tattvam ātmastham ajñātvā mūḍhaḥ śāstreṣu muhyati |
gopaḥ kakṣa-gate chāge kūpe paśyati durmatiḥ ||
(Garuḍa Purāṇa)
“Unaware of the truth situated in the ātmā, the fool becomes bewildered in the śāstras just like a foolish cowherd who looks in a well for a goat [which he is unaware is] in his arms.”
jñānāśrayo jñāna-guṇaś cetanaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ |
na jāto nirvikāraś ca eka-rūpaḥ svarūpa-bhāk ||
aṇur nityo vyāpti-śīlaś cid-ānandātmakas tathā |
aham artho’vyayaḥ kṣetrī bhinna-rūpaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
adāhyo’cchedya akledya aśoṣyo’kṣara eva ca |
evam ādi-guṇair yuktaḥ śeṣa-bhūtaḥ parasya vai ||
ma-kāreṇocyate jīvaḥ kṣetrajñaḥ paravān sadā |
dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasyaiva kadācana |
(Padma-purāṇa: Uttara-khaṇḍa, 226.34–37)
“The jīva is the bearer of awareness (jñāna), endowed with the quality of awareness, conscious, beyond material energy (prakṛti), unborn, untransformable, of one form, situated in its own nature, atomic, eternal, pervasive [of the body], of the nature of consciousness (cit) and bliss (ānanda), the referent of‘I’, undecaying, the bearer of the field [i.e., the body], of distinct form [i.e., an individual distinct from all others], never-ending, unburnable, indivisible, unmoistenable, undriable, imperishable, endowed with other attributes, by nature a subsidiary of the Paramātmā, referred to by the letter m [within Om], the knower of the field [i.e., the body] (kṣetrajñā), ever dependent, and a servant of Hari alone and never of anyone else.”
karapatraiś ca phālyante sutīvrair yama-śāsanaiḥ |
nindāṁ kurvanti ye pāpā vaiṣṇavānāṁ mahātmanām ||
pūjito bhagavān viṣṇur janmāntara-śatair api |
prasīdati na viśvātmā vaiṣṇave cāpamānite ||
(Dvārakā Māhātmya; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.314–15)
“Sinners who engage in defamation of great Vaiṣṇavas are cleaved with very sharp saws by the envoys of Yama. Even if Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the Ātmā of the universe, is worshipped for hundreds of lifetimes, he does not become pleased with one who has dishonored a Vaiṣṇava.”
vaiṣṇavā viṣṇuvat pūjyā mama mānyā viśeṣataḥ |
teṣāṁ kṛte’pamāne’pi vināśo jāyate dhruvam ||
(Skanda Puṛāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.233)
[Yamarāja:] “Vaiṣṇavas are worshippable like Viṣṇu, and they are honorable to me in particular. If they are even dishonored, destruction certainly ensues.”
janma-prabhṛti yat kiñcit sukṛtaṁ samupārjitam |
nāśam āyāti tat sarvaṁ pīḍayed yadi vaiṣṇavān ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.313)
“If one troubles Vaiṣṇavas, then all the sukṛti one has accumulated since birth is destroyed.”
yo hi bhāgavataṁ lokam upahāsaṁ nṛpottama |
karoti tasya naśyanti artha-dharma-yaśaḥ-sutā ||
nindāṁ kurvanti ye mūḍhā vaiṣṇavānāṁ mahātmanām |
patanti pitṛbhiḥ sārdhaṁ mahā-raurava-saṁjñite ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.310–311)
“O best of kings, the wealth, dharma, glory, and children of one who laughs at a person devoted to Bhagavān are destroyed. Fools who engage in defamation of great Vaiṣṇavas fall into the place known as Mahāraurava along with their forefathers.”
hanti nindati vai dveṣṭi vaiṣṇavān nābhinandati |
krudhyate yāti no harṣaṁ darśane patanāni ṣaṭ ||
(Skanda Purāṇa; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 10.312, Bhakti Sandarbha: 265)
“Striking, defaming, despising, not respectfully greeting, getting angry with, and not being joyful upon seeing Vaiṣṇavas are six causes of falling [into Naraka].”
guru-bhaktyā sa milati smaraṇāt sevyate budhaiḥ |
milito’pi na labhyeta jīvair ahamikā-paraiḥ ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 209)
“One meets [i.e., attains] he who is served by the wise [i.e., Bhagavān] through remembrance (smaraṇa) as a result of bhakti to [one’s] guru [i.e., remembrance of Bhagavān whereby he is served and satisfied develops as a result of bhakti to one’s guru], but even if he [i.e., Bhagavān] is met, he cannot be attained [i.e., he is not truly attained or appreciated] by jīvas who are engrossed in egotism.”
ahaṅkāra-nivṛttānāṁ keśavo nahi dūragaḥ |
ahaṅkāra-yutānāṁ hi madhye parvata-rāśayaḥ ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 236)
“Keśava is not far from those who are free from egotism, but there are mountain ranges between [him and] those who are possessed of egotism.”
svādhikāraṁ nirīkṣyaiva karma kuryād atandritaḥ |
(Padma Purāṇa: 6.283.38)
“One free from laziness should engage in action only after having considered one‘s eligibility (adhikāra).”
