ataḥ pumbhir dvija-śreṣṭhā varṇāśrama-vibhāgaśaḥ |
svanuṣṭhitasya dharmasya saṁsiddhir hari-toṣaṇam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.13)
“Therefore, O best of the twice-born, the highest accomplishment of dharma aptly performed by human beings in accord with the divisions of the varṇas and āśramas is the satisfaction of Hari.”
tāvat karmāṇi kurvīta na nirvidyeta yāvatā |
mat-kathā-śravaṇādau vā śraddhā yāvan na jāyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.9; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.553; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.247; Bhakti Sandarbha: 62, 106, 173; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.9.264, 2.22.61)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] One should perform karmas so long as one shall not become disinterested or so long as śraddhā in hearing and so forth of discussion about me does not manifest.”
nirviṇṇānāṁ jñāna-yogo nyāsinām iha karmasu |
teṣv anirviṇṇa-cittānāṁ karma-yogas tu kāminām ||
yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau jāta-śraddhas tu yaḥ pumān |
na nirviṇṇo nātisakto bhakti-yogo’sya siddhidaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.7–8; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.553; Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.15; Bhakti Sandarbha: 171; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.50)
“[Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Śrī Uddhava:] In this regard, the practice (yoga) of jñāna of the disinterested and renounced in regard to karmas, the practice of karma of the desirous whose minds are not disinterested in them [i.e., in karmas], and the practice of bhakti of a person who independently becomes possessed of śraddhā in discussion and so forth of me has manifested independently and who is neither disinterested nor excessively attached, is a granter of success.”
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.57; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.285; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 189, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 30)
“[Bhagavān Śiva to the Pracetas:] I equate neither Svarga nor non-repetition of birth, much less the benedictions had by human beings, with even half a moment of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”
proktena bhakti-yogena bhajato māsakṛn muneḥ |
kāmā hṛdayyā naśyanti sarve mayi hṛdi sthite ||
bhidyate hṛdaya-granthiś chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ |
kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi mayi dṛṣṭe’khilātmani ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.29–30)
“All desires situated in the heart are destroyed when the heart of a devotee worshiping me continuously by means of the [afore-] stated practice of bhakti becomes fixed upon me. The knot of the heart is rent, all doubts are cut away, and one’s karmas are eliminated when I, the Self of all, am seen.”
yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau jāta-śraddhas tu yaḥ pumān |
na nirviṇṇo nātisakto bhakti-yogo’sya siddhidaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.8)
“The practice of bhakti of a person who independently becomes possessed of śraddhā in discussion and so forth of me yet is neither disinterested nor excessively attached is a granter of success.”
rahūgaṇaitat tapasā na yāti
na cejyayā nirvapaṇād gṛhād vā |
na cchandasā naiva jalāgni-sūryair
vinā mahat-pāda-rajo’bhiṣekam ||
yatrottamaḥśloka-guṇānuvādaḥ
prastūyate grāmya-kathā-vighātaḥ |
niṣevyamāṇo’nudinaṁ mumukṣor
matiṁ satīṁ yacchati vāsudeve ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.12.12–13)
“[Jaḍa Bhārata:] O Rahūgaṇa, neither by austerity, nor by sacrifice, nor by giving, nor by household life, nor by the Vedas, nor by [worship of] water, fire, and the sun does one attain this without bathing in the foot-dust of the mahats, amongst whom is sung recounting of the qualities of he of highest praise [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān], on account of which termination of village talk occurs, and which upon being honored daily produces a seeker of mokṣa’s genuine inclination towards Vāsudeva.”
tasmai namo bhagavate vāsudevāya dhīmahi |
yan-māyayā durjayayā māṁ vadanti jagad-gurum ||
vilajjamānayā yasya sthātum īkṣā-pathe’muyā |
vimohitā vikatthante mamāham iti durddhiyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.5.12–13; cited in Tattva Sandarbha: 32; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 28, 100; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.32)
“[Brahmādeva:] Obeisance unto him, Bhagavān. We meditate on Vāsudeva, because of whose difficult to surmount māyā people call me the master of the universe, and thoroughly deluded by she [i.e., Māyā] who is ashamed to stand in whose purview, the ignorant boast of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’”
dharmaḥ satya-dayopeto vidyā vā tapasānvitā |
mad-bhaktyāpetam ātmānaṁ na samyak prapunāti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.22; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.557; Bhakti Sandarbha: 79, 111, 147)
“Devoid of bhakti to me, dharma endowed with truthfulness and compassion, or knowledge accompanied by austerity, certainly do not fully purify the mind.”
mukha-bāhūru-pādebhyaḥ puruṣasyāśramaiḥ saha |
catvāro jajñire varṇā guṇair viprādayaḥ pṛthak ||
ya eṣāṁ puruṣaṁ sākṣād ātma-prabhavam īśvaram |
na bhajanty avajānanti sthānād bhraṣṭāḥ patanty adhaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.2; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 64, 97, 111, 115, 148)
“The four separate varṇas, brāhmaṇa and so forth, are born from the face, arms, thighs, and feet of the Puruṣa by means of the guṇas along with the [four] āśramas. Those [persons] among these [varṇas and āśramas] who do not worship and [thus] disrespect the Puruṣa himself, the Source of the self, Īśvara, become deviated from their position and fall down.”
