veda-gamyaḥ paro’cintya iti paurāṇikā viduḥ
veda-gamyaḥ paro’cintya iti paurāṇikā viduḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.220.96)
“The ancients know, ‘The Supreme is inconceivable and knowable through the Veda.’”
Texts
gokulotsava-līlāyāḥ samāptau sad-rasāmbudheḥ
gokulotsava-līlāyāḥ samāptau sad-rasāmbudheḥ |
anyatra kaḥ pravarteta vinā nija-durāgraham ||
(Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.35.26)
“At the conclusion of this līlā of the Joy of Gokula [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa], who is an ocean of true rasa, who would pursue anything else without [i.e., were it not for] their own willfulness?”
jayanti vraja-devyas tā yāsāṁ gītārtham īpsati
jayanti vraja-devyas tā yāsāṁ gītārtham īpsati |
ajño’pi yāsāṁ māhātmya-prapatty-eka-balādayam ||
(Bṛhad Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.35.2)
“Glory to the devīs of Vraja, the meaning of whose song [i.e., the Yugala-gītā] even this ignorant person desires to understand, he whose sole strength and so forth is their greatness and surrender unto them!”
kṛpālor asamarthasya duḥkhāyaiva kṛpālutā
kṛpālor asamarthasya duḥkhāyaiva kṛpālutā |
samarthasya tu tasyaiva sukhāyaiva kṛpālutā ||
(Unknown source; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 47)
“The compassionateness of an incapable compassionate person leads only to suffering, whereas the compassionateness of a capable one leads only to happiness.”
śrī-kṛṣṇātivaśīkāra-cuñcor jiṣṇu-śiromaṇeḥ
śrī-kṛṣṇātivaśīkāra-cuñcor jiṣṇu-śiromaṇeḥ |
premṇā hāsa ivāyaṁ śrī-rāsaḥ śrīr api nāpa yam ||
śāstra-buddhi-vivekādyair api durgamam īkṣyate |
gopīnāṁ rasa-vartmedaṁ tāsām anugatīr vinā ||
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.39)
“This Śrī Rāsa [i.e., this beautiful Rāsa-līlā], which even Śrī [i.e., Lakṣmī] did not attain, is like a smile with prema of the crest-jewel of conquerors renowned for greatly captivating Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This path of the gopīs’ rasa is seen to be difficult to comprehend even with [knowledge of] śāstra, intelligence, discernment, and so forth without anugati of [i.e., following] them [i.e., the gopīs].”
ekasyaiva viśeṣaṇa-bhedena tad-aviśiṣṭatvena ca pratipādanāt
ekasyaiva viśeṣaṇa-bhedena tad-aviśiṣṭatvena ca pratipādanāt tathaiva tat-tad-upāsaka-puruṣānubhava-bhedāc cāvirbhāva-nāmnor bheda … |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 4)
“Because of defining of the One [i.e., the Absolute Reality, both] with the distinction of [possessing] qualifiers and as being unqualified by them [i.e., as being unpossessed of any qualifiers], and so also because of difference in the experiences of persons who are worshippers of those [i.e., of those different aspects of the One, namely, the qualified aspect and the unqualified aspect], there is a difference in the names of the manifestations [of the One, the Absolute Reality, i.e., its qualified aspect is known as Bhagavān and its unqualified aspect is known as Brahman].”
sarvato bṛhattamatvād brahmeti yad viduḥ
sarvato bṛhattamatvād brahmeti yad viduḥ, tat khalu paramasya puṁso bhagavataḥ padam eva, nirvikalpatayā sākṣātkṛteḥ prāthamikatvāt, brahmaṇaś ca bhagavata eva nirvikalpa-sattā-rūpatvāt, vicitra-rūpādi-vikalpa-viśeṣa-viśiṣṭasya bhagavatas tu sākṣātkṛtes tad-anantarajatvāt, tadīya-svarūpa-bhūtaṁ tad brahma tat-sākṣātkārāspadaṁ bhavatīty arthaḥ |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 7)
“That which is known as Brahman because of [its] being the greatest of all is an aspect of the Supreme Person, Bhagavān, (1) because of direct perception (sākṣātkṛti) [of it] being initially occurrent [i.e., occurrent before that of Bhagavān] on account of [that perception’s] being indeterminate (nirvikalpa), (2) because of Brahman’s also being Bhagavān’s form of indeterminate being, and (3) because of direct perception (sākṣātkṛti) of Bhagavān, who is qualified by determinate specifics such as a wonderful form, being occurrent after that [i.e., after indeterminate perception of Brahman]. Brahman, being constituted of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] nature, is thus the basis of direct perception (sākṣātkṛti) of him [i.e., Bhagavān, meaning, Brahman and Bhagavān are one and the same entity, the former being an indeterminate perception of that entity, and the latter being a determinate perception of that entity].”
atha kasmād ucyate brahma bṛṁhati bṛṁhayati ca
atha kasmād ucyate brahma bṛṁhati bṛṁhayati ca |
(Atharva-śikhā Upaniṣad: 3.5; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6)
“Now, wherefore is this called Brahman? [Because] It nourishes and causes nourishment [in others, alt., expands and causes expansion in others].”
yogyatā-vaiśiṣṭyenāvirbhāva-vaiśiṣṭyaṁ
yogyatā-vaiśiṣṭyenāvirbhāva-vaiśiṣṭyaṁ … |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 6)
“The specificity of the manifestation [of the Absolute Reality] occurs in accord with the specificity of the fitness [of a sādhaka to experience the Absolute Reality in a specific way].”
bhagavad-rūpa-pūrṇāvirbhāvaṁ tat tattvaṁ
bhagavad-rūpa-pūrṇāvirbhāvaṁ tat tattvaṁ … jīvādi-niyantṛtvena sphurad vā pratipādyamānaṁ vā paramātmeti śabdyata iti |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 3)
“When the [Absolute] Reality in its complete manifestation in the form of Bhagavān manifests, or is to be defined, as the regulator of jīvas and so forth [i.e., of all aspects of saṁsāra], it is known as Paramātmā.”