Bhakti Sandarbha – Page 30

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam |
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam ||
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā |
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā tan manye’dhītam uttamam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.23–24; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.619–620, Bhakti Sandarbha: 169, Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.9.259–260)

[Prahlāda Mahārāja to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] “Hearing, praising, remembering, attending the feet, worshipping, offering obeisance, serving, befriending, and offering the self—if bhakti characterized by these nine [activities] is [itself first] directly offered to Bhagavān Viṣṇu and [then] performed by a person, I consider that the greatest learning.”

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bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir

bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ |
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo’nughāsam ||
ity acyutāṅghriṁ bhajato’nuvṛttyā
bhaktir viraktir bhagavat-prabodhaḥ |
bhavanti vai bhāgavatasya rājaṁs
tataḥ parāṁ śāntim upaiti sākṣāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.42–43; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 262, 340; Prīti Sandarbha: 1)

“Bhakti, experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from all else—this triad shall occur at one time for one who has taken shelter just as satisfaction, nourishment, and relief from hunger shall for one who eats with each mouthful. Thus, O King, bhakti, detachment, and understanding of Bhagavān occur for a bhāgavata [i.e., a bhakta] engaged in bhajana continuously to the feet of Acyuta, and thereafter one attains complete peace directly.”

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etāvān eva loke’smin

etāvān eva loke’smin puṁsāṁ niḥśreyasodayaḥ |
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena mano mayy arpitaṁ sthiram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.44; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 47)

“The mind [in a state of being] offered to me through resolute bhakti-yoga [i.e., through engagement in practices of bhakti, such as hearing] and [thus remaining] steady [i.e., absorbed in me]—this much alone [i.e., being in this state of mind by means of bhakti] is [itself] the manifestation of the highest good [i.e., the attainment of the ultimate puruṣārtha] for the living being in this world.”

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yo yo mayi pare dharmaḥ

yo yo mayi pare dharmaḥ kalpyate niṣphalāya cet |
tatrāyāso nirarthaḥ syād bhayāder iva sattama ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.21; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 148, 333)

“O best of the virtuous, if any sort of dharma [i.e., any sort of practice of bhakti, such as hearing, praising, and so on] related to me, the Supreme, is performed not for the purpose of a result [i.e., not out of desire for worldly attainments, Svarga, mokṣa, and so on, but rather only for the purpose of pleasing me], then exertion regarding it [i.e., for the purpose of accomplishing it] is useless [i.e., such actions can be effortlessly made manifested by bhakti’s inherent potency, and thus exertion to accomplish it is useless], just like exertion out of fear and so forth [i.e., just like fleeing out of fear, crying out of sorrow in a forest where no one can hear, and so on, are useless].”

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nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam

nālaṁ dvijatvaṁ devatvam ṛṣitvaṁ vāsurātmajāḥ |
prīṇanāya mukundasya na vṛttaṁ na bahu-jñatā ||
na dānaṁ na tapo nejyā na śaucaṁ na vratāni ca |
prīyate’malayā bhaktyā harir anyad viḍambanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.51–52; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.590–591, Bhakti Sandarbha: 168)

[Prahlāda:] “O sons of the asuras, neither being a twice-born, being a deva, or being a ṛṣi, nor conduct [i.e., sadācāra], nor being greatly knowledgeable, nor charity, nor austerity, nor worship, nor cleanliness, nor rites are able to please Mukunda. Hari is pleased [only] by taintless bhakti. All else is a sham.”

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mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa

mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.11–12; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.13–15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)

“‘[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] Bhakti which is an uninterrupted, causeless, and unobstructed flow of the mind—solely because of hearing my qualities—towards me, the Supreme Person, who dwells in the hearts [lit., “caves”] of all, like [the flow of] the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean, is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”

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bhaktir asya bhajanam

bhaktir asya bhajanam | tad ihāmutropādhi-nairāsyenāmuṣmin manaḥ-kalpanam | etad eva ca naiṣkarmyam ||
(Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad: Pūrva, 14; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.166; Bhakti Sandarbha 169, 234)

“Bhakti is worship (bhajana) of him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. It is engaging the mind in him free from upādhis (adjuncts) [i.e., desires] related to this world and the next [i.e., engaging in hearing, praising, remembering, and so forth related to him without any motivation of attaining anything related to this world or the next but rather with the motivation solely of attaining him such that one can serve and satisfy him]. And this is indeed [secondarily] naiṣkarmya [i.e., mukti, syn., jñāna; lit., exoneration from and transcendence of karma].”

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yadā yasyānugṛhṇāti

yadā yam anugṛhṇāti bhagavān ātma-bhāvitaḥ |
sa jahāti matiṁ loke vede ca pariniṣṭhitām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.46; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.64; Bhakti Sandarbha: 284; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 11.115)

“[Nārada to Prācīnabarhi:] When Bhagavān, being meditated upon within the heart, favors one, then one abandons resolute regard for the world [i.e., social conventions] and the Veda [i.e., injunctions given in the Vedas].”

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taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir

taṁ sukhārādhyam ṛjubhir ananya-śaraṇair nṛbhiḥ |
kṛtajñaḥ ko na seveta durārādhyam asādhubhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.19.36′; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 153)

“What grateful person would not worship he who is easily propitiated by persons who are sincere and of undivided shelter yet difficult to propitiate for the unvirtuous [i.e., those who are the opposite]?”

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visṛjati hṛdayaṁ na yasya sākṣād

visṛjati hṛdayaṁ na yasya sākṣād
dharir avaśābhihito’py aghaugha-nāśaḥ |
praṇaya-raśanayā dhṛtāṅghri-padmaḥ
sa bhavati bhāgavata-pradhāna uktaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.55; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.74, Bhakti Sandarbha: 198)

“One whose heart Hari himself, he who destroys multitudes of sins even when called unintentionally, does not leave because his lotus feet are bound [there] by a rope of love is said to be the foremost of Bhāgavatas.”

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