yo vai vāṅ-manasī samyag asaṁyacchan dhiyā yatiḥ |
tasya vrataṁ tapo dānaṁ sravaty āma-ghaṭāmbu-vat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.16.43)
“The rites, austerities, and charity of an ascetic who does not completely control the speech and mind with the intellect seep away like water in a raw [i.e., unfired] clay pot.”
vidyā-tapaḥ-prāṇa-nirodha-maitrī-
tīrthābhiṣeka-vrata-dāna-japyaiḥ |
nātyanta-śuddhiṁ labhate’ntar-ātmā
yathā hṛdi-sthe bhagavaty anante ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.3.48)
“The inner self does not attain such great purification by learning [i.e., worship of the devatās], austerity, prāṇāyāma, good will, bathing at tīrthas, rites, charity, or japa as [its does] when Bhagavān Ananta is situated in the heart.”
antaḥ-śuddhir bahiḥ-śuddhis tapaḥ-śānty-adayas tathā |
amī guṇāḥ prapadyante hari-sevābhikāminām ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.263)
“Internal purity, external purity, austerity, peacefulness, and so forth—all these qualities take shelter in those who are desirous of serving Hari.”
karma, tapa, yoga, jñāna, vidhi-bhakti, japa, dhyāna,
ihā haite mādhurya durlabha |
kevala ye rāga-mārge, bhaje kṛṣṇe anurāge,
tāre kṛṣṇa-mādhurya sulabha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.21.119)
“Karma [i.e., observing the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama], tapa (austerity), yoga, jñāna [i.e., deliberation on the meaning of the Upaniṣads], vidhi-bhakti [i.e., devotion motivated by śāstric injunctions], japa (repetition of a mantra), dhyāna (meditation)—through these [Kṛṣṇa’s] mādhurya is difficult to attain. Only for one who worships Kṛṣṇa with anurāga (loving attachment) according to the path of rāga is Kṛṣṇa’s mādhurya easy to attain.”
