Texts
ātmāparijñānamayo vivādo
ātmāparijñānamayo vivādo
hy astīti nāstīti bhidārtha-niṣṭhaḥ |
vyartho’pi naivoparameta puṁsāṁ
mattaḥ parāvṛtta-dhiyāṁ sva-lokāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.34; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 1)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Uddhava:] The disputation on the part of people of mind turned away from me, [their] own domain [i.e., their own shelter], which is fixed [only] on the object of a difference [between their own view and another’s], ‘It is [so]; [no,] it is not,’ and based on incomplete knowledge of the self (ātmā), shall never cease even though it is useless.”
jñāna-niṣṭho virakto vā mad-bhakto vānapekṣakaḥ
jñāna-niṣṭho virakto vā mad-bhakto vānapekṣakaḥ |
sa-liṅgān āśramāṁs tyaktvā cared avidhi-gocaraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.18.28)
“One who is detached and fixed in jñāna, or, one who is disinterested and my bhakta, shall relinquish the āśramas along with their paraphernalia and proceed outside the scope of injunctions.”
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ
śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ |
syān mahat-sevayā viprāḥ puṇya-tīrtha-niṣevaṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.16)
“O learned ones, taste for discussion of Vāsudeva shall come about for one possessed of śraddhā and desirous to hear [such discussion] as a result of service to a mahat as an outcome of pilgrimage to a holy place.”
sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya
sva-pāda-mūlaṁ bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ |
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.42; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.550; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.71; Bhakti Sandarbha: 173; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.144)
“Situated in the heart of a dear worshiper of the soles of his own feet by whom regard for any other has been relinquished, Hari, the Supreme Lord, washes away all wrongful action [on the part of his worshiper] which may somehow come about.”
ekasmin vāsanā-dehe yadi cānyasya bhāvanā
ekasmin vāsanā-dehe yadi cānyasya bhāvanā |
tarhi tat-sāmyam eva syād yathā vai bharate nṛpe ||
(Bhakti-tattva-kaumudī; cited in Gaura-Govindārcana-smaraṇa-paddhati (149) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (152))
“If thought of another [body] occurs while in one cognitional body, then likeness with that specifically shall occur [i.e., then one will attain a body like the one that was thought of], as in the case of King Bharata [who attained the body of a deer after being prolongedly absorbed in thought of a deer he had taken into his care].”
hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ
hariṁ surāga-mārgeṇa sevate yo narottamaḥ |
kevalenaiva sa tadā gopikātvam iyād vraje ||
(Attributed to Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmīpāda in Aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā-smaraṇa-paddhati (148) of Gopāla Guru Gosvāmī and Dhyānacandra Govsāmī (151))
“An exalted human being who worships Hari by means of the excellent path of rāga [i.e., the path of rāgānugā-bhakti-sādhana] alone then attains the state of being a gopikā in Vraja.”
martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā
martyo yadā tyakta-samasta-karmā
niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me |
tadāmṛtatvaṁ pratipadyamāno
mayātma-bhūyāya ca kalpate vai ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.34; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.421; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.194; Bhakti Sandarbha: 309; Prīti Sandarbha: 13; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.103; Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.12.11)
“When a mortal becomes one who has forsaken all karmas and offered the self to me, then he becomes distinctly desirous to act, attains immortality, and verily becomes fit for becoming of selfsame nature with me.”
lakṣeṣu śṛṇute kaścit koṭiṣv ekas tu budhyate
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
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]?”