ko nu rājann indriyavān mukunda-caraṇāmbujam |
na bhajet sarvato-mṛtyur upāsyam amarottamaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.2)
“O King! Indeed who possessed of senses and subject to death from every quarter would not worship the lotus feet of Mukunda, which are the object of worship of [even] the foremost of the immortals?”
naiṣkarmyam apy acyuta-bhāva-varjitaṁ
na śobhate jñānam alaṁ nirañjanam |
kutaḥ punaḥ śaśvad abhadram īśvare
na cārpitaṁ karma yad apy akāraṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.12; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.554; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 70, Bhakti Sandarbha: 3, 5, 23, 115, 116, 217; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.19)
“[Śrī Nārada to Śrī Vyāsa:] Even untainting jñāna of Brahman (naiṣkarmya) [when] devoid of bhāva for Acyuta does not shine greatly [i.e., does not lead to direct experience of Brahman], so how much less so does ever-inauspicious karma not offered to Īśvara, even which [i.e., when it] is causeless?”
ye tu rāgānugā-bhaktiḥ sarvathaiva sarvadaiva śāstra-vidhim atikrānta eva iti bruvāte, ‘ye śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya yajante śraddhayānvitaḥ’ iti ‘vidhi-hīnam asṛṣṭānnam’ ity ādi-gītokter gārham arhanto muhur utpātam anubhūtavanto’nubhavanto’nubhaviṣyanti cety alam ati-vistarena | hanta rāgānugā-vartma durdarśaṁ vibudhair api | paricinvantu sudhiyo bhaktāś candrikayānayā |
(Rāga-vartma-candrikā: 2.8–9)
“But as per statements of Śrī Gītā such as [17.1], ‘O Kṛṣṇa, what is the position of those possessed of śraddhā who perform worship [while] rejecting the injunctions of śāstra? Is it sattva, rajas, or tamas?’ and [17.13], ‘Yajña (sacrifice) that is devoid of injunctions [from śāstra], is without distribution of food, is devoid of mantras, is without donations, and is devoid of śraddhā is called tāmasa,’ those who say that rāgānugā-bhakti is absolutely always and absolutely in all respects exclusively beyond the injunctions of śāstra are deserving of censure and have experienced [in the past], are experiencing [in the present], and will experience [in the future] repeated calamities. Enough excessive elaboration [i.e., saying this much is sufficient to stress this point]. Oh! The rāganugā-path (vartma) is difficult to see, even for the devas! May wise bhaktas recognize it with [the help of] this moonlight (candrikā) [i.e., with the help of this book].”
karuṇā-nikuramba-komale
madhuraiśvarya-viśeṣa-śālini |
jayati vraja-rāja-nandane
na hi cintā-kaṇikābhyudeti naḥ ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.45)
“Since the Son of Vraja’s king, who is tender by virtue of his abundance of compassion and replete with a special form of sweet (madhura) aiśvarya, remains triumphant, not even a trace of worry arises in us.”
matto’py anantāt parataḥ parasmāt
svargāpavargādhipater na kiñcit |
yeṣāṁ kim u syād itareṇa teṣām
akiñcanānāṁ mayi bhakti-bhājām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.25)
“For those possessionless (akiñcana) bearers of bhakti to me who have no desire for anything even from me, whom am Infinite, higher than the highest [i.e., superior even to Brahmā and so forth], and the Supreme Master of Svarga and apavarga [i.e., mokṣa], what shall be the need of anything else [alt., of anyone else]?”
ekāntena sadā viṣṇau yasmād eva parāyaṇāḥ |
tasmād ekāntinaḥ proktās tad-bhāgavata-cetasaḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.227.13-14; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.59; Bhakti Sandarbha: 165)
“Since they are always one-pointedly devoted to [alt., fixed in the shelter of] Viṣṇu, those whose minds are given over to Bhagavān are called the ‘one-pointed’ (ekāntis).”
vihāya pitṛ-devādīn pariniṣṭhāṅ gato harau |
tad-gāḍha-premabhiḥ pūrṇa ekāntīti nigadyate ||
(Unknown source; cited in the Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.46.2)
“One who forsakes the forefathers, devas, and so forth, is given to complete fixity upon Hari, and is fulfilled by virtue of an abundance of intense prema for him is called ‘one-pointed’ (ekānti).”
sandadhe’straṁ sva-dhanuṣi kāmaḥ pañca-mukhaṁ tadā |
madhur mano rajas-toka indra-bhṛtyā vyakampayan ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.8.25)
“Then, Kāma fixed a five-headed weapon [i.e., arrow] on his bow, and Spring, Greed [lit., ‘the son of Rajas’], and [other] servants of Indra tried to agitate the mind [of Mārkaṇḍeya].”
gaura-prabhoḥ prema-vilāsa-bhūmau
niṣkiñcano bhaktivinoda-nāma |
ko’pi sthito bhakti-kuṭīra-koṣṭhe
smṛtvāniśaṁ nāma-guṇaṁ murāreḥ ||
(Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura; a verse of his own engraved in the wall of his “Bhakti-kuṭī” in Śrī Purī Dhāma)
“In the land of the prema-līlā of Gaura Prabhu,
Some possessionless person (niṣkiñcana) named Bhaktivinoda
Is situated in the inner room of this ‘Bhakti-cottage’ (kuṭī),
Continuously remembering
The names and qualities of Murarī.”
aho bhagavato naumi balāt sarva-pravartanam |
prāhiṇod yaḥ sva-śūnye’pi śrī-nandadīn api vraje ||
tvāṁ vrajeśvari śocāmi tvāṁ ca vṛndāvaneśvari |
kṛṣṇaṁ vinā gateṣv eṣu hā hā jīviṣyathaḥ katham ||
(Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.45.25)
“Aho! I praise [only] by force all the promptings of Bhagavān, who sent even Śrī Nanda and company to Vraja even when it was devoid of himself. I grieve for you, O Vrajeśvarī! [i.e., O Mother Yaśodā!], and you, O Vṛndāvaneśvarī! [i.e., O Śrī Rādhā!] Hā hā! Now that they [i.e., Śrī Nanda and company] have gone [back to Vraja] without Kṛṣṇa, how will you two live?”
