ekāntena sadā viṣṇau yasmād eva parāyaṇāḥ |
tasmād ekāntinaḥ proktās tad-bhāgavata-cetasaḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.227.13-14; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.59; Bhakti Sandarbha: 165)
“Since they are always one-pointedly devoted to [alt., fixed in the shelter of] Viṣṇu, those whose minds are given over to Bhagavān are called the ‘one-pointed’ (ekāntis).”
viṣṇu-bhaktiṁ pravakṣyāmi yayā sarvam avāpyate |
yathā bhaktyā haris tuṣyet tathā nānyena kenacit ||
bhaja ity eṣa vai dhātuḥ sevāyāṁ parikīrtitaḥ |
tasmāt sevā budhaiḥ proktā bhaktiḥ sādhana-bhūyasī ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.227.1, 3; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 216)
“I shall now describe Viṣṇu-bhakti, by which everything is attained. Hari is not as satisfied by anything else as he can be by bhakti. The dhātu √bhaj [i.e., the verbal root from which the word bhakti is made] is widely said to mean service (sevā). Therefore the great sādhana [known as] bhakti is said to be service (sevā) by the wise.”
brāhmaṇānāṁ sahasrebhyaḥ satra-yājī viśiṣyate |
satra-yāji-sahasrebhyaḥ sarva-vedānta-pāragaḥ ||
sarva-vedānta-vit-koṭyāṁ viṣṇu-bhakto viśiṣyate |
vaiṣṇavānāṁ sahasrebhya ekānty eko viśiṣyate ||
ekāntinas tu puruṣā gacchanti paramaṁ padam |
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.175–176; Bhakti Sandarbha: 174)
“A performer of the satra-yāga [i.e., a difficult form of sacrifice only a highly trained brāhmaṇa can perform] is superior to thousands of brāhmaṇas. One adept in the entire Vedānta [i.e., who knows the conclusion of all the Vedas] is superior to thousands of performers of the satra-yāga. A bhakta of Viṣṇu is superior to crores of knowers of the entire Vedānta, and one who is one-pointed [in one’s bhakti to Viṣṇu] is superior to thousands of Vaiṣṇavas [who are not yet one-pointed]. One-pointed persons reach the supreme abode.”
yuktāsya sphūrti-mātreṇa nirviśeṣeṇa kenacit |
hṛn-mīlanāt puro’vasthā nidrā bhakteṣu kathyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.176)
“The state, prior to the shutting [down] of the mind (hṛt) [i.e., the state prior to the state of an absence of external functions (bahir-vṛtty-abhāva) in the citta], endowed only with some unspecific manifestation (sphūrti) of him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] is called nidrā (sleep) in the case of bhaktas.”
kuraṅga-mātaṅga-pataṅga-bhṛṅga-
mīnāḥ hatāḥ pañcabhir eva pañca |
ekaṁ pramādī sa kathaṁ na hanyate
yaḥ sevate pañcabhir eva pañca ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa: 1.115.21)
“The deer, elephant, moth, bee, and fish—these five are destroyed by the five [respective objects of the senses]. One is bewildering [i.e., just one sense object is greatly bewildering]. [Thus,] how is someone who partakes of all five not [sure to be] ruined by these five?”
yena sarvātmanā viṣṇu-bhaktyā bhāvo niveśitaḥ |
vaiṣṇaveṣu kṛtātmatvān mahābhāgavato hi saḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.37)
“One by whom one’s being (bhāva) is completely absorbed in Viṣṇu-bhakti by virtue of being dedicated to the Vaiṣṇavas is certainly a Mahābhāgavata.”
ekasminn apy atikrānte muhūrte dhyāna-varjito |
dasyubhir mūṣitenaiva yuktam ākrandituṁ bhṛśam ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa, cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 277)
“It is befitting to weep intensely like someone who has been robbed by bandits for even one moment that has passed devoid of meditation [on Śrī Hari].”
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṁ pitṝṇāṁ
na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇī ca rājan |
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ
gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya kartam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.41)
“O King, one who has forsaken one’s duties and taken shelter completely in the ultimate shelterer, Mukunda, is neither a servant of, nor a debtor to, the devas, the ṛṣis, [other] living beings, relatives, humanity, or ancestors.”
api kalpānilasyaiva taraṅgasya mahodadheḥ |
śakyate prasaro roddhuṁ nānuraktasya cetasaḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2009)
“Even the course of strong winds and the waves of a great ocean can be checked, but not that of a loving heart.”
ārtārte mudite hṛṣṭā proṣite malinā kṛśā |
mṛte mriyeta yā patyau sā strī jñeyā pativratā ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa; cited Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A woman who is distressed when her husband is distressed, pleased when he is happy, and unclean and emaciated when he is abroad, and who dies when her husband dies, is to be known as devoted to her husband.”
