iti jāta-sunirvedaḥ kṣaṇa-saṅgena sādhuṣu |
gaṅgā-dvāram upeyāya mukta-sarvānubandhanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.2.39)
“Thus possessed of complete disinterest [in saṁsāra] by [just] a moment of association with sādhus, he [i.e., Ajāmila] went to Gaṅgādvāra [i.e., Haridvāra], free from all connections [i.e., attachment to wife, sons, and so forth].”
matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām |
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ||
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ |
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.30–32)
“[Śrī Prahlāda to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Inclination towards Kṛṣṇa cannot arise on account of another, on its own, or on account of both [i.e., on its own and on account of another] for those intent upon household life, who have entered darkness because of uncontrolled senses and whose chewing is [only] of the chewed [therein] again and again. They, of debased mind, who honor only those whose aim is in the external, certainly do not understand Viṣṇu, he who is the object to be reached [only] for those whose aim is related to the Self. They also become bound by the strong strands of Īśa’s cord like the blind being led by the blind. Their inclination, the need of which is the cessation of the insubstantial, does not touch the feet of he of great stride [i.e., Bhagavān] so long as one shall not accept a bath in the foot-dust of the divested—the great ones.”
sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ mukunda-caraṇaiṣiṇām |
upekṣyaiḥ kiṁ dhana-stambhair asadbhir asad-āśrayaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.10.18)
“What purpose do sādhus who are of equal mind and desirous [only] of Mukunda’s feet have with those who are proud of wealth, asat, sheltered in the asat, and [thus] fit to be ignored?”
sādhavaḥ śāstrānuvartinaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.21; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.17 in reference to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.2)
“Sādhus are [defined as] followers of śāstra.”
tasmāt sarvātmanā rājan hariḥ sarvatra sarvadā |
śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca smartavyo bhagavān nṛṇām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.36)
“Therefore, O King, Bhagavān Hari is to be heard about, to be praised, and to be remembered by human beings always and everywhere with the full self [i.e., with full attention].”
bhakti-nirdhūta-doṣāṇāṁ prasannojjvala-cetasām |
śrī-bhāgavata-raktānāṁ rasikāsaṅga-raṅgiṇām ||
jīvanī-bhūta-govinda-pāda-bhakti-sukha-śriyām |
premāntaraṅga-bhūtāni kṛtyāny evānutiṣṭhatām ||
bhaktānāṁ hṛdi rājantī saṁskāra-yugalojjvalā |
ratir ānanda-rūpaiva nīyamānā tu rasyatām ||
kṛṣṇādibhir vibhāvādyair gatair anubhavādhvani |
prauḍhānanda-camatkāra-kāṣṭhām āpadyate parām ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.7–10)
“In the hearts of bhaktas who have been purified by bhakti of all faults [e.g., attachment, aversion, delusion, etc.], whose hearts are clear [i.e., fit for the manifestation of higher pure existence (śuddha-sattva-viśeṣa)] and bright [i.e., all knowing by virtue of this manifestation], who cherish [tasting] Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, who rejoice in the company relishers of rasa, whose life is the wealth of the bliss of bhakti to the feet of Govinda, and who engage in all of prema’s natural activities—rati, which is bliss itself, appears bright as a result of the two types of saṁskāras [i.e., impressions in the citta made by pure bhakti in one’s previous births and one’s present birth], reaches the state of being relishable [i.e., of being rasa] on the pathway of perception on account of present vibhāvas and so forth [i.e., anubhāvas, sāttvika-bhāvas, vyabhichārī-bhāvas], beginning with Kṛṣṇa, and reaches the highest pinnacle of intense bliss and wonder [i.e., transforms into sneha, māna, praṇaya, anurāga, bhāva, and mahābhāva].”
bhagavān api tā rātṛīḥ śāradotphulla-mallikāḥ |
vīkṣya rantuṁ manaś cakre yogamāyām upāśritaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.29.1)
“Seeing those nights in the autumn blooming with jasmine flowers, even Bhagavān made up his mind to enjoy and took recourse to yogamāyā.”
vaṁśī-sañjalpitam anurataṁ rādhayāntardhi-keliḥ
prādurbhūyāsanam adhi-paṭaṁ praśna-kūṭottaraṁ ca |
nṛtyollāsaḥ punar api rahaḥ-krīḍanaṁ vāri-khelā
kṛṣṇāraṇye viharaṇam iti śrīmatī rāsa-līlā ||
(Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.26)
“The call of the vaṁśī, the response, the sport of disappearing with Rādhā, the [re-] appearance, sitting on [the gopīs’] garments, incisive questions and answers, the exultation of dancing, further private play, sporting in the water, and strolling in the forest along the Kṛṣṇā [i.e., the Yamunā]—such is the beautiful rāsa-līlā [of Śrī Kṛṣṇa].”
rasānubhavino hy atra dvividhāḥ—pibatety upadeśyāḥ, svatas tad-anubhavi-līlā-parikarāś ca | tatra līlā-parikarā eva rasa-sāram anubhavanti antaraṅgatvāt; pare tu yat kiñcid eva bahiraṅgatvāt | yadyapy evaṁ, tathāpi tad-anubhava-maya-rasa-sāraṁ svānubhava-mayena rasenaikatayā vibhāvya pibata; yatas tādṛśatayā tādṛśa-śuka-mukhād vigalitaṁ pravāha-rūpeṇa vahantam ity arthaḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)
“Experiencers of rasa here are of two types: (1) those who are to be instructed, ‘drink (pibata) [that Bhāgavata-rasa],’ and (2) līlā-companions (parikaras) who naturally experience that [i.e., Bhāgavata-rasa, by virtue of their being direct participants in Bhagavān’s līlā]. In this regard, only līlā-companions experience the essence of rasa, on account of their being intimate, whereas the others [i.e., sādhakas who have reached the level of bhāva-bhakti, experience] only something [i.e., a small amount of that rasa], on account of their being peripheral [i.e., their still being sādhakas and situated within physical bodies in saṁsāra rather in the immediate midst of Bhagavān’s līlā]. Although this is such, still [i.e., the intention of the phrase ‘pibata Bhāgavatam rasam’ is as follows,] considering the essence of rasa within their [i.e., the līlā-companions’] experience to be one with the rasa within one’s own experience, drink [Bhāgavata-rasa], since, on account of uniformity [i.e., the ‘oneness’ of rasa that comes about through identification with the experience of rasa of a līlā-parikara], that [i.e., Bhāgavata-rasa] flowed out, that is, flowed forth in the form of a stream, from the mouth of Śuka, who was [in this way also] uniform [i.e., Śukadeva in this way identified his experience with the experience companions of Bhagavān in the līlās he described and this facilitated rasa flowing through him to the listeners of the Bhāgavatam, so if listeners also identify with the experience of rasa of līlā-companions, then they too will experience this flowing stream of Bhāgavata-rasa].”
rasikā ity anena prācīnārvācīna-saṁskārāṇām eva tad-vijñatvaṁ darśitam |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)
“‘Relishers of rasa’ (rasikāḥ)—hereby it is shown that only those who have prior and present saṁskāras are knowers of that [i.e., of rasa].”
