Sūkti Sudhākara

śraddhayā helayā nāma raṭanti mama jantavaḥ

śraddhayā helayā nāma raṭanti mama jantavaḥ |
teṣāṁ nāma sadā pārtha vartate hṛdaye mama ||
na nāma sadṛśaṁ jñānaṁ na nāma sadṛśaṁ vratam |
na nāma sadṛśaṁ dhyānaṁ na nāma sadṛśaṁ phalam ||
na nāma sadṛśas tyāgo na nāma sadṛśaḥ śamaḥ |
na nāma sadṛśaṁ puṇyaṁ na nāma sadṛśī gatiḥ || …
nāmaiva paramā muktir nāmaiva paramā gatiḥ |
nāmaiva paramā śāntir nāmaiva paramā sthitiḥ ||
nāmaiva paramā bhaktir nāmaiva paramā matiḥ |
nāmaiva paramā prītir nāmaiva paramā smṛtiḥ ||
nāmaiva kāraṇaṁ jantor nāmaiva prabhur eva ca |
nāmaiva paramārādhyo nāmaiva paramo guruḥ ||
(Ādi Purāṇa: cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.464–469)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O Pārtha, the names of those living beings who call out my name, respectfully or easily, always remain in my heart. There is no knowledge like my name. There is no rite like my name. There is no meditation like my name. There is no attainment like my name. There is no renunciation like my name. There is no equanimity like my name. There is no purity like my name. There is no shelter like my name. … My name alone is the greatest mukti. My name alone is the greatest shelter. My name alone is the greatest equanimity. My name alone is the greatest fixity. My name alone is the greatest bhakti. My name alone is the greatest awareness. My name alone is the greatest love. My name alone is the greatest remembrance. My name alone is the cause, and my name alone is the master, of the living being. My name alone is the greatest object of worship. My name alone is the greatest guru.”

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tathā na te mādhava tāvakāḥ kvacid

tathā na te mādhava tāvakāḥ kvacid
bhraśyanti mārgāt tvayi baddha-sauhṛdāḥ |
tvayābhiguptā vicaranti nirbhayā
vināyakānīkapa-mūrdhasu prabho ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.201; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.46; Paramātma Sandarbha: 17; Bhakti Sandarbha: 121; Prīti Sandarbha: 7)

“O Mādhava, those who are your own, who are bound to you by cordiality, never fall down from the path in that way. Protected by you on all sides and [thus] fearless, O Prabhu, they roam atop the heads of those who proffer protection from arrays of impediments.”

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dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā

dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā |
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.22; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.557; Bhakti Sandarbha: 79, 111, 147)

“Devoid of bhakti to me, dharma endowed with truthfulness and compassion, or knowledge accompanied by austerity, certainly do not fully purify the mind.”

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yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā

yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā |
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.33; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 3)

“That [vision] wherein the gross and subtle bodies are negated [i.e., understood to not be the self] through full knowledge of the self, such that they are [recognized to have been] superimposed upon the self by ignorance (avidyā) is vision (darśana) [i.e., direct experience (sākṣātkāra)] of Brahman.”

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śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho

śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye |
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.4; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.608; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 95; Bhakti Sandarbha: 5, 67, 71, 105, 176; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.22, 2.24.170, 2.25.31)

“O Lord, for those who abandon [the path of] bhakti to you, that from which there is a flow of auspiciousnesses [alt., that which is the path to auspiciousness], and struggle to attain awareness of oneness, only this hardship remains and nothing else, as is the case for those who thresh thick chaff.”

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ye’nye’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas

ye’nye’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ |
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.42; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 111, 121; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.30, 2.24.131, 141, 2.25.32)

“[The devas address Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the womb of Mother Devakī:] O Lotus-eyed One, others, who consider themselves fully liberated yet are of not fully purified intellect because of having forsaken bhāva for you, ascend with hardship to the highest position but fall down from there because of their having disregarded your feet.”

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rāgātmika-bhaktimatāṁ durabhisandhināpy anukaraṇa-mātreṇa

rāgātmika-bhaktimatāṁ durabhisandhināpy anukaraṇa-mātreṇa tādṛśatva-prāptiḥ śrūyate, yathā dhātrītvānukaraṇena pūtanāyāḥ | tad uktam—‘sad-veśād iva pūtanāpi sakulā’ iti | kim uta tadīya-rucimadbhis tādṛśa-nirantara-samyag-bhakty-anuṣṭhānena |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 312)

“Attainment of being such [i.e., of being a rāgātmikā-bhakta] is heard of [occurring] just by means of emulation of those possessed of rāgātmikā-bhakti even [when done] out of ill-intent, as in the case of Pūtanā’s emulation of a nursemaid. This is stated [in SB 10.14.35], ‘Even Pūtanā along with her family was caused to attain you just because of [her wearing] fine dress [i.e., just because of her having donned the beautiful garb of a cowherd woman which is very dear to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as a disguise in an attempt to murder him].’ So how much more so [must the attainment of being a rāgātmikā-bhakta occur] as a result of continuous, genuine [alt., pleasing] engagement in bhakti of such nature by those possessed of taste (ruci) for that [i.e., for a particular type of rāgātmikā-bhakti]?”

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ato vai kavayo nityaṁ bhaktiṁ paramayā mudā

ato vai kavayo nityaṁ bhaktiṁ paramayā mudā |
vāsudeve bhagavati kurvanty ātma-prasādanīm ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.22)

“Therefore, indeed with paramount delight, the wise always perform bhakti to Bhagavān, Vāsudeva, which is purifying of the self.”

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jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer

jayati jayati nāmānanda-rūpaṁ murārer
viramita-nija-dharma-dhyāna-pūjādi-yatnam |
katham api sakṛd āttaṁ muktidaṁ prāṇināṁ yat
paramam amṛtam ekaṁ jīvanaṁ bhūṣaṇaṁ me ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.9)

“The name of Murāri—
A form of bliss—
That by which the difficulty
Of one’s duties, meditation, ritual worship, and so forth
Is terminated,
That which is a bestower of mukti for living beings
Upon being uttered [even] once by any means,
And which for me is alone
The supreme nectar,
[Supreme] enlivenment,
And [supreme] ornament—
Triumphs!
Triumphs!”

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jīvan-mukto nāma sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahma-jñānena

jīvan-mukto nāma sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahma-jñānena tad-ajñāna-bādhana-dvārā sva-svarūpākhaṇḍa-brahmaṇi sākṣātkṛte’jñāna-tat-kārya-sañcita-karma-saṁśaya-viparyayādīnām api bādhitatvād akhila-bandha-rahito brahma-niṣṭhaḥ |
(Vedānta-sāra: 213)

“A jīvan-mukta [i.e., ‘one who is liberated while living’] is known as one who is fixed in Brahman and free from all bondage on account of ignorance and its effects in the form of accumulated karma, doubt, misapprehension, and so on being negated as a result of direct perception of one’s own essential nature, that is, undivided Brahman, by means of the negation of ignorance of that [i.e., of Brahman] through knowledge of one’s own essential nature, that is, undivided Brahman.”

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