Bhāgavata Sandarbha

ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha

ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha ekaḥ kṣetra-jña āśrayaḥ |
avikriyaḥ sva-dṛg hetur vyāpako’saṅgy anāvṛtaḥ ||
etair dvādaśabhir vidvān ātmano lakṣaṇaiḥ paraiḥ |
ahaṁ mamety asad-bhāvaṁ dehādau mohajaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.19–20; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 46)

“The ātmā is eternal [i.e. indestructible], undiminishing, pure, one [i.e., singular, not an aggregate like the body], the knower of the field [i.e., endowed with capacity for awareness], the shelter [i.e., the shelter of the senses and other faculties, such as the manas and buddhi], immutable, self-witnessing [i.e., self-luminous to its own self], the cause [i.e., the cause of the universe’s emanation], pervasive [i.e., pervasive of the body], unattached, and without any covering. By means of these twelve distinguishing characteristics of the ātmā, a learned person should give up the false notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ related to the body and so forth [i.e., the body’s paraphernalia], which are products of delusion.”

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doṣa-mūlaṁ hi jīvasya parama-tattva-jñānābhāva eva

doṣa-mūlaṁ hi jīvasya parama-tattva-jñānābhāva evety uktam—‘bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt’ ity ādau, ‘īśād apetasya’ ity-ādibhiḥ | atas taj-jñānam eva śuddhatvam … |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 1)

“The root of the jīva’s deficiency (doṣa) is only the absence of awareness of the Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva), as stated by [the phrase], ‘For one who is averse to the Lord’ (Īśād apetasya) in [the verse] bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād … [i.e., SB 11.2.37]. Therefore, only awareness of him [i.e., the Supreme Entity] is purity.”

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pītvā mukunda-mukha-sāragham akṣi-bhṛṅgais

pītvā mukunda-mukha-sāragham akṣi-bhṛṅgais
tāpaṁ jahur viraha-jaṁ vraja-yoṣito’hni |
tat satkṛtiṁ samadhigamya viveśa goṣṭhaṁ
savrīḍa-hāsa-vinayaṁ yad apāṅga-mokṣam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.15.43; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 315)

“Drinking the honey from the face of Mukunda with the bees of their eyes, the women of Vraja gave up the sorrow produced by separation during the day. Accepting their excellent reception in the form of casting sidelong glances with bashful smiles and modesty, he entered his abode.”

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taṁ gorajaś-churita-kuntala-baddha-barha

taṁ gorajaś-churita-kuntala-baddha-barha-
vanya-prasūna-rucirekṣaṇa-cāru-hāsam |
veṇum kvaṇantam anugair upagīta-kīrtiṁ
gopyo didṛkṣita-dṛśo’bhyagaman sametāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.15.42)

“The assembled gopīs came forward, their eyes desiring to see him playing the flute with charming glances and a lovely smile as his glories are sung by his companions and his hair bound with a peacock feather and forest flowers is covered with dust raised by the cows.”

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na pārameṣṭhyaṁ na mahendra-dhiṣṇyaṁ

na pārameṣṭhyaṁ na mahendra-dhiṣṇyaṁ
na sārvabhaumaṁ na rasādhipatyam |
na yoga-siddhīr apunar-bhavaṁ vā
mayy arpitātmecchati mad vinānyat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.14; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.580; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.42; Bhakti Sandarbha: 132, 168; Prīti Sandarbha: 23)

[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “One who has offered oneself to me desires neither the post of Brahmā, nor the abode of Indra, nor dominion over the entire earth, nor reign over Pātāla, nor the siddhis of yoga, nor non-repetition of birth [i.e., mokṣa], nor anything else apart from me.”

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na nāka-pṛṣṭhaṁ na ca pārameṣṭhyaṁ

na nāka-pṛṣṭhaṁ na ca pārameṣṭhyaṁ
na sārvabhaumaṁ na rasādhipatyam |
na yoga-siddhīr apunar-bhavaṁ vā
samañjasa tvā virahayya kāṅkṣe ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.11.25; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.32; Prīti Sandarbha: 24, 72)

[Vṛtrāsura to Bhagavān:] “Neither the vault of Heaven, nor the position of the highest standing, nor rule over the entirety of the earth, nor sovereignty over Rasā, nor the yoga-siddhis, nor non-repetition of birth, do I desire, O Proper One, leaving you.”

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na nāka-pṛṣṭhaṁ na ca sārvabhaumaṁ

na nāka-pṛṣṭhaṁ na ca sārvabhaumaṁ
na pārameṣṭhyaṁ na rasādhipatyam |
na yoga-siddhīr apunar-bhavaṁ vā
vāñchanti yat-pāda-rajaḥ-prapannāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.16.37; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.669; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.39; Prīti Sandarbha: 24)

[The nāga-patnīs to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] “Those who have taken shelter in the dust of your feet desire neither the domain of Dhruva, nor dominion over the entire earth, nor the post of Brahmā, nor reign over Pātāla, nor the siddhis of yoga, nor even non-repetition of birth [i.e., mokṣa].”

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sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma

sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma taj-jalān iti śānta upāsīta | atha khalu kratumayaḥ puruṣo yathā kratur asmil loke puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati sa kratuṁ kurvīta ||
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 3.14.1; cited in Prīti Sandarbha 51)

“All of this is verily Brahman, that from which everything manifests, by which everything is taken [i.e., into which everything dissolves], and in which everything exists. Therefore, be peaceful and meditate [upon Brahman]. Now, verily, a living being is made of intention (kratu). As is a living being’s intention in this world, so the living being becomes upon departing from here. [Therefore,] one should form an intention.”

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kauṭilyam aśraddhā

yataḥ kauṭilyam, aśraddhā bhagavan-niṣṭhā-cyāvaka-vastv-antarābhiniveśaḥ, bhakti-śaithilyaṁ, sva-bhakty-ādi-kṛta-mānitvam ity evam-ādīni mahat-saṅgādi-lakṣāṇa-bhaktyāpi nivartayituṁ duṣkarāṇi cet, tarhi tasyāparādhasyaiva kāryāṇi, tāny eva ca prācīnasya tasya liṅgāni | …  śrī-bhagavati śrī-gurau tad-bhaktādiṣu cāntarānādarādāv api sati bahis tad-arcanādy-ārambhaḥ kauṭilyam | … athāśraddhā dṛṣṭe śrute’pi tan-mahimādau viparīta-bhāvanādinā viśvāsābhāvaḥ | … atha bhakti-śaithilyaṁ yenādhyātmikādi-sukha-duḥkha-niṣṭhaivollasati | … bhakty-ādi-kṛtābhimānatvaṁ cāparādha-kṛtam eva, vaiṣṇavāvamānādi-laksaṇāparādhāntara-janakatvāt | 

(Bhakti-sandarbha: 153, 155, 159)

“If (1) crookedness, (2) aśraddhā, (3) absorption in other objects that erodes fixity upon Bhagavān, (4) slackening in bhakti, (5) pridefulness in one’s acts of bhakti and so forth, and other such [behaviors] are difficult to abstain from even by means of bhakti in the form of association with the great (mahat) and so forth, then they are effects of one’s aparādha [committed in this life] and indicators of that [i.e., aparādha committed] in the past [i.e., in previous lives]. … Externally performing worship and so forth of Śrī Bhagavān, śrī guru, his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] bhaktas, and others even while bearing disrespect and so forth towards them internally is [called] crookedness (kauṭilya). … The absence of conviction (viśvāsa) in his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] greatness and so forth, even when it is seen or heard of, as a result of contrary opinion and so forth [e.g.,  assumption of deception, assumption of impossibility, etc.] is [called] aśraddhā [“faithlessness”]. … Slackening in bhakti is that by which fixity upon pleasures and pains related to the self and so forth [i.e., (1) related to one’s own body and mind (ādhyātmika), (2) related to other living beings (ādhibhautika), and (3) related to natural phenomena (ādhidaivika)] increases. … Pridefulness in one’s acts of bhakti and so forth is created by aparādha because of [it, i.e., such pridefulness] being a cause of other aparādhas, such as disrespecting Vaiṣṇavas [i.e., because an act that is not an effect of aparādha will not give rise to a further effect that is an aparādha, pridefulness in one’s own acts of bhakti is inferred to be an effect of aparādha since it leads to aparādhas such as disrespecting Vaiṣṇavas].”

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