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.”
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.”
vedo’khilo dharma-mūlaṁ smṛti-śīle ca tad-vidām |
ācāraś caiva sādhūnām ātmanas tuṣtir eva ca ||
(Manu-smṛti: 2.6; cited in the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā, Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā, and Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.7 and Bhakti Sandarbha: 58)
“The basis of dharma is the entire Veda, the Smṛti [i.e., the Smṛti-śāstras] and the sensibility of those who known it [i.e., of those who know the Veda], the conduct of the sādhus [i.e., sadācāra], and satisfaction of [one’s own] mind.”
tasmād vaco manaḥ prāṇān niyacchen mat-parāyaṇaḥ |
mad-bhakti-yuktayā buddhyā tataḥ parisamāpyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.16.44)
“Therefore, with the intellect fixed with bhakti [i.e., śraddhā] upon me, one whose ultimate shelter is me should control the speech, mind, and prāṇas. Then, he reaches success.”
pibanti ye bhagavata ātmanaḥ satāṁ
kathāmṛtaṁ śravaṇa-puṭeṣu sambhṛtam |
punanti te viṣaya-vidūṣitāśayaṁ
vrajanti tac-caraṇa-saroruhāntikam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.37; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.441; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.124; Paramātma Sandarbha: 108; Bhakti Sandarbha: 30, 86)
“Those who drink, held in the cups of their ears, the nectar of kathā about Bhagavān, the Ātmā of the sādhus, purify their hearts contaminated by viṣaya and reach the presence of his lotus feet.”
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].”
tad evaṁ prīter lakṣaṇaṁ citta-dravas tasya ca romaharṣādikam | kathañcij-jāte’pi citta-drave romaharṣādike vā na ced āśaya-śuddhis tadāpi na bhakteḥ samyag-āvirbhāva iti jñāpitam | āśaya-śuddhir nāma cānya-tātparya-parityāgaḥ prīti-tātparyaṁ ca |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.23; Prīti Sandarbha: 69)
“Thus, in this way, the [extrinsic (taṭastha)] characteristic of prīti is melting of the heart, and [the extrinsic characteristic] of that is horripilation and so forth [i.e., the other sāttvika-bhāvas]. Even when melting of the heart or horripilation and so forth occur to some extent, if purity of the heart (āśaya) has not come about, then still bhakti’s complete manifestation has not occurred. Such has been made known. Purity of the heart (āśaya) [i.e., citta] means abandonment of [all] other intentions [i.e., all desires and aims other than prīti], and intention upon [i.e., desire for and pursuit of] prīti.”
mad-guṇa-śruti-mātreṇa mayi sarva-guhāśaye |
mano-gatir avicchinnā yathā gaṅgāmbhaso’mbudhau ||
lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-yogasya nirguṇasya hy udāhṛtam |
ahaituky avyavahitā yā bhaktiḥ puruṣottame ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.11–12; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.13–15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 234)
“‘[Kapiladeva to Devahūti:] Bhakti which is an uninterrupted, causeless, and unobstructed flow of the mind—solely because of hearing my qualities—towards me, the Supreme Person, who dwells in the hearts [lit., “caves”] of all, like [the flow of] the water of the Gaṅgā towards the ocean, is said to be the characteristic of nirguṇa-bhakti-yoga.”
varaṁ varaya bhadraṁ te vareśaṁ mābhivāñchitam |
brahmañ chreyaḥ-pariśrāmaḥ puṁso mad-darśanāvadhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.9.21)
[Bhagavān:] “O Brahmā! Auspiciousness to you. Request your desired benediction from me, the master [i.e., capable bestower] of [all] benedictions, as a person’s endeavor for well-being culminates in darśana of me.”
