hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ |
kevalenaiva sa tadā gopikātvam iyād vraje ||
(Attributed to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda in Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smaraṇa-paddhati (148) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (151))
“An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga [i.e., the path of rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana] alone then attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”
martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā
niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me |
tadāmṛtatvaṁ pratipadyamāno
mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.421; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.194; Bhakti Sandarbha: 309; Prīti Sandarbha: 13; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.103; Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.12.11)
“When a mortal becomes one who has forsaken all karmas and offered the self to me, then he becomes distinctly desirous to act, attains immortality, and verily becomes fit for becoming of selfsame nature with me.”
lakṣeṣu śṛṇute kaścit koṭiṣv ekas tu budhyate |
bhakti-tattvaṁ parijñāya kaścid eva samācaret ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.543)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Śrī Bhagavān:] Among lakhs [of people], someone [i.e., a rare person] hears about the nature (tattva) of bhakti, yet among crores [of those who hear], one understands it, and only someone [i.e., an exceedingly rare person] can perform it after having thoroughly understood it.”
kaḥ paṇḍitas tvad aparaṁ śaraṇaṁ samīyād
bhakta-priyād ṛta-giraḥ suhṛdaḥ kṛtajñāt |
sarvān dadāti suhṛdo bhajato’bhi kāmān
ātmanam apy upacayāpacayau na yasya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.48.26; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.678; Bhakti Sandarbha: 107; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.96)
“What paṇḍita would take full shelter in anyone other than you, to whom bhaktas are dear, whose words are truthful, who are well-wishing, who are grateful, and who bestow all thoroughly desired objects upon a well-wishing worshiper [of yourself] and even your own self [upon them] without any accumulation for, or diminution of, yourself [thereby]?”
sattvaṁ tattvaṁ paratvaṁ ca tattva-trayam ahaṁ kila |
tri-tattva-rūpiṇī sāpi rādhikā mama vallabhā |
prakṛteḥ para evāhaṁ sāpi mac-chakti-rūpiṇī ||
sāttvikaṁ rūpam āsthāya pūrṇo’haṁ brahma cit-paraḥ ||
brahmaṇā prārthitaḥ samyak sambhavāmi yuge yuge |
tayā sārdhaṁ tvayā sārdhaṁ nāśāya devatā-druhām ||
(Bṛhad Gautamīya-tantra; cited in Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 189)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Balarāma:] I verily am the three existents (1) being (sattvam), (2) (primary) existence (tattvam), and (3) supremacy (paratvam). She too, Rādhikā, my beloved, is an embodiment of these three existents. I am certainly beyond primordial material nature (prakṛti), and she too is an embodiment of my potency (śakti). Being established in a form of [pure] being (sāttvika-rūpa), I am the Complete Brahman, the Supreme Conscious Entity. Prayed to by Brahmā, I manifest in full in age after age along with her and along with you to destroy the oppressors of the devatās.”
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnā ye mukhyāsantas ta eva hi |
teṣāṁ niṣṭhā śubhā kvāpi na syāt sac-caritair api ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.301)
“Those who are devoid of bhakti to Bhagavān are verily the foremost of the asat. Even by means of meritorious deeds, an auspicious state shall never come about for them.”
saṅgaṁ na kuryād asatāṁ śiśnodara-tṛpāṁ kvacit |
tasyānugas tamasy andhe pataty andhānugāndha-vat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.300)
“One should never engage in saṅga with the asat, gratifiers of the genitals and belly. A follower of him [i.e., even one of the asat], like a blind person following a [i.e., another] blind person, falls into blinding darkness [i.e., Naraka].”
athāsat-saṅga-doṣāḥ |
asadbhiḥ saha saṅgas tu na kartavyaḥ kadācana |
yasmāt sarvārtha-hāniḥ syād adhaḥpātaś ca jāyate ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.294)
“Now, the faults of asat-saṅga [are described]: Saṅga with the asat, as a result of which the loss of all objects shall occur and downfall ensues, is not to be done at any time.”
bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ |
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.51.53; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.256; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 179; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.46, 84)
“When the cessation of worldly existence shall come about for a a wandering person, then, O Acyuta, association with the sat shall come about, and when association with the sat shall come about, only then does inclination manifest towards you, [who are] the Shelter of the sat [alt., whose shelter is the sat] and the Master of the higher and the lower.’”
kṛpālur akṛta-drohas titikṣuḥ sarva-dehinām |
satya-sāro’navadyātmā samaḥ sarvopakārakaḥ ||
kāmair ahata-dhīr dānto mṛduḥ śucir akiñcanaḥ |
anīho mita-bhuk śāntaḥ sthiro mac-charaṇo muniḥ ||
apramatto gabhīrātmā dhṛtimāñ jita-ṣaḍ-guṇaḥ |
amānī māna-daḥ kalyo maitraḥ kāruṇikaḥ kaviḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.29-31; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.18–20; Bhakti Sandarbha: 199)
“[One who is] Sympathetic, non-malicious, forbearing towards all embodied beings, steadfast in truth, irreproachable in character, equipoised, supportive of all, of mind unimpaired by objects of desire, controlled, gentle, virtuous, possessionless, non-active [in worldly pursuits], a measured eater, peaceful, steady, of shelter in me, sage, non-negligent, deep in character, resolute, victorious over the six properties [of worldly existence], undesirous of respect, respectful, adept, friendly, compassionate, and wise [is the best of the sat].”
