janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam |
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 13.9)
“Repeated [alt., recurrent] deliberation [alt., reflection] upon the predicament of suffering in the form of birth, death, infirmity, and disease [is an integral aspect of true knowledge].”
yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hrdi sthitāḥ |
atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty atra brahma samaśnute ||
(Bṛhad-ārayaṇka Upaniṣad: 4.4.7; Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.14; cited in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Sārātha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.32, Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9, the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55; Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 4.2.7)
“When all the desires present in one’s heart are dispelled, then a mortal becomes immortal and here experiences Brahman.”
svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ |
prahlādo janako bhīṣmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam ||
dvādaśaite vijānīmo dharmaṁ bhāgavataṁ bhaṭāḥ |
guhyaṁ viśuddhaṁ durbodhaṁ yaṁ jñātvāmṛtam aśnute ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.3.20–21; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 110)
[Yamarāja to his emissaries:] “O servants, Brahmā, Nārada, Śambhu [i.e., Śiva], [Sanat] Kumāra, Kapila, [Svāyambhuva] Manu, Prahlāda, Janaka, Bhīṣma, Bali, Vaiyāsaki [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], and we [i.e., I myself]—these twelve understand Bhāgavata-dharma, which is confidential, completely pure [i.e., beyond the guṇas], and difficult to comprehend, and which, by understanding, one relishes amṛta [i.e., one attains the nectar of immortality].”
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru |
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo’si me ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.65)
“Be of mind fixed on me, [be] my bhakta, [be] my worshipper. Offer obeisance to me. You will come to me alone. Truly, I promise you this, for you are dear to me.”
sarva-guhyatamaṁ bhūyaḥ śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ |
iṣṭo’si me dṛḍham iti tato vakṣyāmi te hitam ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.64)
“Again hear my supreme advice, most confidential of all. You are exceedingly dear to me. Thus, I will speak of [the highest] good for you.”
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata |
śraddhāmayo’yaṁ puruṣo yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 17.3)
“The śraddhā of all beings corresponds to their disposition (sattva), O descendant of Bhārata. A person is made of śraddhā. One verily is the śraddhā one has.”
tasmāc chāstraṁ pramāṇaṁ te kāryākārya-vyavasthitau |
jñātvā śāstra-vidhānoktaṁ karma kartum ihārhasi ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 16.24)
“Therefore, śāstra is the pramāṇa [i.e., means of knowledge] in determining what is to be done and not to be done. By understanding the stated injunctions of the śāstra hereto [i.e., in regard to karma], you become fit to perform it.”
yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-cārataḥ |
na sa siddhim avāpnoti na sukhaṁ na parāṁ gatim ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 16.23)
“One who rejects the injunctions of śāstra and remains engaged in wilful behavior attains neither success, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.”
api cet sudurācāro bhajate mām ananya-bhāk |
sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.30)
“If even a person of extreme misconduct serves me exclusively, he should be regarded as a sādhu because he is rightly resolved.”
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate |
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmyaham ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.22)
“I [personally] provide the acquisition and protection [of the bodily necessities] of those one-pointed, meditative, and ever-absorbed persons who worship me in full.”
