na caivaṁ vismayaḥ kāryo bhavatā bhagavaty aje |
yogeśvareśvare kṛṣṇe yata etad vimucyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.29.16)
“You should also not be so amazed by Bhagavān, the Unborn, the Master of the masters of yoga, Kṛṣṇa, because of whom this [entire world] is liberated.”
na cāsya kaścin nipuṇena dhātur
avaiti jantuḥ kumanīṣa ūtīḥ |
nāmāni rūpāṇi mano-vacobhiḥ
santanvato naṭa-caryām ivājñaḥ ||
sa veda dhātuḥ padavīṁ parasya
duranta-vīryasya rathāṅga-pāṇeḥ |
yo’māyayā santatayānuvṛttyā
bhajeta tat-pāda-saroja-gandham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.37–38)
“No living being of corrupt intelligence understands with the mind or words through expertise [i.e., skill in argument and like, or skill in adhering to the paths of jñāna or yoga] the sports, names, and forms of the [Supreme] Element, he who extends [his names, forms, and sports when he graciously descends in age after age], just as an ignorant person [does not understand] the performance of a dancer. [Only] One who can non-deceitfully, continuously, and accordingly worship the fragrance of his lotus feet knows the way [alt., position] of the Supreme Element, he of infinite potency and chakra in hand.”
purāṇy anena sṛṣṭāni nṛ-tiryag-ṛṣi-devatāḥ |
śete jīvena rūpeṇa pureṣu puruṣo hy asau ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.37; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 288)
“The abodes [i.e., bodies] of humans, animals, sages, and devatās were emanated by him. He, the Puruṣa, [then] lies in the [aforementioned] abodes in the form of life [i.e., in the form of he who is the cause of life in those abodes, i.e., the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī)].”
sevato varṣa-pūgān me urvaśyā adharāsavam |
na tṛpyaty ātma-bhūḥ kāmo vahnir āhutibhir yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.26.14)
[Purūravā reflects to himself:] “[Even] After many years, my mind-born desire (kāma) to enjoy the nectar of Urvaśī’s lips was not satiated [and rather only increased] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
svayaṁ samuttīrya sudustaraṁ dyuman
bhavārṇavaṁ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ |
bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te
nidhāya yātāḥ sad-anugraho bhavān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.31; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 93; Bhakti Sandarbha: 180)
“O luminous One, after having fully crossed over the fearsome and difficult to traverse ocean of material existence and reached [the shore] themselves, they of abundant affection [alt., friendliness, i.e., the sat] have left the boat of your lotus feet here [for others of the future to take shelter in and so also reach the shore], since you are he whose grace is the sat [alt., he whose grace comes to those in the ocean of material existence only through the sat].”
na hy ato’nyaḥ śivaḥ panthā viśataḥ saṁsṛtāv iha |
vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogo yato bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.566; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 85; Bhakti Sandarbha 28, 86, 115)
“For someone immersed here in saṁsāra, there is certainly no other auspicious path than that by which bhakti-yoga to Bhagavān Vāsudeva can come into being.”
titikṣavaḥ kāruṇikāḥ suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām |
ajāta-śatravaḥ śāntāḥ sādhavaḥ sādhu-bhūṣaṇāḥ ||
mayy ananyena bhāvena bhaktiṁ kurvanti ye dṛḍhām |
mat-kṛte tyakta-karmāṇas tyakta-svajana-bāndhavāḥ ||
mad-āśrayāḥ kathā mṛṣṭāḥ śṛṇvanti kathayanti ca |
tapanti vividhās tāpā naitān mad-gata-cetasaḥ ||
ta ete sādhavaḥ sādhvi sarva-saṅga-vivarjitāḥ |
saṅgas teṣv atha te prārthyaḥ saṅga-doṣa-harā hi te ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.21–24; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.81)
“[Bhagavān Kapila:] Those who are forbearing, compassionate, well-wishing of all embodied beings, without enemies, peaceful, and possessed of the adornment of good disposition are the sādhus. They who with unalloyed bhāva engage in resolute bhakti to me, they who have given up karmas and given up relatives and friends for me, they who hear and recount pure narrations about me, they of mind given over to me whom the various miseries do not trouble—O Sādhvī [i.e., O pure Mother], they are the sādhus, and [they] are completely free from all attachment. Therefore, attachment to them is to be desired by you, as they are removers of the fault of attachment.”
durlabho mānuṣo deho dehināṁ kṣaṇa-bhaṅguraḥ |
tatrāpi durlabhaṁ manye vaikuṇṭha-priya-darśanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.2.29; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.289)
“Precious is the human body, [although] perishable within a moment, for bearers of bodies [i.e., jīvas subject to saṁsāra], and I consider even more precious the darśana of those who are dear to Vaikuṇṭha [i.e., Bhagavān, alt., those to whom Vaikuṇṭha is dear].”
sasarjāgre’ndha-tāmisram atha tāmisram ādi-kṛt |
mahāmohaṁ ca mohaṁ ca tamaś cājñāna-vṛttayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.12.2)
“At the beginning [of the emanation of the universe], the original creator [i.e., Lord Brahmā] emanated the functions of ajñāna (ignorance): andha-tāmisra (blinding darkness), tāmisra (darkness), mahāmoha (severe delusion), moha (delusion), and tamas (dimness).”
bhavatām api bhūyān me yadi śraddadhate vacaḥ |
vaiśāradī dhīḥ śraddhātaḥ strī-bālānāṁ ca me yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.17)
“[Prahlāda Mahārāja to his classmates:] If you have śraddhā in my words, then by virtue of that śraddhā may you all too become adept in mind, just as women and children, as well as I, have so become.”
