bhagavad-rūpa-pūrṇāvirbhāvaṁ tat tattvaṁ … jīvādi-niyantṛtvena sphurad vā pratipādyamānaṁ vā paramātmeti śabdyata iti |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 3)
“When the [Absolute] Reality in its complete manifestation in the form of Bhagavān manifests, or is to be defined, as the regulator of jīvas and so forth [i.e., of all aspects of saṁsāra], it is known as Paramātmā.”
tad ekaṁ tattvaṁ svarūpa-bhūtayaiva śaktyā kam api viśeṣaṁ dhartuṁ parāsām api śaktīnāṁ mūlāśraya-rūpaṁ, tad-anubhāvānanda-sandohāntarbhāvita-tādṛśa-brahmānandānāṁ bhāgavata-paramahaṁsānāṁ tathānubhavaika-sādhakatama-tadīya-svarūpānanda-śakti-viśeṣātmaka-bhakti-bhāviteṣv antar-bahir apīndriyeṣu parisphurad vā, tadvad vivikta-tādṛśa-śakti-śaktimattā-bhedena pratipādyamānaṁ vā bhagavān iti śabdyate | … evaṁ cānanda-mātraṁ viśeṣyaṁ, samastāḥ śaktayo viśeṣaṇāni, viśiṣṭo bhagavān ity āyātam | tathā caivaṁ vaiśiṣṭye prāpte pūrṇāvirbhāvatvenākhaṇḍa-tattva-rūpo’sau bhagavān | brahma tu sphuṭam aprakaṭita-vaiśiṣṭyākāratvena tasyaivāsamyag āvirbhāva ity āyātam |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 2–3)
“When the one [Absolute] Reality, which is by nature the fundamental shelter of [all] other śaktis, to manifest some type of [wonderful] specificity solely by means of its own inherent śakti, fully manifests to the internal and external senses of devoted transcendentalists (bhāgavata-paramahaṁsas), subsumed in whose [experience of an] abundance of bliss from experience thereof [i.e., of the Absolute Reality so manifest with specificity] is such [experience of the] bliss of Brahman, [and whose internal and external senses are] imbued with bhakti [which is] constituted of a specific inherent śakti of bliss thereof [i.e., of that Absolute Reality] that is singularly most effectual of such experience [of that Absolute Reality’s manifest specificity], or, when it as such is to be defined with discrimination between the distinction of [its] being [both] śakti and the possessor of śakti (śaktimat), it is known as Bhagavān. … In this way, furthermore, it is understood that bliss alone is the qualificand (viśeṣya), all śaktis are [its] qualifiers (viśeṣaṇas), and Bhagavān is the qualified entity (viśiṣṭa). Furthermore, when possessed of such specificity (vaiśiṣṭya), that undivided [Absolute] Reality is Bhagavān on account of being the complete manifestation [thereof], whereas Brahman, evidently, is an incomplete manifestation thereof on account of [its] being an appearance devoid of manifest specificity. This is understood.”
tad ekam evākhaṇḍānanda-svarūpaṁ tattvaṁ thūtkṛta-pārameṣṭhyādikānanda-samudayānāṁ paramahaṁsānāṁ sādhana-vaśāt tādātmyam āpanne, satyām api tadīya-svarūpa-śakti-vaicitryāṁ tad-grahaṇāsāmarthye cetasi yathā sāmānyato lakṣitaṁ, tathaiva sphurad vā, tadvad evāvivikta-śakti-śaktimattā-bhedatayā pratipādyamānaṁ vā brahmeti śabdyate |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 2)
“When transcendentalists (paramahaṁsas) who have spat on the bliss of supremacy and so forth [i.e., all varieties of so-called happiness that exist throughout saṁsāra, including even that of Lord Brahmā, who holds the supreme position within the fourteen worlds] attain as a result of sādhana a state of identity (tādātmya) [i.e., a qualified degree of oneness based on cognitive self-identification] with the one [Absolute] Reality which is undivided and of the nature of bliss, or, when it [i.e., that Absolute Reality] manifests exactly as it is generally regarded [by them] in their minds that are unable to perceive the variegation of its inherent (svarūpa) śakti [i.e., when it manifests without any sort of specificity as non-differentiated consciousness apparently equivalent in nature to the self (ātmā) in response to their being cognitively fixed in a state of self-identification with that Absolute Reality as non-differentiated consciousness], or when it as such is to be defined without discrimination between its possessing the division of being [both] śakti and the possessor of śakti (śaktimat), it is known as Brahman.”
na hy ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ panthā viśataḥ saṁsṛtāv iha |
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogo yato bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 85; Bhakti Sandarbha 28, 86, 115)
“For someone immersed here in saṁsāra, there is certainly no other auspicious path than that by which bhakti-yoga to Bhagavān Vāsudeva can come into being.”
jīva-māyā guṇa-māyeti dvy-ātmikāṁ māyākhya-śaktiṁ vidyāt | … nimittāṁśo jīva-māyā | upādānāṁśo guṇa-māyeti … | avidyā-vidyākhya-nimitta-śakti-vṛttikatvāj jīva-viṣayakatvena jīva-māyātvam | … svīya-tat-tad-guṇa-maya-mahad-ādy-upādāna-śakti-vṛttikatvād guṇa-māyātvam |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 18)
“Know the śakti [of Bhagavān] known as māyā to be of two aspects, viz., jīva-māyā and guṇa-māyā. … The instrumental aspect is [called] jīva-māyā, and the constituent aspect is [called] guṇa-māyā. … Jīva-māyā is such because it relates to the jīva on account of being a function of the potency of [māyā’s] instrumentality known as avidyā and vidyā; guṇa-māyā is such because of its being a function of the potency of [māyā‘s] constitution in the form of the mahat and so forth [i.e., in the form of all the subtle and gross aspects of the material universe’s constitution], which are constituted of its own respective guṇas [i.e., the three guṇas of sattva, rajas, and tamas].”
sasarja cchāyayāvidyāṁ pañca-parvāṇam agrataḥ |
tāmisram andha-tāmisraṁ tamo moho mahā-tamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.20.18; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 18)
“First, he [i.e., Brahmā] emanated with his shadow fivefold avidyā (ignorance): tāmisra, andha-tāmisra, tamas, moha, and mahāmoha.”
yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile |
evaṁ draṣṭari dṛśyatvam āropitam abuddhibhiḥ ||
ataḥ paraṁ yad avyaktam avyūḍha-guṇa-vyūhitam |
adṛṣṭāśruta-vastutvāt sa jīvo yat punar-bhavaḥ ||
yatreme sad-asad-rūpe pratiṣiddhe sva-saṁvidā |
avidyayātmani kṛte iti tad brahma-darśanam ||
yady eṣoparatā devī māyā vaiśāradī matiḥ |
sampanna eveti vidur mahimni sve mahīyate ||
evaṁ janmāni karmāṇi hy akartur ajanasya ca |
varṇayanti sma kavayo veda-guhyāni hṛt-pateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.31–35)
“As a mass of clouds is attributed [i.e., taken to be] to the sky or a particle of earth [is taken to be] to the air, so the visible [i.e., the body] is [taken to be] to the seer [i.e., the ātmā] by the unintelligent. Beyond this [i.e., the gross body] is the jīva [i.e., the subtle body], which is unmanifest [i.e., externally imperceptible] because of its being an unseen and unheard of entity not arranged by the guṇas to be developed [i.e., to have physical, visible limbs] and [because of its] undergoing rebirth. When these gross and subtle forms are negated [i.e., understood to not be the self] through full knowledge of the self, whereby they are recognized as being imposed upon the ātmā by ignorance (avidyā), then darśana [i.e., sākṣātkāra, direct experience] of Brahman occurs. When this supernatural māyā belonging to the Expert [i.e., Īśvara] in the form of thought [i.e., misunderstanding] becomes withdrawn, then one certainly becomes fortunate [i.e., endowed with experience of the bliss of Brahman] and exalted in one’s own greatness—this is known [to the wise]. In this [same] way, the wise describe the births and activities, hidden to the Vedas, of he who is a non-actor and unborn [i.e., Bhagavān, who is transcendental to saṁsāra], the Lord [situated] in the heart.”
satye pratiṣṭhitaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ satyam atra pratiṣṭhitam |
satyāt satyaṁ ca govindas tasmāt satyo hi nāmataḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.70.12; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 58; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 82)
“Kṛṣṇa is fixed in truth, and truth is fixed in him. Govinda is the truth beyond truth [alt., beyond Satyaloka], and thus by name he is [known as] Satya (Truth).”
devo bhūtvā yajed devaṁ nādevo devam arcayet |
(Tantra-śāstra; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 22, Bhagavat Sandarbha: 64, and Bhakti Sandarbha: 306)
“Becoming a deva, worship the deva. A non-deva cannot worship a deva.”
ānanda-rūpatvam asya mahad-dhṛdaya-sākṣikaṁ yathā śrī-vigrahasya |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 47)
“Its [i.e., the name of Bhagavān’s] being a form of bliss like the blessed figure [of Bhagavān] is witnessed [i.e., evidenced] by the hearts of the great ones (mahats).”
