guṇāyanaṁ śīla-dhanaṁ kṛtajñaṁ
vṛddhāśrayaṁ saṁvṛṇate’nu sampadaḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.21.44)
“Good fortune continuously worships in full one who is an abode of good qualities, possessed of the wealth of good conduct, grateful, and sheltered in elders [i.e., wise and well-experienced persons].”
ye bhakti gopikā-gaṇera kahe bhāgavate |
nityānanda haite tāhā pāila jagate ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.5.303)
“Through Nityānanda the world received the bhakti of the gopīs described in the Bhāgavata.”
mauna-vrata-śruta-tapo-’dhyayana-sva-dharma-
vyākhyā-raho-japa-samādhaya āpavargyāḥ |
prāyaḥ paraṁ puruṣa te tv ajitendriyāṇāṁ
vārtā bhavanty uta na vātra tu dāmbhikānām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.46; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 168)
“O Puruṣa [i.e., O indwelling Regulator], the means to apavarga [i.e., mokṣa]—silence, rites, hearing [i.e. learning the Vedas], austerities, studying, [observing one’s] svadharma, explaining [i.e., teaching the Vedas to others], [residing in] solitude, japa, and samādhi [i.e., meditation]—generally here [i.e., in saṁsāra], however, become mere livelihoods of those of uncontrolled senses, and sometimes, however, not even that for the deceitful [since the fruitfulness of deceitfulness is uncertain].”
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.”
śṛṇuṣvāvahito rājann api guhyaṁ vadāmi te |
brūyuḥ snigdhasya śiṣyasya guravo guhyam apy uta ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.13.3)
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] “O King, listen attentively. Although it [i.e., the answer to your question] is a secret, I will tell you [this], for gurus may indeed speak even secrets before a devout disciple.”
ṛṣer bhagavato bhūtvā śiṣyo’dhītya bahūni ca |
setihāsa-purāṇāni dharma-śāstrāṇi sarvaśaḥ ||
adāntasyāvinītasya vṛthā paṇḍita-māninaḥ |
na guṇāya bhavanti sma naṭasyevājitātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.78.25–26)
“He [i.e., Romaharṣaṇa] became a disciple of the illustrious ṛṣi [i.e., the ṛṣi who is an avatāra of Bhagavān himself, Vyāsadeva] and studied numerous dharma-śāstras along with the Itihāsas and Purāṇas in full, but these [studies], like those of an actor, do not lead to [the development of] virtue for one who is unregulated, immodest, of vain conceit that one is a paṇḍita, and of uncontrolled mind [and rather function only as a means of livelihood].”
dharma iṣṭaṁ dhanaṁ nṝṇāṁ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.39; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa-ṭīkā: 16.270)
[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa answer’s Uddhava’s question, “What is wealth?”:] “Dharma is desirable wealth [i.e., not cows, horses, etc.].”
vidharmaḥ para-dharmaś ca ābhāsa upamā chalaḥ |
adharma-śākhāḥ pañcemā dharma-jño’dharmavat tyajet ||
dharma-bādho vidharmaḥ syāt para-dharmo’nya-coditaḥ |
upadharmas tu pākhaṇḍo dambho vā śabda-bhic chalaḥ ||
yas tv icchayā kṛtaḥ pumbhir ābhāso hy āśramāt pṛthak |
svabhāva-vihito dharmaḥ kasya neṣṭaḥ praśāntaye ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.12–14)
“Vidharma, para-dharma, ābhāsa, upamā (upadharma), and chala—a knower of dharma should avoid these five branches of adharma, which are indeed [also] adharma. That which [although performed with the idea that it is dharma in actuality] opposes dharma is vidharma [“contrary dharma”]. That which is enjoined for others is para-dharma [“another’s dharma”]. Heresy and pretension are upadharma [“apparent dharma”]. Distortion of [the intended meaning of] words [in śāstra] is chala [“deceit”]. That done by one’s own wish which is contrary to one’s āśrama is ābhāsa [“a semblance of dharma”]. For whom is the dharma enjoined by one’s svabhāva incapable of pacification [i.e., who will not find peace by adhering to their own dharma]?”
etad-artho hi loke’sminn avatāro mayā kṛtaḥ |
vadhyā me dharma-dhvajinas te hi pātakino’dhikāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.78.27)
[Balarāma speaking in reference to Romaharṣaṇa:] “The descent (avatāra) made by me into this world is indeed for this purpose: these dharma-flag-bearers [i.e., hypocrites, those who do not actually adhere to dharma but make a show as if they do for personal gain] are indeed the most sinful and fit to be killed by me.”
