Bhakti Sandarbha

vaiṣṇavaṁ jñāna-vaktāraṁ yo vidyād viṣṇuvad gurum

vaiṣṇavaṁ jñāna-vaktāraṁ yo vidyād viṣṇuvad gurum |
pūjayed vāṅ-manaḥ-kāyaiḥ sa śāstra-jñaḥ sa vaiṣṇavaḥ ||
śloka-pādasya vaktāpi yaḥ pūjyaḥ sa sadaiva hi |
kiṁ punar bhagavad-viṣṇoḥ svarūpaṁ vitanoti yaḥ ||
(Nārada Pañcarātra; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.411–412; Bhakti Sandarbha: 237)

“One who can recognize a Vaiṣṇava guru and teacher of knowledge to be like Viṣṇu and worship him with one’s speech, mind, and body is a knower of śāstra and a Vaiṣṇava. Even one who is a teacher of quarter of a verse is certainly always worshippable, so how much more so is one who reveals the nature of Bhagavān Viṣṇu!”

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tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam

tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.3.21; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.32; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.97; Bhakti Sandarbha: 202, 238)

“Therefore [i.e., because there is no lasting fulfillment in saṁsāra and bhakti is the only means of crossing over saṁsāra], one who wishes to know the highest good should take shelter in a guru who is adept in śabda-brahman and Parabrahman, and is an abode of tranquility.”

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ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer

ko’ti-prayāso’sura-bālakā harer
upāsane sve hṛdi chidravat sataḥ |
svasyātmanaḥ sakhyur aśeṣa-dehināṁ
sāmānyataḥ kiṁ viṣayopapādanaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.38)

[Translated according to Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary:] “O boys of the asuras, what great exertion [i.e., difficulty] is there in worship of Hari, he who is present like space in one’s heart and is the inherent self and common friend of all embodied beings? [Therefore,] What [is the use] of accumulating objects of the senses?”

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bādhyamāno’pi mad-bhakto viṣayair ajitendriyaḥ

bādhyamāno’pi mad-bhakto viṣayair ajitendriyaḥ |
prāyaḥ pragalbhayā bhaktyā viṣayair nābhibhūyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.18; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.552; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)

“Although obstructed [i.e., attracted] by objects of the senses (viṣayas), a bhakta of mine who has not [yet] conquered the senses is generally not overwhelmed by objects of the senses (viṣayas) by virtue of vigorous bhakti [i.e., by virtue of bhakti, which possesses the capability to overcome the influence of residual affinities (vāsanās) for varieties of sensory experience].”

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sat-saṅga eva tat-sāmmukhye dvāram ity uktam

sat-saṅga eva tat-sāmmukhye dvāram ity uktam | te ca santas tat-sammukhā evātra gṛhyante, na tu vaidikācāra-mātra-parā anupayogitvāt |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 186)

“It has been said that sat-saṅga is the only gateway to intentness upon Tat [i.e., the Supreme Entity (Para-tattva)]. And in this regard only those who are intent upon Tat are accepted as the sat, and not, rather, those who are merely adherent to Vedic conduct because of [those mere adherent to conduct’s] being unsuitable [i.e., intentness upon Tat is the primary characteristic of sādhutva (being a sādhu), and because those who lack this characteristic, regardless of whether they are formally adherent to Vedic conduct or not, are not sādhus in the true sense, their association is unsuitable for those seeking intentness upon Tat because it will not give rise to such intentness].”

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vijita-hṛṣīka-vāyubhir adānta-manas turagaṁ

vijita-hṛṣīka-vāyubhir adānta-manas turagaṁ
ya iha yatanti yantum atilolam upāya-khidaḥ |
vyasana-śatānvitāḥ samavahāya guroś caraṇaṁ
vaṇija ivāja santy akṛta-karṇadharā jaladhau ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.33)

“O Unborn One [i.e., Bhagavān], those here [i.e., in the ocean of saṁsāra] who abandon the feet of guru and endeavor to subdue the extremely volatile stallion of the untamed mind [even] with conquered senses and vital airs become afflicted by the method [i.e., by the very method, whatever it may be, they take up to try to tame the mind] and beset with hundreds of adversities, just as merchants who have not procured a helmsman are [so afflicted] at sea.”

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manasaitāni bhūtāni praṇamed bahu-mānayan

manasaitāni bhūtāni praṇamed bahu-mānayan |
īśvaro jīva-kalayā praviṣṭo bhagavān iti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.34; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

“Within the mind one should offer obeisance to and greatly honor [all] these beings, [considering,] ‘Bhagavān, Īśvara, has entered [all these beings] by means of impelling the jīvas [i.e., by virtue of his being the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), meaning, the Īśvara, within them].”

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atha māṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmānaṁ kṛtālayam

atha māṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmānaṁ kṛtālayam |
arhayed dāna-mānābhyāṁ maitryābhinnena cakṣuṣā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.27; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 106)

[Translation as per the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā:] “Therefore, with charity, respect, friendship, and eyes of non-difference, one should worship me, the Ātma of all beings, who have made my abode in all beings.”

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akartur arpitātmatvena sva-bharaṇādi-karmānapekṣamāṇāt

akartur arpitātmatvena sva-bharaṇādi-karmānapekṣamāṇāt | yad bhagavati bhaktiḥ kriyate, tatrāpi svasya bhagavad-adhīnatvaṁ jñātvā tad-abhimāna-śūnyāc ca |
(Excerpt from the Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.29.33 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)

“‘Non-doer’ means one who is such [i.e., a non-doer] on account of being unconcerned about activities beginning with maintaining oneself because of having offered oneself [to me, Bhagavān], and on account of being free from pride in the bhakti to Bhagavān one performs by understanding one’s own dependence upon Bhagavān therein as well.”

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