yan-nāmadheya-śravaṇānukīrtanād
yat-prahvaṇād yat-smaraṇād api kvacit |
śvādo’pi sadyaḥ savanāya kalpate
kutaḥ punas te bhagavan nu darśanāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.33.6)
“O Bhagavān by hearing and repeating whose name, by bowing down to whom, and by even occasionally remembering whom, even a dog-eater immediately becomes eligible for savana, what more occurs by [having] the sight of you?”
kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā
ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ |
ye’nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ
śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.4.18; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.667)
“Kirātas, Hūṇas, Andhras, Pulindas, Pulkaśas, Ābhīras, Śumbhas, Yavanas, Khasas, and so forth, as well as other sinners, become purified upon taking shelter in those who have taken shelter in whom—obeisance unto him, the Almighty.”
taj janma tāni karmāṇi tad āyus tan mano vacaḥ |
nṝṇāṁ yena hi viśvātmā sevyate harir īśvaraḥ ||
kiṁ janmabhis tribhir veha śaukra-sāvitra-yājñikaiḥ |
karmabhir vā trayī-proktaiḥ puṁso’pi vibudhāyuṣā ||
śrutena tapasā vā kiṁ vacobhiś citta-vṛttibhiḥ |
buddhyā vā kiṁ nipuṇayā balenendriya-rādhasā ||
kiṁ vā yogena sāṅkhyena nyāsa-svādhyāyayor api |
kiṁ vā śreyobhir anyaiś ca na yatrātma-prado hariḥ ||
śreyasām api sarveṣām ātmā hy avadhir arthataḥ |
sarveṣām api bhūtānāṁ harir ātmātmadaḥ priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.31.9–13; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 51, 101)
“That is a birth, those are actions, that is a life, that is mind and [that is] is speech on the part of human beings whereby Hari, Īśvara, the Self of the universe, is worshiped. Here [in this world], what [is the use] of the three births—the seminal (śaukra), the sāvitra [i.e., the second birth brought about by dīkṣā into the sāvitra-mantra and investiture with the sacred thread, viz., the upanayana-saṁskāra], and the sacrificial (yājñika) [i.e., the third birth brought about by dīkṣā into the performance of a particular Vedic sacrifice (yajña)], what [is the use] of the rites prescribed in the three [Vedas], what [is the use] of even the lifespan of a deva for a human being, what [is the use] of hearing, austerity, words, and states of mind, what [is the use] of sharp intellect, [physical] strength, and acuity of the senses, what [is the use] of yoga [i.e., aṣṭāṅga-yoga], sāṅkhya [i.e., discrimination between the body and self], sannyāsa, and even study, and what [is the use] of any other means of benefit (śreyas) [e.g., vows (vratas), non-attachment (vairāgya), etc.] whereby Hari does not become a bestower of the Self [alt., himself]? In reality, the Self specifically is the culmination even of all means of benefit, and Hari is the Self, the Bestower of the Self, and the Beloved even of all beings.”
evam ahaṁ brāhmaṇān eva seve mad-dṛṣṭyā ca ye brāhmaṇān sevamānā bhaveyus ta eva mat-sevakāḥ, yato brāhmaṇa-mukhenaivāhaṁ bhuñje ity āha—nāham iti | … carato bhuñjānasya mayi samarpitaiḥ karma-phalais tuṣṭasyety anena tathā ‘viprāṇāṁ deva-devānāṁ bhagavān ātma-daivatam’ ity agrima-vākyena brāhmaṇasya bhakti-rāhitye saty apūjyatvam abhivyajya ‘śvapākam iva nekṣeta loke vipram avaiṣṇavam’ ity ādi vacana-virodhaḥ parihṛtaḥ | avaiṣṇavaṁ vaiṣṇava-vidveṣiṇam iti tatrārtho draṣṭavyaḥ | evaṁ ca bhakti-miśra-svadharmavān eva brāhmaṇo bhavati, yathā vaśiṣṭādiḥ | bhakteḥ kaivalye prādhānye sati jātyā brāhmaṇo’pi vaiṣṇava evocyate, yathā śrī-nāradādir iti vivecanīyam |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.16.8)
“I worship the brāhmaṇas specifically, and only they who shall become engaged in worship of brāhmaṇas are [accepted by me as] worshipers of myself since I eat specifically through the mouth of brāhmaṇas. Thus, he says nāham … [i.e., Bhagavān Viṣṇu speaks SB 3.16.8]. … ’An eating (carataḥ) brāhmaṇa satisfied with the results of his own actions offered to me’—by this [statement in SB 3.16.8 which indicates that it is part of the code of conduct incumbent upon a brāhmaṇa to offer the results of his actions to Viṣṇu] and by the forthcoming statement [in SB 3.16.17], ‘Bhagavān is the Self and Daivata [i.e., object of worship] of the brāhmaṇas—[who are] the devas [i.e., objects of worship] of [even] the devas,’ a contradiction with the statement indicative of a brāhmaṇa’s non-honorability when he is devoid of bhakti [in the Māgha-māhātmya of Padma Purāṇa], ‘Like a dog-cooker [is not to be looked at], one not should look at a non-Vaiṣṇava brāhmaṇa in this world’ is refuted. The meaning of the word ‘non-Vaiṣṇava’ (Avaiṣṇava) there [i.e., in this verse from Padma Purāṇa] is to be see as an antagonist of Vaiṣṇavas [i.e., the ‘non-Vaiṣṇava’ (Avaiṣṇava) brāhmaṇa spoken of in this verse should understood to refer not any brāhmaṇa who is not a devout Vaiṣṇava but rather to a brāhmaṇa who is antagonistic towards Vaiṣṇavas specifically]. In this way, furthermore, specifically one who is adherent to svadharma [i.e., the duties of one’s varṇa and āśrama] mixed with [engagement in] bhakti [secondarily as a sub-part of adherence to svadharma] is [regarded as being] a brāhmaṇa [and not a Vaiṣṇava], as in the case of Vaśiṣṭha and others. Even a brāhmaṇa by birth (jāti) [i.e., even someone born into a family of brāhmaṇas, on the contrary] is called a Vaiṣṇava specifically [i.e., and not simply called a brāhmaṇa] when he has an exclusivity or predominance of bhakti [i.e., when, unlike a brāhmaṇa as afore defined, one is devoted to bhakti exclusively, that is, to the exclusion of observance of svadharma, or predominantly, that is, over and above observance svadharma which one may continue to observe only secondarily and without śraddhā for the sake of social cohesion], as in the case of Śrī Nārada and others. This is to be discerned.”
puruṣeṣv api rājendra supātraṁ brāhmaṇaṁ viduḥ |
tapasā vidyayā tuṣṭyā dhatte vedaṁ hares tanum ||
nanv asya brāhmaṇā rājan kṛṣṇasya jagad-ātmanaḥ |
punantaḥ pāda-rajasā tri-lokīṁ daivataṁ mahat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.14.41–42)
“Even among [all] embodied beings, O Emperor, know the brāhmaṇa, who by way of austerity, knowledge, and satisfaction carries the Veda—a form of Hari [himself]—to be a most worthy recipient [of respect]. Indeed, O King, brāhmaṇas, who are purifying of the three worlds with [their] foot-dust, are a great object of worship (daivata) [even] for him, Kṛṣṇa, the Self of the world.”
yasya yal lakṣaṇaṁ proktaṁ puṁso varṇābhivyañjakam |
yad anyatrāpi dṛśyeta tat tenaiva vinirdiśet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.35)
“If a characteristic which is said to be an indicator of a person’s varṇa should be observed even elsewhere [i.e., even in a person born in a different varṇa], one should designate him [i.e., the person in whom the characteristic was observed] specifically with that [i.e., with the varṇa of that characteristic which was observed].”
saṁskārā yatrāvicchinnāḥ sa dvijo’jo jagāda yam |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.11.13)
“He in regard to whom the saṁskāras are uninterrupted and whom the Unborn One [viz., Brahmādeva] has mentioned [i.e., designated to be such] is a twice-born (dvija).”
dvitīyaṁ prāpyānupūrvyāj janmopanayanaṁ dvijaḥ |
vasan guru-kule dānto brahmādhīyīta cāhutaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.17.22)
“After receiving in sequence the second birth, the upanayana [-saṁskāra], and being invited [by a guru], a twice-born (dvija) should dwell in the house of the guru, be disciplined, and study the Veda.”
nāham ijyā-prajātibhyāṁ tapasopaśamena vā |
tuṣyeyaṁ sarva-bhūtātmā guru-śuśrūṣayā yathā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.80.34)
“I [Bhagavān], the Self of all beings, shall not be satisfied by sacrifice, higher birth [alt., procreation], austerity, or equilibrium as [I am] by service to the guru.”
te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-māyāṁ
strī-śūdra-hūṇa-śabarā api pāpa-jīvāḥ |
yady adbhuta-krama-parāyaṇa-śīla-śikṣās
tiryag-janā api kim u śruta-dhāraṇā ye ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.7.46; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)
“If they become educated about the character of those whose ultimate shelter is he of astonishing step, [then] women, śūdras, Hūṇas, and Śabaras—even sinful living beings—and even animals, can certainly know and cross beyond Deva’s māyā, so how much more so can those who grasp what they have heard?”
