṁ veśayati saḥ ||
(Stavāvalī: Manaḥ-śikṣā, 7)
“The low-class shrew of desire for pratiṣṭhā is dancing in my heart, so how will the pure prema of the sādhus ever touch it? O mind! You should always serve the unrivaled chieftain of Prabhu’s devotee so that he will immediately banish this shrew and instill pure prema therein [i.e., within your heart].”
pratiṣṭhā-rajjūbhir baddhaṁ kāmādyair vartma-pātibhiḥ |
chittvā tāḥ saṁharantas tān aghāreḥ pāntu māṁ bhaṭāḥ ||
(Vraja-vilāsa-stava: 1)
“I have been bound with the ropes of pratiṣṭhā by the highwaymen of kāma and so forth. May the soldiers of Agha’s Foe [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s bhaktas] protect me by cutting away these ropes and routing these highwaymen.”
sarva-tyāge’py aheyāyāḥ sarvānartha-bhuvaś ca te |
kuryuḥ pratiṣṭhā-viṣṭhāyā yatnam asparśane varam ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 20.370)
“It is best that they [i.e., one-pointed bhaktas of Śrī Bhagavān] shall try to be untouched by the stool of pratiṣṭhā, which is the cause of all anarthas and difficult to abandon even after the renunciation of all else.”
jñātiṁ vidyāṁ mahattvaṁ ca rūpaṁ yauvanam eva ca |
yatnena parivarjeta pañcaite bhakti-kaṇṭakaḥ ||
(Garga-saṁhitā: 10.62.7)
“Kinsmen, learning, greatness, beauty, and youth—carefully elude these five impediments [lit., “thorns”] to bhakti.”
anartham arthataḥ paśyann arthaṁ caivāpy anarthataḥ |
indriyaiḥ prasṛto bālaḥ suduḥkhaṁ manyate sukham ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.59; Vidura-nīti: 213; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Seeing anartha within artha and artha within anartha [i.e., seeing nonsense within sense and even sense within nonsense, misfortune within fortune and even fortune within misfortune, evil within good and even good within evil, etc.], the fool, pulled by the senses, considers great suffering to be happiness.”
anartha-makarāgārād asmāt saṁsāra-sāgarāt ।
uḍḍīyate nirudvegaṁ sarva-tyāgena putraka ॥
(Yoga Vāsiṣṭha: 6.111.9; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“O son, through complete renunciation [i.e., by giving up all worldly interests, attachments, and engagements], one serenely flies up and away from this ocean of saṁsāra, the dwelling place of the sea monsters of anarthas [i.e., evils, vices, misfortunes, diversions, etc.].”
