lakṣeṣu śṛṇute kaścit koṭiṣv ekas tu budhyate |
bhakti-tattvaṁ parijñāya kaścid eva samācaret ||
(Padma Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.543)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Śrī Bhagavān:] Among lakhs [of people], someone [i.e., a rare person] hears about the nature (tattva) of bhakti, yet among crores [of those who hear], one understands it, and only someone [i.e., an exceedingly rare person] can perform it after having thoroughly understood it.”
kaḥ paṇḍitas tvad aparaṁ śaraṇaṁ samīyād
bhakta-priyād ṛta-giraḥ suhṛdaḥ kṛtajñāt |
sarvān dadāti suhṛdo bhajato’bhi kāmān
ātmanam apy upacayāpacayau na yasya ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.48.26; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.678; Bhakti Sandarbha: 107; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.96)
“What paṇḍita would take full shelter in anyone other than you, to whom bhaktas are dear, whose words are truthful, who are well-wishing, who are grateful, and who bestow all thoroughly desired objects upon a well-wishing worshiper [of yourself] and even your own self [upon them] without any accumulation for, or diminution of, yourself [thereby]?”
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnā ye mukhyāsantas ta eva hi |
teṣāṁ niṣṭhā śubhā kvāpi na syāt sac-caritair api ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.301)
“Those who are devoid of bhakti to Bhagavān are verily the foremost of the asat. Even by means of meritorious deeds, an auspicious state shall never come about for them.”
saṅgaṁ na kuryād asatāṁ śiśnodara-tṛpāṁ kvacit |
tasyānugas tamasy andhe pataty andhānugāndha-vat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.300)
“One should never engage in saṅga with the asat, gratifiers of the genitals and belly. A follower of him [i.e., even one of the asat], like a blind person following a [i.e., another] blind person, falls into blinding darkness [i.e., Naraka].”
athāsat-saṅga-doṣāḥ |
asadbhiḥ saha saṅgas tu na kartavyaḥ kadācana |
yasmāt sarvārtha-hāniḥ syād adhaḥpātaś ca jāyate ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.294)
“Now, the faults of asat-saṅga [are described]: Saṅga with the asat, as a result of which the loss of all objects shall occur and downfall ensues, is not to be done at any time.”
bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej
janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ |
sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau
parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.51.53; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.256; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 179; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.46, 84)
“When the cessation of worldly existence shall come about for a a wandering person, then, O Acyuta, association with the sat shall come about, and when association with the sat shall come about, only then does inclination manifest towards you, [who are] the Shelter of the sat [alt., whose shelter is the sat] and the Master of the higher and the lower.’”
kṛpālur akṛta-drohas titikṣuḥ sarva-dehinām |
satya-sāro’navadyātmā samaḥ sarvopakārakaḥ ||
kāmair ahata-dhīr dānto mṛduḥ śucir akiñcanaḥ |
anīho mita-bhuk śāntaḥ sthiro mac-charaṇo muniḥ ||
apramatto gabhīrātmā dhṛtimāñ jita-ṣaḍ-guṇaḥ |
amānī māna-daḥ kalyo maitraḥ kāruṇikaḥ kaviḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.11.29-31; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.18–20; Bhakti Sandarbha: 199)
“[One who is] Sympathetic, non-malicious, forbearing towards all embodied beings, steadfast in truth, irreproachable in character, equipoised, supportive of all, of mind unimpaired by objects of desire, controlled, gentle, virtuous, possessionless, non-active [in worldly pursuits], a measured eater, peaceful, steady, of shelter in me, sage, non-negligent, deep in character, resolute, victorious over the six properties [of worldly existence], undesirous of respect, respectful, adept, friendly, compassionate, and wise [is the best of the sat].”
rajobhiḥ sama-saṅkhyātāḥ pārthivair iha jantavaḥ |
teṣāṁ ye kecanehante śreyo vai manujādayaḥ ||
prāyo mumukṣavas teṣāṁ kecanaiva dvijottama |
mumukṣūṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścin mucyeta sidhyati ||
muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ |
sudurlabhaḥ praśāntātmā koṭiṣv api mahāmune ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.14.3–5; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.189; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.186, 2.2.207, 2.5.178; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 106; Bhakti Sandarbha: 134, 186, 273; Prīti Sandarbha: 35, 100; Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.151)
“Living beings here [i.e., in the material world] are similar in enumeration to the particles of dust on the earth [i.e., they are innumerable]. Among them, there are certainly some human beings and so forth who strive for virtue (śreyas) [i.e., who follow dharma and take up other means to attain otherworldly happiness]. O best of the twice born, among them, some very few are even seekers of mukti, and among thousands of seekers of mukti, someone may become liberated and [someone among thousands of such liberated persons may] succeed [i.e., attain siddhi]. O great sage, even among crores of even muktas and siddhas, someone of completely peaceful mind whose complete shelter is Nārāyaṇa is extremely rare to find.”
saty api bhedāpagame nātha tavāhaṁ na māmakīnas tvam |
sāmudro hi taraṅgaḥ kvacana samudro na tāraṅgaḥ ||
(Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s Viṣṇu-ṣaṭpadī-stotram: 3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.419; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmārta: 2.2.196)
“Even once the cessation of distinction (bheda) [between you and I] occurs, O Nātha, I am yours, [but] you are not mine. A wave certainly belongs to the ocean, [but] nowhere does the ocean belong to a wave.”
tad-aṁśatvāt tad-abhinnatvena tadīyatvena vā svātmānaṁ vijānīyād ity arthaḥ | evaṁ ca sati so’ham iti—saḥ śrī-bhagavad-aṁśaḥ śuddha-buddha-mukta-svabhāvo’ham; yad vā, tad-aṁśatvena tad-adhīno nitya-sevako’smīty arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 5.65)
“One should understand one’s self (ātmā) as being non-different from him [i.e., Paramātmā] or as being his own, on account of [the ātmā’s] being a part (aṁśa) of him. This is the meaning [of the aforementioned bhūta-śuddhi meditation]. Since this is such, ‘I am he’ (so’ham) means, ‘I, who am of pure, conscious, and liberated nature, am he, meaning, [I am] a part (aṁśa) of Śrī Bhagavān,’ or alternately, ‘because of [my] being a part of him, I am dependent on him and an eternal servant [of him].’”
