abhisandhāya yo hiṁsāṁ dambhaṁ mātsaryam eva vā |
saṁrambhī bhinna-dṛg bhāvaṁ mayi kuryāt sa tāmasaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.8; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“One possessed of anger and separated vision who shall express bhāva [i.e., bhakti] for me with the aim of violence, deceit, or spite is tāmasa [i.e., of the nature of tamo-guṇa].”
viṣayān abhisandhāya yaśa aiśvaryam eva vā |
arcādāv arcayed yo māṁ pṛthag-bhāvaḥ sa rājasaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.9; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 232)
“One possessed of separate disposition (bhāva) who shall worship me in the deity and elsewhere with the aim of [attaining] objects of the senses, fame, or affluence [alt., power] is rājasa [i.e., of the nature of raja-guṇa].”
karma-nirhāram uddiśya parasmin vā tad-arpaṇam |
yajed yaṣṭavyam iti vā pṛthag-bhāvaḥ sa sāttvikaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.10 cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 233)
“[Kapiladeva:] One possessed of separate disposition (bhāva) who shall worship [me in the deity and elsewhere] for the sake of removing karma [i.e., to attain mokṣa], [for the sake of] offering that [i.e., one’s karma] to the Supreme, or as a duty, is sāttvika [i.e., of the nature of sattva-guṇa].”
bhakti-yogo bahu-vidho mārgair bhāvini bhāvyate |
svabhāva-guṇa-mārgeṇa puṁsāṁ bhāvo vibhidyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.7; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“Bhakti-yoga is perceived to be of many types in one possessed of bhāva [i.e., in a human being] because of [different] modes [i.e., manners of functioning]. The bhāva [i.e., intent] of human beings is divided [i.e., categorized in various divisions] because of the modes [i.e., manners of functioning] of the guṇas of nature [alt., as well as because of the natures and bhāvas manifest by bhakti-yoga].”
eṣā akiñcanātyantikīty-ādi-saṁjñā bhaktir dvividhā—vaidhī rāgānugā ceti | tatra vaidhī śāstrokta-vidhinā pravartitā | sa ca vidhir dvividhaḥ | tatra prathamaḥ pravṛtti-hetuḥ, tad-anukrama-kartavyākartavyānāṁ jñāna-hetuś ca | prathamas tūdāhṛtaḥ—‘tasmād ekena manasā bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ | śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca dhyeyaḥ pūjyaś ca nityadā ||’ ity-ādinā | dvitīyaś cārcana-vratādi-gataḥ | tam āha—‘mām eva nairapekṣyeṇa bhakti-yogena vindati | bhakti-yogaṁ sa labhata evaṁ yaḥ pūjayeta mām ||’ nairapekṣyeṇa ahaitukena | ahaituka-bhakti-yoga eva kathaṁ syāt? tatrāha—bhakti-yogam iti | evaṁ—‘yadā sva-nigamenoktaṁ dvijatvaṁ prāpya pūruṣaḥ | yathā yajeta māṁ bhaktyā śraddhayā tan nibodha me || arcāyāṁ sthaṇḍile’gnau vā sūrye vāpsu hṛdi dvije | dravyeṇa bhakti-yutko’rcet sva-guruṁ mām amāyayā ||’ ity-ādy-ukta-vidhinā | evam ekādaśī-janmāṣṭamy-ādi-gato’pi jñeyaḥ | atha vaidhī-bhedāḥ śaraṇāpatti-śrī-gurv-ādi-sat-sevā-śravaṇa-kīrtanādayaḥ | ete ca pratyekam api dvi-trādayaḥ samudityāpi kāraṇāni bhavanti, tathā śravaṇāt | tatra prathamataḥ śaraṇāpattiḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 235–236)
“This bhakti known as ‘unconditional’ (akiñcanā), ‘absolute’ (ātyantiki), and so on [e.g., ‘causeless’ (ahaitukī), ‘non-deceitful’ (akaitava), etc., meaning, this bhakti that is propounded throughout Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] is of two types: vaidhī and rāgānugā. In this regard, vaidhī [-bhakti] is [bhakti that is] impelled by injunctions stated in the śāstra. Such injunctions, furthermore, are of two types. In that regard, the first [type of injunction] is that which is a cause of the inclination [to enact bhakti], and [the second type] is that which is a cause of knowledge of what is to be done, what is not to be done, and the order [in which things are meant to be] therein [i.e., in such bhakti]. The first [type of injunction] is illustrated [in SB 1.2.14], ‘Therefore, Bhagavān, the Protector of the sātvatas [i.e., his bhaktas], is to be heard about, to be praised, to be meditated upon, and to be worshiped continuously with one mind [i.e., with a one-pointed mind].’ The second [type of injunction], furthermore, is that which is related to ritual worship (arcana), rites (vratas), and so forth. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa describes that [in SB 11.27.53], ‘One attains me specifically through the practice (yoga) of bhakti without motive [i.e., through unconditional prema], and one who shall worship me in this way shall attain that practice (yoga) of bhakti [i.e., that unconditional prema].’ ‘Without motive’ (nairapekṣyeṇa) means without cause [i.e., without desire for any object other than me and bhakti to me, meaning, if one engages in a motiveless practice of bhakti—unconditional prema-bhakti—wherein there is no other cause, that is, no other object of pursuit than Bhagavān himself and bhakti to him, then as a result of that motiveless practice of bhakti one will attain Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. [In this regard one may wonder,] ‘How can specifically a practice (yoga) of bhakti without cause come about [i.e., if one can attain Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa by way of a motiveless practice of bhakti, then how can one attain that motiveless practice of bhakti]?’ To this, he says bhakti-yogam … [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa states the second half of the verse wherein he says that one should perform ritual worship (pūjā) of himself ‘in this way’ (evaṁ)]. ‘In this way’ (evaṁ) means in accord with stated injunctions [mentioned earlier by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa in SB 11.27.8–9], ‘Having attained the twice-bornness stated by the precept applicable to themself [i.e., the type of twice-bornness that is enjoined in the directives in the Veda for their personal eligibility (adhikāra), meaning, their particular caste (jāti) and so forth], when and how a person should worship me with bhakti and śraddhā—hear that from me. One endowed with bhakti should unaffectedly worship me, [I who am] one’s own Guru, in a deity, [or, if that is not possible, then in the first of whichever of the following is possible], on a piece of ground leveled for the performance of sacrifice, in a fire, in the sun, in water, in the heart, or in a twice-born.’ Similarly, [the second type of injunction] is to be understood to also be related to Ekādaśī, Janmāṣṭamī, and so forth [i.e., the injunctions that cover when and how rites like those related to Ekādaśī and Janmāṣṭamī are to be performed are also to be considered instances of the second type of injunctions that impel the practice of vaidhī-bhakti].
“Now, the divisions of vaidhī [i.e., the various forms of vaidhī-bhakti] are śaraṇāpatti [i.e., śaraṇāgati], service to the sat beginning with the blessed guru, hearing (śravaṇa), praising (kīrtana), and so on. These [i.e., the various forms of vaidhī-bhakti], furthermore, both individually and in combinations of two, three, or more, become means [by which bhāva becomes manifest] because of hearing so [i.e., because examples of bhāva becoming manifest through engagement in them are heard about in the śāstra]. Therein [i.e., among the divisions of vaidhī-bhakti], firstly there is śaraṇāpatti.”
kvāyaṁ malīmasaḥ kāyo daurgandhyādy-ātmako’śuciḥ |
kva guṇāḥ saumanasyādyā hy adhyāso’vidyayā kṛtaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.18)
[Purūravā reflects to himself:] “Where is that foul and impure body filled with bad odors and so forth? And where are the qualities of resembling a flower and so forth? The superimposition [of those qualities upon her] has been done because of ignorance.”
sevato varṣa-pūgān me urvaśyā adharāsavam |
na tṛpyaty ātma-bhūḥ kāmo vahnir āhutibhir yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.14)
[Purūravā reflects to himself:] “[Even] After many years, my mind-born desire (kāma) to enjoy the nectar of Urvaśī’s lips was not satiated [and rather only increased] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
atra kāmādīnām asambhave hetuḥ—sākṣād iti padam, tad-uttara-kālatvāt sāksātkārasya |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 198)
“[Commenting in regard to SB 11.2.55,] The cause of the impossibility of kāma and so forth [ever again arising in the heart] is [stated by] the word ‘directly’ (sākṣāt) [i.e., when Bhagavān is personally manifest in the heart, then no material desire, anger, or other such vice can arise there], on account of direct realization (sākṣātkāra) [i.e., direct perception of Bhagavān in the heart] being thereafter [i.e., direct perception of Bhagavān in the heart occurs only after all kāma and so forth have been purged from the heart, and once he is directly perceived there, no scope of them ever re-entering the heart remains].”
svakīya-bhāvasyaiva sarvatra parisphūrteḥ śrī-bhagavad-ādi-dviṣatsv api sā paryavasyati, tatra ca nāyuktatā, yatas te nija-prāṇa-koṭi-nirmañchanīya-tac-caraṇa-paṅkaja-parāga-leśās teṣāṁ durvyavahāra-dṛṣṭyā kṣubhyanti | svīya-bhāvānusāreṇa tv evaṁ manyante—“aho īdṛśaś cetano vā kaḥ syād yaḥ punar asmin sarvānanda-kanda-kadambe nirupādhi-parama-premāspade sakala-loka-prasādaka-sad-guṇa-maṇi-bhūṣite sarva-hita-paryavasāyi-caryāmṛte śrī-puruṣottame tat-priya-jane vā prītiṁ na kurvīta | tad-dveṣa-kāraṇaṁ tu sutarām evāsmad-buddhi-paddhatim atītam | tasmād brahmādi-sthāvara-paryantā aduṣṭā duṣṭāś ca tasmin bāḍhaṁ rajyanta eva” iti |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 189)
“Because of a full manifestation (parisphūrti) of their very own bhāva [i.e., their prema for Bhagavān] everywhere [i.e., because they see their own bhāva for Bhagavān manifest in everything in their environment], that [bhāva] encompasses [i.e., appears to be present amid] even those who are inimical to Bhagavān and so forth [i.e., his bhaktas], and there is no unsuitability in this regard [i.e., in regard to this conclusion], since they [i.e., the highest class of bhaktas], for whom [even] the particles of the pollen on his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] lotus feet are worshipable with a crore of their own lives, [do indeed] become disturbed by the sight of their [i.e., the inimical’s] ill behavior [i.e., since Bhagavān is most dear to them, they do feel disturbed by those who are inimical to him, but since they are said to never be disturbed, it must be concluded that they do not ever perceive enmity towards Bhagavān even in those who are inimical, and rather, perceive in the inimical their own prema for Bhagavān]. In accord with their own bhāva, rather [than seeing the inimical to be inimical], they think as follows, ‘Aho! Could there by any such conscious being who would not foster love (prīti) for this Supreme Person (Śrī Puruṣottama) or those dear to him—[this Supreme Person] in whom exists a multitude of sources of all [types of] bliss, [this Supreme Person] who is the unconditional and supreme object of love (prema) [for all living beings], [this Supreme Person] who is adorned with the jewels of virtues that are delightful to all beings, [this Supreme Person] the nectar of whose conduct culminates in the welfare of all? A cause of enmity towards him, rather, is thus entirely beyond the scope of our intellects. Therefore, from Brahmā and so forth down to the immobile, [both] the virtuous and the vile, are all deeply enamored with him.’”
vadānyeśas tṛṣṇā-nicaya-cita-cittaiḥ karuṇa-rāṭ
vipannaiḥ kandarpo yuvati-nikarair mṛtyur aribhiḥ |
adhīśaḥ sad-bhaktaiḥ sahaja-nija-bandhur vraja-janaiḥ
pratītaḥ kṛṣṇo’sāv iti vividha-lokair bahu-vidhaḥ ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 17.20)
“Kṛṣṇa is perceived in many ways by various persons: by those whose hearts are filled with heaps of [worldly] desires as the most capable of the munificent, by the distressed as the king of the compassionate, by young women as Kandarpa [i.e., the ultimate object of love], by enemies as Death, by virtuous bhaktas as the Supreme Lord, and by the people of Vraja as their own natural kinsmen (bandhu).”
