vṛttaṁ yatnena saṁrakṣed vittam eti ca yāti ca |
akṣīṇo vittataḥ kṣīṇo vṛttatas tu hato hataḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.30)
“Carefully safeguard your conduct (vṛtta). Wealth (vitta) comes and goes. A loss of wealth is no loss, but ruination of [one’s] conduct is [utter] ruination.”
ācāra eva dharmasya mūlaṁ rājan kulasya ca |
ācārād vicyuto jantur na kulīno na dhārmikaḥ ||
(Bhaviṣyottara Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 3.17)
“O King, ācāra (conduct) is the source of dharma and of nobility. A person devoid of ācāra is neither noble nor dharmic.”
tasmāt sadaiva viduṣāvahitena rājan
śāstrodito hy anudinaṁ paripālanīyaḥ ||
(Bhaviṣyottara Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 3.19)
“Therefore, O King, ācāra (conduct) as described in śāstra should always be fully observed daily with attention by the wise.”
anasūyā kṣamā śāntiḥ santoṣaḥ priya-vāditā |
kāma-krodha-parityāgaḥ śiṣṭācāra-nidarśanam ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.211.25; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Non-enviousness, forgiveness, peacefulness, contentment, pleasing [alt., kind] speech, and abandonment of passion and anger are illustrations of cultured conduct (śiṣṭācāra).”
sadācāraṁ vinā pāpena citte maline sati bhaktau pravṛttir api na syād |
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta-ṭīkā: 2.3.171)
“Without sadācāra, when the mind is contaminated by pāpa, then even inclination for bhakti cannot come about.”
ācāra-prabhavo dharmaḥ santaś cācāra-lakṣaṇāḥ |
sādhūnāṁ ca yathā vṛttaṁ sa sad-ācāra iṣyate ||
tasmāt kuryāt sad-ācāraṁ ya icched gatim ātmanaḥ |
sarva-lakṣaṇa-hīno’pi samudācāravān nṛpa |
śraddadhāno’nasūyaś ca sarvān kāmān avāpnuyāt ||
(Bhaviṣyottara Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 3.15–16)
“The source of dharma is ācāra (conduct), and sādhus are characterized by ācāra. The behavior of sādhus is called sadācāra. Therefore, one who desires one’s own good fortune should engage in sadācāra. O King, even if devoid of all [other] characteristics, one who has excellent ācāra (sadācāra), is endowed with śraddhā, and is free from envy can fulfill all one’s desires.”
sādhur atra sad-ācāraḥ |
(Bhakti Sandarbha: 200)
“‘Sādhu’ here (in SB 7.7.30) means one of proper conduct.”
sādhavaḥ kṣīṇa-doṣās tu sac-chabdaḥ sādhu-vācakaḥ |
teṣām ācaraṇaṁ yat tu sad-ācāraḥ sa ucyate ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 3.12)
“Sādhus are those who are free from faults, and the word ‘sat’ is a signifier of a sādhu. Their conduct is called sadācāra (proper conduct).”
rāgānugāmi-bhajanollāsa-mānasānāṁ
śrī-rādhayā saha sadā smaratāṁ vrajendum |
śrī-rūpa-pāda-kamalāśrita-cetasāṁ me
cittaṁ satāṁ madhukarīyatu pāda-padme ||
(Mukunda Dāsa Gosvāmī in his Artha-ratnālpa-dīpikā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.1.1)
“May my mind become a bee [lit., “a nectar-gatherer”] in the lotuses of the feet of the sādhus whose minds are filled with the joy of rāgānugā-bhajana, who are ever-engaged in remembrance of the Moon of Vraja [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] with Śrī Rādhā, and whose hearts are sheltered at the lotus feet of Śrī Rūpa.”
śrī-rūpa-mañjarī kuryād atulāṁ karuṇāṁ mayi |
vṛṣabhānu-sutā-pāda-padma-prāptir yayā bhavet ||
(Sādhana-dīpikā: 8)
“May Śrī Rūpa Mañjarī bestow upon me [her] unparalleled compassion, by which attainment of the lotus feet of Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter shall [certainly] occur.”
