ajñaḥ sukham ārādhyaḥ
sukhataram ārādhyate viśeṣajñaḥ |
jñāna-lava-durvidagdhaṁ
brahmāpi taṁ naraṁ na rañjayati
(Nīti-śatakam: 3)
“The ignorant are easily propitiable, The highly learned are propitiated even more easily, [But] A person misguided by a meager modicum of knowledge— Not even Brahmā can satisfy him.”
śreyasām iha sarveṣāṁ jñānaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ param |
sukhaṁ tarati duṣpāraṁ jñāna-naur vyasanārṇavam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.75)
“Of all beneficial means in this world, knowledge [i.e., knowledge of Bhagavān] is the supreme, ultimately beneficial means. One who boards the boat of knowledge easily crosses the difficult to traverse ocean of distress [i.e., saṁsāra].”
māteva rakṣati piteva hite niyuṅkte
kānteva cābhiramayaty apanīya duḥkham ।
kīrtiṁ ca dikṣu vitanoti tanoti lakṣmīṁ
kiṁ kiṁ na sādhayati kalpa-lateva vidyā ॥
(Samayoccita-padya-ratna-mālikā)
“Like a mother it protects you. Like a father, it guides you for your well-being. Like a love, it delights you and dispels your distress. It spreads your renown in all directions and increases your wealth. Indeed, what can it not accomplish? Knowledge is like a wish-fulfilling creeper.”
pustakasthā tu yā vidyā para-hasta-gataṁ dhanam |
kārya-kāle samutpanne na sā vidyā na tad-dhanam ||
(Cāṇakhya-nīti-darpaṇa: 16.20)
“Knowledge situated in a book is not knowledge, and wealth held in the hand of another is not wealth, when the time of need arises.”
etan mahākhyāna-varaṁ mahā-hareḥ
kāruṇya-sārālaya-niścayārthakam |
yaḥ śraddhayā saṁśrayate kathañcana
prāpnoti tat-prema tathaiva so’py aram ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.7.160)
“Anyone who somehow [i.e., by śravaṇa, kīrtana, or otherwise] takes full shelter [i.e., becomes fully absorbed] with śraddhā in this most excellent narration—the purpose of which is determining the recipient of the essence of the great Hari’s grace—quickly attains that very prema for him [i.e., and so all the more so does one who engages in the process bhajana it describes].”
sā hānis tan mahac chidraṁ sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ |
yan muhūrtaṁ kṣaṇaṁ vāpi vāsudevaṁ na kīrtayet ||
(Kātyāyana Saṁhitā; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.508; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115; Sarva-samvādinī on Bhagavat Sandarbha, Durgama-saṅgaminī to Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.247; Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.9.35)
“That moment or even instant in which Vāsudeva is not praised is a loss, a great fault, a delusion, and a fiasco.”
tad eva ramyaṁ ruciraṁ navaṁ navaṁ
tad eva śaśvan manaso mahotsavam |
tad eva śokārṇava-śoṣaṇaṁ nṛṇāṁ
yad uttamaḥśloka-yaśo’nugīyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.50; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)
“Only that [speech] through which the glory of he of highest praise is continuously sung is pleasing, relishable, and ever-new, only that is a grand, eternal festival for the heart, and only that dries up the ocean of humanity’s lamentation.”
mṛṣā giras tā hy asatīr asat-kathā
na kathyate yad bhagavān adhokṣajaḥ |
tad eva satyaṁ tad u haiva maṅgalaṁ
tad eva puṇyaṁ bhagavad-guṇodayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.12.49; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 269)
[Translation based on the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā:] “False, harsh, and improper is that speech which does not describe Bhagavān Adhokṣaja. Only that [speech] through which Bhagavān’s qualities manifest is truthful, only that is beneficial, and only that is purifying.”
[Translation based on the Bhakti Sandarbha vyākhyā:] “Vain, false, and extraneous is that speech which does not describe Bhagavān Adhokṣaja. Only that [speech] through which Bhagavān’s qualities manifest is truthful, only that is beneficial, and only that is purifying.”
vidvattvaṁ ca nṛpatvaṁ ca naiva tulye kadācana |
svadeśe pūjyate rājā vidvān sarvatra pūjyate ||
(Hitopadeśa)
“Being wise and being a ruler are never comparable [i.e, equal]. A king is honored in his own country. A wiseman is honored everywhere.”
