Bhakti Sandarbha – Anuśīlana.in

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā

naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā |
bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati naiṣṭhikī ||
tadā rajas-tamo-bhāvāḥ kāma-lobhādayaś ca ye |
ceta etair anāviddhaṁ sthitaṁ sattve prasīdati ||
evaṁ prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogataḥ |
bhagavat-tattva-vijñānaṁ mukta-saṅgasya jāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.18–20)

“When [all] ills are nearly destroyed by service to Bhāgavatas [alt., to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] continually, bhakti to Bhagavān, he of highest praise, becomes fixed. Then, the mind, situated in sattva and unassailed by states of rajas and tamas—desire, greed, and so forth—becomes satisfied. Realized knowledge [i.e., direct experience] of the essential nature of Bhagavān arises for one who in this way is of satisfied mind and [thus] freed from attachment as a result of the practice of bhakti to Bhagavān.”

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rāmeṇa sārdhaṁ mathurāṁ praṇīte

rāmeṇa sārdhaṁ mathurāṁ praṇīte
śvāphalkinā mayy anurakta-cittāḥ |
vigāḍha-bhāvena na me viyoga-
tīvrādhayo’nyaṁ dadṛśuḥ sukhāya ||
tās tāḥ kṣapāḥ preṣṭha-tamena nītā
mayaiva vṛndāvana-gocareṇa |
kṣaṇārdha-vat tāḥ punar aṅga tāsāṁ
hīnā mayā kalpa-samā babhūvuḥ ||
tā nāvidan mayy anuṣaṅga-baddha-
dhiyaḥ svam ātmānam adas tathedam |
yathā samādhau munayo’bdhi-toye
nadyaḥ praviṣṭā iva nāma-rūpe ||
mat-kāmā ramaṇaṁ jāram asvarūpa-vido’balāḥ |
brahma māṁ paramaṁ prāpuḥ saṅgāc chata-sahasraśaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.12.10–13; cited in Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.143–46, Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 175–179; Bhakti Sandarbha: 242; Prīti Sandarbha: 92, 99, 423)

“When I was brought to Mathurā along with Rāma by Śvāphalki [i.e., Akrūra], they [viz., the gopīs] whose minds were deeply attached to me, and who were in anguish because of separation [from me] by virtue of their profound bhāva, did not look towards anyone other than me for the sake of pleasure [because looking at anyone other than me led them to feel sorrow rather than pleasure; alt., they did not look to anyone other than me as a cause of pleasure because everyone other than me was only a cause of sorrow for them in separation from me]. Those special nights spent with me specifically, [their] Dearmost, dwelling in Vṛndāvana, passed like half a moment [for them], yet those [nights], O dear one [i.e., O Uddhava], without me became like epochs for them. Their minds bound by deep attachment to me, they did not know own, self, that, or this [i.e., they had no awareness of objects of the sense of ‘mine,’ objects of the sense of ‘I,’ the next world, or this world] just as sages who have entered samādhi and rivers [that have entered] the water of the ocean [do not know] names and forms. [The bhāva of these gopīs is so deep that just] By association [with these gopīs], [even] hundreds and thousands of they devoid of strength [viz., Pulindīs (local girls from rural tribes) that had no caste, conduct, knowledge, bhakti, and so on] who were devoid of awareness of my true nature [i.e., who had not even seen my beauty and so on] became filled with desire for me and attained me, the Supreme Brahman, as a paramour lover.”

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‘kulaṁ śīlam athācāram avicārya paraṁ gurum

‘kulaṁ śīlam athācāram avicārya paraṁ gurum |
bhajeta śravaṇādy-arthī sarasaṁ sāra-sāgaram ||’
sarasatvādikaṁ ca vyañjitaṁ tatraivānyatra—
‘kāma-krodhādi-yukto’pi kṛpaṇo’pi viṣādavān |
śrutvā vikāśam āyāti sa vaktā paramo guruḥ ||’
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 203; citations from Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa)

“‘Then, without judging family, custom, or conduct, one who seeks to hear and so on should accept an exalted guru, who is sarasa [i.e., adept and absorbed in tasting rasa, or, more broadly, charming and full of love] and an ocean of essence [i.e., one who has widely and deeply grasped and imbibed the essence of the śāstra].’ [The importance of the guru’s] Being sarasa and so forth is suggested elsewhere therein [i.e., in Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa] as well, ‘The teacher after hearing [from whom] even someone possessed of desire, anger, and so on, even a wretch [i.e., a miser, or a low, poor, undiscerning, or pitiable person] beset with dejection, experiences expansion [i.e., expansion of the heart, meaning, upliftment, brightness, and joy] is an exalted guru.’”

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na hy ekasmād guror jñānaṁ susthiraṁ syāt supuṣkalam

na hy ekasmād guror jñānaṁ susthiraṁ syāt supuṣkalam |
brahmaitad advitīyaṁ vai gīyate bahudha rṣibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.31)

“Indeed knowledge [received] from one guru shall not become sufficiently steady and sufficiently extensive. This nondual Brahman is sung of by seers in numerous ways.”

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na tasya kaścit patir asti loke

na tasya kaścit patir asti loke
na ceśitā naiva ca tasya liṅgam |
sa kāraṇaṁ karaṇādhipādhipo
na cāsya kaścij janitā na cādhipaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.227.22-23; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 178)

“Neither is anyone his ruler in this world, nor [is anyone his] controller, nor indeed does he have an indicator [i.e., a indicative sign by which his existence can be proven by inference]. He is the Cause [of everything] and the Ruler of the ruler of the means of action [i.e., the Ruler of the jīva, who is the ruler of the senses in their bodies]. Neither is anyone his progenitor, nor [his] Ruler.”

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a-kāraś cāpy u-kāraś ca ma-kāraś ca tataḥ param

a-kāraś cāpy u-kāraś ca ma-kāraś ca tataḥ param |
veda-trayātmakaṁ proktaṁ praṇavaṁ brahmaṇaḥ padam ||
a-kāreṇocyate viṣṇuḥ śrīr u-kāreṇa cocyate |
ma-kāras tu tayor dāsaḥ pañcaviṁśaḥ prakīrtitaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.227.22-23; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 178)

“The letter a along with the letter u and the letter m after that—praṇava [i.e., the word Aum]—is declared to be the basis of the three Vedas and the word for [alt., dwelling place] of Brahman. Viṣṇu is referred to by the letter a, and Śrī is referred to by the letter u. The servant of the two [i.e., of Viṣṇu and Śrī], the twenty-fifth [element in the universe, viz., the jīva], is declared to indeed be the letter m.”

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ye vai bhagavatā proktā

ye vai bhagavatā proktā upāyā hy ātma-labdhaye |
añjaḥ puṁsām aviduṣāṁ viddhi bhāgavatān hi tān ||
yān āsthāya naro rājan na pramādyeta karhicit |
dhāvan nimīlya vā netre na skhalen na pated iha ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.34–35; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.497, 524; Bhakti Sandarbha: 125, 216, 218; Mādhurya-kādambinī: 3.3)

“Know to be Bhāgavatas [i.e., Bhāgavata-dharmas—limbs of bhakti to Bhagavān] those well known means of realization (1) which are stated by Bhagavān for unlearned persons for the sake of [their] easy attainment of the Self (Ātmā) and (2) by taking shelter in which a human being, O King, shall never be hindered. [Even by] Running or keeping the eyes closed, one shall not stumble and shall not fall here.”

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kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā

kālena naṣṭā pralaye vāṇīyaṁ veda-saṁjñitā |
mayādau brahmaṇe proktā dharmo yasyāṁ mad-ātmakaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.3; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 76)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] This speech known as the Veda [which is] lost because of time [and] in the dissolution [of the universe] in which dharma based of me is present was dictated to Brahmā by me at the beginning [of the universe’s emanation following its prior dissolution].”

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bhakti-yogaḥ puraivoktaḥ prīyamāṇāya te’nagha

bhakti-yogaḥ puraivoktaḥ prīyamāṇāya te’nagha |
punaś ca kathayiṣyāmi mad-bhakteḥ kāraṇaṁ param ||
śraddhāmṛta-kathāyāṁ me śaśvan mad-anukīrtanam |
pariniṣṭhā ca pūjāyāṁ stutibhiḥ stavanaṁ mama ||
ādaraḥ paricaryāyāṁ sarvāṅgair abhivandanam |
mad-bhakta-pūjābhyadhikā sarva-bhūteṣu man-matiḥ ||
mad-artheṣv aṅga-ceṣṭā ca vacasā mad-guṇeraṇam |
mayy arpaṇaṁ ca manasaḥ sarva-kāma-vivarjanam ||
mad-arthe’rtha-parityāgo bhogasya ca sukhasya ca |
iṣṭaṁ dattaṁ hutaṁ japtaṁ mad-arthaṁ yad vrataṁ tapaḥ ||
evaṁ dharmair manuṣyāṇām uddhavātma-nivedinām |
mayi sañjāyate bhaktiḥ ko’nyo’rtho’syāvaśiṣyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.19–24; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.514-517, 526; Bhakti Sandarbha: 228)

“The practice (yoga) of bhakti was indeed explained previously [to you by me]. O sinless one, for you who are finding pleasure [in that], I will describe again the best means of bhakti to me. Continuous śraddhā in the nectar of narration of me, recapitulating related to me, full fixity in ritual worship of me, praising [me] with hymns, attentive regard for adoring service [to me], offering respectful obeisance [to me] with all the limbs, exceeding worship of my bhakta, awareness of me in all entities, body-activity for purposes related to me, speaking of my qualities with the [faculty] of speech, offering of the mind to me, letting go of all desires, relinquishment of wealth, as well as of enjoyment and of pleasure, for my sake, and sacrifice, charity, oblations, utterance (japa), rites, and austerity which are for my sake—by means of such dharmas, O Uddhava, bhakti to me is manifested in full for human beings who are offerers of themselves [to me]. What other object remains for one [i.e., for such a bhakta]?”

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patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati |
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.26)

[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] “One who with bhakti offers a leaf, flower, fruit, or water to me—I partake of that offered out of bhakti from one of pure heart.”

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