Śrīmad Bhāgavatam – Page 70

dūrān niśamya mahimānam upetya pārśvam

dūrān niśamya mahimānam upetya pārśvam
antaḥ praviśya śubha-bhāgavatāmṛtābdheḥ |
paśyāmi kṛṣṇa-karuṇāñjana-nirmalena
hṛl-locanena bhagavad-bhajanaṁ hi ratnam ||
(Viṣṇu Purī’s Bhakti-ratnāvalī: 6)

“After hearing from afar, approaching the bank [i.e., studying], and then entering within [i.e., understanding the confidential meaning of] the greatness of the ocean of the nectar that is the bountiful Bhāgavatam, I see with the eyes of my heart purified by the collyrium of Kṛṣṇa’s compassion that Bhagavad-bhajana alone is the jewel [i.e., bhakti is essential to the attainment of all puruṣārthas and furthermore is the ultimate puruṣārtha itself].”

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na vā etad viṣṇudatta

na vā etad viṣṇudatta mahad-adbhutaṁ yad asambhramaḥ sva-śiraś-chedana āpatite’pi vimukta-dehādy-ātma-bhāva-sudṛḍha-hṛdaya-granthīnāṁ sarva-sattva-suhṛd-ātmanāṁ nirvairāṇāṁ sākṣād bhagavatānimiṣāri-varāyudhenāpramattena tais tair bhāvair abhirakṣyamāṇānāṁ tat-pāda-mūlam akutaścid-bhayam upasṛtānāṁ bhāgavata-paramahaṁsānām |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.9.20)

[Śukadeva to Parīkṣit Mahārāja:] “O Viṣṇudatta, it is not greatly astonishing that the topmost ascetic devotees of Bhagavān (Bhāgavata-paramahaṁsas) are undisturbed even in the event of their own head being cut off, as they are completely free from the extremely tight knot in the heart of identification with the body and so forth [i.e., the mind, etc.], are by nature well-wishers of all beings, are free from enmity, are completely protected by ever-vigilant Bhagavān himself armed with the most excellent disc of time in various states of being [i.e., in various forms, such as Bhadrakālī (in this particular case in the life of Jaḍa Bharata), or, on account of his (i.e., Bhagavān’s) various qualities], and have approached the soles of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] feet, wherein there is no fear [whatsoever].”

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na tathā me priyatama

na tathā me priyatama ātma-yonir na śaṅkaraḥ |
na ca saṅkarṣaṇo na śrīr naivātmā ca yathā bhavān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.15)

“Neither he who is self-born [i.e., Brahmā], nor Śaṅkara [i.e., Śiva], nor Saṅkarṣaṇa [i.e., Balarāma], nor Śrī [i.e., Lakṣmī], nor even my own Self are so dearmost to me as you [O Uddhava].”

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varaṁ varaya bhadraṁ te

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.”

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tvan-māyā-racite loke

tvan-māyā-racite loke vastu-buddhyā gṛhādiṣu |
bhramanti kāma-lobherṣyā-moha-vibhrānta-cetasaḥ ||
adya naḥ sarva-bhūtātman kāma-karmendriyāśayaḥ |
moha-pāśo dṛḍhaś chinno bhagavaṁs tava darśanāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.8.25–26)

“Those whose minds are bewildered by kāma, greed, envy, and delusion wander about their houses and elsewhere in this plane made by your māyā with the mentality that it is real [i.e., that the world of their present experience is of ultimate importance]. O Ātmā of all beings! O Bhagavān! Today the strong rope of our bewilderment, which is the seat of kāma, karma, and the senses, has been cut by your darśana.”

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yac-chaktayo vadatāṁ vādināṁ vai

yac-chaktayo vadatāṁ vādināṁ vai
vivāda-saṁvāda-bhuvo bhavanti |
kurvanti caiṣāṁ muhur ātma-mohaṁ
tasmai namo‘nanta-guṇāya bhūmne ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.4.31; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 12)

“Obeisance unto him, the Supreme Being of unlimited qualities, whose energies are the cause of agreement and disagreement among the proponents of [various] philosophies and continuously bewilder them about [the nature of] the ātma.”

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paraṁ padaṁ vaiṣṇavam āmananti tad

paraṁ padaṁ vaiṣṇavam āmananti tad
yan neti netīty atad-utsisṛkṣavaḥ |
visṛjya daurātmyam ananya-sauhṛdā
hṛdopaguhyāvasitaṁ samāhitaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.6.32)

“‘Not this,’ ‘not this, …’ those who are in this way desirous of giving up the unreal [i.e., the non-self] and [so also] of undivided affinity [i.e., of one-pointed affinity for Viṣṇu], having given up ill-naturedness [i.e., the notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’], speak of the supreme nature of Viṣṇu, which is embraced with the heart and understood by the resolute [i.e., those absorbed in samādhi].”

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kasmai yena vibhāsito’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā

kasmai yena vibhāsito’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā
tad-rūpeṇa ca nāradāya munaye kṛṣṇāya tad-rūpiṇā |
yogīndrāya tad-ātmanātha bhagavad-rātāya kāruṇyatas
tac chuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokam amṛtaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.19)

“Let us meditate on the pure, bright, sorrowless, immortal, eternal, Supreme Being, by whom this incomparable lamp of knowledge [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] was previously [i.e., at the beginning of the kalpa] out of compassion manifested to Brahmā, and [by whom] in that form [i.e., in the form of Brahmā, it was manifested] to Nārada, in that form [i.e., in the form of Nārada] to the sage Kṛṣṇa [i.e., Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa], in that form to the king of the yogīs [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], and then in that form [i.e., the form of Śukadeva] to he who was protected by Bhagavān [i.e., Parīkṣit Mahārāja].”

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tvaṁ sarva-lokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro

tvaṁ sarva-lokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro
hy ātmā gurur jñānam abhīṣṭa-siddhiḥ |
tathāpi loko na bhavantam andha-dhīr
jānāti santaṁ hṛdi baddha-kāmaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.52)

[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “You are the friend, beloved, Īśvara, Self, guru, knowledge, and desired attainment of all people. Still, a person of blind mind, bound by desire at heart, does not recognize you as a sādhu [i.e, does not recognize that you come in the form of a sādhu to guide them, that is, that you are the guru who guides them on the path to ultimate well-being].”

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yat-sevayāgner iva rudra-rodanaṁ

yat-sevayāgner iva rudra-rodanaṁ
pumān vijahyān malam ātmanas tamaḥ |
bhajeta varṇaṁ nijam eṣa so’vyayo
bhūyāt sa īśaḥ paramo guror guruḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.48)

[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “He by means of whose service a person can relinquish the taint of darkness [i.e., ignorance] within themself [i.e., within the mind] and realize their own form [i.e., essential nature], just like gold [can do so] by means of fire—may he, the imperishable Īśa, be [our] guru, since he is the Supreme Guru [i.e., the greatest of all persons who perform the function of a teacher].”

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