Bhakti Sandarbha

nāmāparādha-yuktānāṁ nāmāny eva haranty agham

nāmāparādha-yuktānāṁ nāmāny eva haranty agham |
aviśrānti-prayuktāni tāny evārthakarāṇi ca ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 3.48.23 or 4.25.23; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.526; Bhakti Sandarbha: 265)

“The names [of Hari] certainly destroy the sins of those who have committed offense to the name; uttered incessantly, they are certainly effective.”

Read on →

madhura-madhuram etan maṅgalaṁ maṅgalānāṁ

madhura-madhuram etan maṅgalaṁ maṅgalānāṁ
sakala-nigama-vallī-sat-phalaṁ cit-svarūpam |
sakṛd api parigītaṁ śraddhayā helayā vā
bhṛgu-vara nara-mātraṁ tārayet kṛṣṇa-nāma ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.451; Tattva Sandarbha: 15; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 35; Bhakti Sandarbha: 172)

“O best of the Bhṛgus, the name of Kṛṣṇa, the sweetest of the sweet, the most auspicious of the auspicious, the eternal [alt., true] spiritual fruit of the vine of all the Nigamas [i.e., Vedas], can deliver any human being when chanted even once, faithfully or negligently.”

Read on →

nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vā

nāmaikaṁ yasya vāci smaraṇa-patha-gataṁ śrotra-mūlaṁ gataṁ vā
śuddhaṁ vāśuddha-varṇaṁ vyavahita-rahitaṁ tārayaty eva satyam |
tac ced deha-draviṇa-janatā-lobha-pāṣaṇḍa-madhye
nikṣiptaṁ syān na phala-janakaṁ śīghram evātra vipra ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 3.48.24 or 4.25.24; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.527; Bhakti Sandarbha: 153, 265; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.3.60)

“Be it with proper or improper [pronunciation of] syllables, one name [of Bhagavān] without separation [alt., or even with separation of its syllables] which has entered one’s speech, path of remembrance, or the base of the ears certainly delivers [a living being]. This is certainly true. If that [i.e., the name of Bhagavān] should be cast down among those who are heretical out of greed related to the body, wealth, or people, [however,] O brāhmaṇa, it certainly does not become fruitful quickly here.”

Read on →

sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta |

sālokya-sārṣṭi-sāmīpya-sārūpyaikatvam apy uta |
dīyamānaṁ na gṛhṇanti vinā mat-sevanaṁ janāḥ ||

(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.13; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.603; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.28; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.207, 2.6.270, 2.9.268, 2.19.173, 3.3.189)

[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] “Without my service, people [i.e., those imbued with nirguṇa-bhakti to me] do not accept even sālokya, sārṣṭi, sāmīpya, sārūpya, or ekatva [i.e., sāyujya] even when [these are] offered [to them by me].”

Read on →

vana-mālini yādṛśāśayo mama tādṛṅ na kapāla-mālini

vana-mālini yādṛśāśayo mama tādṛṅ na kapāla-mālini |
asite mudire yathā śikhī mudam abhyeti tathā na pāṇḍure ||
devyas taṭinyas tridaśās taḍāgā viśveśvaro’yaṁ saritām adhīśaḥ |
tṛṣṇāharaḥ ko’pi kṛṣṇa-meghaṁ vihāya cintāmaṇi-cātakasya ||
(Cintāmaṇi Dīkṣita; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

“My heart does not find delight in he who wears a skull-garland [i.e., Śiva] as it does in he who wears a forest garland [i.e., Kṛṣṇa]; a peacock does not find delight in a white cloud as it does in a dark cloud. The devīs are [like] rivers, the devas are [like] ponds, and this Viśveśvara [i.e., Śiva] is [like] an ocean, but no one is the remover of the cātaka Cintāmaṇi’s thirst except the cloud Kṛṣṇa.”

Read on →

tad evaṁ śaraṇāpattir vivṛtā

tad evaṁ śaraṇāpattir vivṛtā |
asyāś cāpūrvatvaṁ tāṁ vinā tadīyatvāsiddheḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 237)

“Thus, in this way, śaraṇāpatti [i.e., śaraṇāgati] has been described. And its incomparability [lit., “unprecedentedness”] is because of the non-establishment of being his own without it [i.e., one does not attain the actual feeling of belonging to Bhagavān, and Bhagavān does not actually consider one his own, that is, as one of his bhaktas, without śaraṇāgati].”

Read on →

sā hānis tan mahac chidraṁ sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ

sā hānis tan mahac chidraṁ sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ |
yan muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi vāsudevaṁ na kīrtayet ||
(Kātyāyana Saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.508; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115; Sarva-samvādinī on Bhagavat Sandarbha, Durgama-saṅgaminī to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.247; Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.9.35)

“That moment or even instant in which Vāsudeva is not praised is a loss, a great fault, a delusion, and a fiasco.”

Read on →

tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ

tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ
tad eva śaśvan manaso mahotsavam |
tad eva śokārṇava-śoṣaṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ
yad uttamaḥśloka-yaśo’nugīyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.50; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)

“Only that [speech] through which the glory of he of highest praise is continuously sung is pleasing, relishable, and ever-new, only that is a grand, eternal festival for the heart, and only that dries up the ocean of humanity’s lamentation.”

Read on →

mṛṣā giras tā hy asatīr asat-kathā 

mṛṣā giras tā hy asatīr asat-kathā
na kathyate yad bhagavān adhokṣajaḥ |
tad eva satyaṁ tad u haiva maṅgalaṁ
tad eva puṇyaṁ bhagavad-guṇodayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.49; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)

[Translation based on the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā:] “False, harsh, and improper is that speech which does not describe Bhagavān Adhokṣaja. Only that [speech] through which Bhagavān’s qualities manifest is truthful, only that is beneficial, and only that is purifying.”
[Translation based on the Bhakti Sandarbha vyākhyā:] “Vain, false, and extraneous is that speech which does not describe Bhagavān Adhokṣaja. Only that [speech] through which Bhagavān’s qualities manifest is truthful, only that is beneficial, and only that is purifying.”

Read on →

śrutam apy aupaniṣadaṁ dūre hari-kathāmṛtāt

śrutam apy aupaniṣadaṁ dūre hari-kathāmṛtāt |
yan na santi dravac-citta-kampāśru-pulakādayaḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Padyāvalī: 39; Bhakti Sandarbha: 69)

“Even that which I have heard in the Upaniṣads [about nirviśeṣa Brahman] is also far from the amṛta of Hari-kathā, as by [hearing] it no melting of the heart, trembling, tears, horripilation, and so forth occur.”

Read on →

Scroll to Top