aho nṛ-janmākhila-janma-śobhanaṁ
kiṁ janmabhis tv aparair apy amuṣmin |
na yad dhṛṣīkeśa-yaśaḥ-kṛtātmanāṁ
mahātmanāṁ vaḥ pracuraḥ samāgamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.13.21)
“[Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa to Jaḍa Bharata:] Aho! Human birth is the best of all births. What is the use of other births even in the hereafter [i.e., in Svarga] where there is no abundant association with great souls who have dedicated themselves to the glory of Hṛṣīkeśa?”
maryādāṁ ca kṛtāṁ tena yo bhinatti sa mānavaḥ |
na viṣṇu-bhakto vijñeyaḥ sādhu-dharmārcito hariḥ ||
(Viṣṇu-dharma Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 172, 173)
“A human being who transgresses the code of conduct established by him [i.e., by Bhagavān Viṣṇu] should not be recognized as a bhakta of Viṣṇu; Hari is worshipped by virtuous conduct [i.e., the dharma of the sādhus, and not by transgressions thereof].”
tatra śrī-vāsudevasya sarva-deva-śiromaṇeḥ |
pādāmbujaika-bhāg eva dīkṣā grāhyā manīṣibhiḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 1.103)
“In this regard [i.e., in regard to dīkṣā being accepted], dīkṣā, that is, taking shelter solely in the lotus feet of Śrī Vāsudeva, the crest-jewel of all devas, is to be accepted by the wise [since otherwise only indiscretion occurs].”
mantratas tantrataś chidraṁ deśa-kālārha-vastutaḥ |
sarvaṁ karoti niśchidram anusaṅkīrtanaṁ tava ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.23.16; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.376; Bhakti Sandarbha: 97)
“Continuous saṅkīrtana of you makes flawless all flaws [in yajñas] related to mantras, procedure, place, time, eligibility, and ingredients.”
sarvapārādha-bhañjanatvam
viṣṇu-yāmale śrī-bhagavad-uktau—
mama nāmāni loke’smin śraddhayā yas tu kīrtayet |
tasyāparādha-koṭīs tu kṣamāmy eva na saṁśayaḥ ||
(Viṣṇu-yāmala; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.375; Bhakti Sandarbha: 265; Krama-sandarbha-ṭikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.1.11)
“The name of Śrī Bhagavān’s being a destroyer of all offenses [is described as follows] in a statement of Śrī Bhagavān in Viṣṇu-yāmala: ‘I certainly forgive even crores of offenses (aparādhas) of someone in this world who can chant my names with śraddhā. There is no doubt [about this].’”
garhito karaye yadi mahā-adhikārī |
nindāra ki dāya, tā̐re hāsilei mari ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.6.35)
“[Śrīman Mahāprabhu:] If a highly qualified person does something forbidden, [then] what [to speak] of the lot of a defamer—if one even laughs at him one is ruined.”
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ |
aprāṇasyaiva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam ||
śuciḥ sad-bhakti-dīptāgni-dagdha-durjāti-kalmaṣaḥ |
śvapāko’pi budhaiḥ ślāghyo na veda-jño’pi nāstikaḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 3.11–12; cited in Mādhurya-kādambinī: 1.10; alluded to in Prārthanā: 21.2)
“The nobility, [knowledge of] śāstra, japa, and austerity of someone devoid of bhakti to Bhagavān are [like] decorations on a lifeless body [which are merely] pleasing to the world [i.e., to the public in general, but not to Bhagavān himself]. Even a purified dog-eater [i.e., an outcaste, however], the contamination of whose low-birth has been burned away by the blazing fire of pure bhakti, is praiseworthy by the wise; [whereas] even an unbelieving knower of the Veda is not [i.e., regardless of the level of one’s knowledge and the like (nobility, austerity, etc.), anyone devoid of bhakti is unworthy of praise from the wise, since their character and conduct are of no real significance to Bhagavān].”
yadṛcchayā kenāpi parama-svatantra-bhagavad-bhakta-saṅga-tat-kṛpā-jāta-maṅgalodayena |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 171)
“‘Yadṛcchayā’ means by the appearance, somehow or other, of good fortune born of the association and grace of bhaktas of Bhagavān, who are supremely independent [of the constraints of karma and so forth, both in general, and specifically in regard to bestowing grace].”
kṛtasya karaṇaṁ nāsti mṛtasya maraṇaṁ tathā |
gatasya śocanaṁ nāsti hy etad veda-vidāṁ matam ||
(Unknown source)
“There is no doing of the done or dying of the dead. Similarly, there is no sorrow for the bygone. Indeed this is the view of the knowers of the Veda.”
gopa-rāmā-jana-prāṇa-preyase’tiprabhuṣṇave |
tadīya-priya-dāsyāya māṁ madīyam ahaṁ dade ||
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.1, 2.1.1, 3.1.1, 4.1.1, 5.1.1, 6.1.1, 7.1.1, 8.1.1, 9.1.1, 10.1.1, 11.1.1, 12.1.1)
“I offer myself and my own [i.e., all that belongs to me and my very sense of possessiveness] unto the Beloved of the hearts of beautiful gopīs, he of all-surpassing capability, and the service of his beloveds.”
