dharmārtham api neheta yātrārthaṁ vādhano dhanam |
anīhānīhamānasya mahāher iva vṛttidā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.15)
“A person devoid of wealth should not desire [alt., endeavor for] wealth even for the sake of dharma or one’s sustenance. Desirelessness [alt., non-endeavoring] [itself] provides the livelihood of one who is desireless [alt., non-endeavoring], as it does for a large snake [i.e., python].”
kvāhaṁ manda-matiḥ kvedaṁ manthanaṁ kṣīra-vāridheḥ |
kiṁ tatra paramāṇur vai yatra majjati mandaraḥ ||
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim |
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande paramānanda-mādhavam ||
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 5)
“Where am I of dull-wit? And where is this churning of the ocean of ksir [i.e., this endeavor to explain Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (being made in this commentary)]? What is an atomic particle there where even [Mount] Mandara submerges [i.e., how can I tiny, incapable person like myself take on such an enormous task]? I offer obeisance unto Mādhava, Supreme Bliss, by whose grace a mute speaks and a cripple crosses a mountain [i.e., by whose grace even this otherwise impossible task becomes possible].”
aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ
jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī |
lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato’nyaṁ
kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.2.23; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.679; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.5.29, 2.5.106; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 103; Bhakti Sandarbha: 337; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.98)
“Aho! In what compassionate person could we possibly take shelter other than he whom Bakī [i.e., Pūtanā] fed lethal poison on her breast with the intent to kill [him] and [yet still], although she was wicked, attained a position appropriate for a nurse?”
āhārārthaṁ samīheta yuktaṁ tat-prāṇa-dhāraṇam |
tattvaṁ vimṛśyate tena tad-vijñāya vimucyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.18.34)
“One should endeavor for the sake of food. Sustaining one’s life is rightful. Thereby, reality is deliberated upon, and by realizing it, one can become completely liberated.”
nārāyaṇa-parāḥ sarve na kutaścana bibhyati |
svargāpavarga-narakeṣv api tulyārtha-darśinaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.17.28; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.190; Bhakti-rasāmṛa-sindhu: 1.2.33; Prīti Sandarbha: 21, 47)
[Śiva to Pārvatī:] “All who are devoted to Nārāyaṇa do not become afraid under any circumstances. They are seers of the same object amid Svarga, liberation, and even Naraka.”
ajñāna-nivṛtteḥ prāk pauruṣa-tyāgo māndyam eva |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.19.13)
“Giving up exertion [alt., valor] before the cessation of ignorance is simply foolishness.”
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
na duhyanti manaḥ-prītiṁ puṁsaḥ kāma-hatasya te ||
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāṁyati |
haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 98)
“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth cannot satisfy the mind of a person afflicted with desire. Desire is never extinguished by enjoyment of objects of desire. It is only again further increased [thereby] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
dambha-nyāsa-miṣeṇa vañcita-janaṁ bhogaika-cintāturaṁ
sammuhyantam ahar-niśaṁ viracitodyoga-klamair ākulam |
ājñā-laṅghinam ajñam ajña-janatā-sammānanāsan-madaṁ
dīnānātha dayā-nidhāna paramānanda prabho pāhi mām ||
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.39)
“This person cheated by the fraud of deceitful renunciation (sannyāsa) [i.e., who has cheated himself and others by making a hypocritical show of renunciation], afflicted by constant thought of enjoyment, completely agitated day and night, overwhelmed by exhaustion from [his own] contrived undertakings, a transgressor of your orders, ignorant, and maddened by honor from the ignorant masses—O Lord of the humble, O Reservoir of grace, O Supreme Bliss, O Prabhu! Please protect me.”
evaṁ vimṛśya guṇato manasas try-avasthā
man-māyayā mayi kṛtā iti niścitārthāḥ |
sañchidya hārdam anumāna-sad-ukti-tīkṣṇa-
jñānāsinā bhajata mākhila-saṁśayādhim ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.33)
“Deliberating in this way and becoming certain, ‘The three states of the mind [i.e., wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep] are manifest in me because of my illusion,’ completely cut away the foundation of all doubts [i.e., the ahaṅkāra] with the sharp sword of knowledge in the form of inference and the statements of the sat [i.e., the teachings of sādhus and the śāstra], and worship me situated in the heart.”
śruti-smṛti-sadācāraḥ svasya ca priyam ātmanaḥ |
samyak saṅkalpajaḥ kāmo dharma-mūlam idaṁ smṛtam ||
(Yājñavalkya-smṛti: 1.7; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 58)
“The Śruti, the Smṛti, proper conduct (sadācāra), the satisfaction of one’s own mind, and desire arising from proper resolve—these are known as the basis [i.e., the pramāṇa, the means of knowing] of dharma.”
