sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje |
ahaituky apratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.6)
“That [dharma] because of which causeless and unobstructed bhakti to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., ‘he who is transcendent’] can come to be, and by which the self [i.e., the mind] becomes fully satisfied, is alone the highest dharma for humanity.”
ayaṁ hi sarva-kalpānāṁ sadhrīcīno mato mama |
mad-bhāvaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu mano-vāk-kāya-vṛttibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.19; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Indeed, this thought of me in all beings [performed] with the functions of the mind, speech, and body is considered by me to be the proper one among all processes.”
yāvat sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhāvo nopajāyate |
tāvad evam upāsīta vāṅ-manaḥ-kāya-vṛttibhiḥ ||
sarvaṁ brahmātmakaṁ tasya vidyayātma-manīṣayā |
paripaśyann uparamet sarvato mukta-saṁśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.17–18; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] As long as thought of me in all beings does not arise [alt., flourish], one should perform such worship with the functions of one’s speech, mind, and body. Seeing all around everything to be Brahman in nature by virtue of this technique of conception of the Self [within everything], one free from doubt can withdraw from everything.”
visṛjya smayamānān svān dṛśaṁ vrīḍāṁ ca daihikīm |
praṇamed daṇḍavad bhūmāv ā-śva-cāṇḍāla-go-kharam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.29.16; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332; Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.3.27)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Disregarding the laughing of friends, bodily vision, and embarrassment, one should offer obeisance like a stick on the ground even to dogs, outcasts, cows, and donkeys.”
iti sarvāṇi bhūtāni mad-bhāvena mahādyute |
sabhājayan manyamāno jñānaṁ kevalam āśritaḥ ||
brāhmaṇe pukkase stene brahmaṇye’rke sphuliṅgake |
akrūre krūrake caiva sama-dṛk paṇḍito mataḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 331)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] O most brilliant one [i.e., O Uddhava], having taken to pure awareness (kevala-jñāna), and in this way honoring and regarding all beings with thought of me, a person of equal vision in relation to a brāhmaṇa, an outcaste, a thief, a respecter of brāhmaṇas, the sun, a spark, a non-cruel person, and a cruel person, is considered a wise person.”
mām eva sarva-bhūteṣu bahir antar apāvṛtam |
īkṣetātmani cātmānaṁ yathā kham amalāśayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.12; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 330)
“One of untainted heart should see me alone to be externally and internally present and [to be] the Self in the self and in all beings, unrestrained like the sky.”
gṛheṣv āviśatāṁ cāpi puṁsāṁ kuśala-karmaṇām ||
mad-vārtā-yāta-yāmānāṁ na bandhāya gṛhā matāḥ ||
navyavad dhṛd aye yaj jño brahmaitad brahma-vādibhiḥ |
na muhyanti na śocanti na hṛṣyanti yato gatāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.30.19–20; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 332)
[Translated according to the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “[Śrī Bhagavān to the Pracetas:] The household lives of persons who are skillful in action and pass their time in discussion of me even though they have entered household lives is not considered to lead to bondage, since I the Knower—this Brahman those who have attained which neither become deluded, nor lament, and nor become excited—appear ever-anew in the heart by means of expounders of Brahman.”
yasyāham anugṛhṇāmi hariṣye tad-dhanaṁ śanaiḥ |
tato’dhanaṁ tyajanty asya svajanā duḥkha-duḥkhitam ||
sa yadā vitathodyogo nirviṇṇaḥ syād dhanehayā |
mat-paraiḥ kṛta-maitrasya kariṣye mad-anugraham ||
tad brahma paramaṁ sūkṣmaṁ cin-mātraṁ sad anantakam |
vijñāyātmatayā dhīraḥ saṁsārāt parimucyate |
ato māṁ sudurārādhyaṁ hitvānyān bhajate janaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.88.8–10)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Yudhiṣṭhira:] I will gradually take away the wealth of one whom I favor. Then, [when he is] devoid of wealth and troubled by troubles [one after another], his relatives reject him. When he will [in this way] become unsuccessful in his endeavors and disinterested in the pursuit of wealth, then, once he has formed friendships with those devoted to me, I will bestow my favor upon him. Then, after realizing in essence the Supreme Brahman [i.e., me], subtle, purely conscious, eternal, and endless, and becoming steadfast, one is fully liberated from saṁsāra. Thus [i.e., because of how I in this way favor my bhaktas by depriving them of worldly wealth and enjoyment], a person leaves me, who am most difficult to worship [because of how I favor my bhaktas], and worships others [i.e., other devatās, such as Bhagavān Śiva, who do not favor their bhaktas in this manner that I do].”
sarveṣām anukūla-vedanīyaṁ sukham | pratikūla-vedanīyaṁ duḥkham |
(Tarka-saṅgraha: 55–56)
“That which is perceptible as favorable by all is [called] happiness (sukham). That which is perceptible as unfavorable [by all] is [called] suffering (duḥkha).”
duḥkham avyakta-vartmaiva tad-bahu-vighnam ato budhaḥ |
sukhaṁ kṛṣṇa-padāmbhojaṁ bhakti-sat-pathavān bhajet ||
(Subodhinī-ṭīkā of Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.20)
“The path of the Unmanifest [i.e., upāsana of undifferentiated (nirviśeṣa) Brahman] is troublesome and beset with many obstacles. Therefore, a wise person, adherent to the right path of bhakti, should worship the delightful lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.”
