vidyud-ghanāṅgau ghana-vidyud-ambarau
nisarga-manda-smita-sundarānanau |
mithaḥ kaṭākṣāśuga-kīlitāntarau
rādhā-mukundau praṇamāmi tau mudā ||
(Unknown source; cited in Sādhana-dīpikā: 2)
“Lightning and cloud figures,
Cloud and lighting garments,
Naturally and mildly smiling, beautiful faces,
Hearts pierced by the arrows
Of one another’s side-long glances—
Joyfully I offer obeisance to them,
Rādhā and Mukunda.”
gatānugatiko lokaḥ na loko pāramārthikaḥ |
piṇḍa-dvaya-pradānena gataṁ me tāmra-bhājanam ||
(Unknown source)
“People are imitative [i.e., they tend to follow what those before them have done]. People are not [even] interested in the greater significance [of the actions they or others perform]. My copper vessel is gone [just] because of making two mounds [of sand]!”
amantram akṣaraṁ nāsti nāsti mūlam anauṣadham |
ayogyaḥ puruṣo nāsti yojakas tatra durlabhaḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“There is no phoneme that is not a mantra [i.e., that cannot function as a mantra]. There is no root that is not a medicine [i.e., that cannot function as a medicine for some ailment]. There is no person that is incapable [i.e., that cannot somehow perform some sort of useful function]. Rare then is the employer [i.e., it is rare to find someone who knows the potential of things and how to make good use of them under varying circumstances].”
kṛpālor asamarthasya duḥkhāyaiva kṛpālutā |
samarthasya tu tasyaiva sukhāyaiva kṛpālutā ||
(Unknown source; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 47)
“The compassionateness of an incapable compassionate person leads only to suffering, whereas the compassionateness of a capable one leads only to happiness.”
yogād rūḍhir balīyasī |
(Unknown source)
“The conventional [meaning of a word] (ruḍḥi) is stronger than the etymological [meaning of that word] (yoga).”
śīlaṁ saṁvasatā jñeyaṁ śaucaṁ saṁvyavahārataḥ |
prajñā saṁkathanāj jñeyā tribhiḥ pātraṁ parīkṣyate ||
(Unknown source)
“Character is to be known by living together, cleanliness [is to be known] by working together, and wisdom is to be known by conversing together. A recipient is to be examined in these three ways.”
yaḥ svabhāvo hi yasyāsti sa nityaṁ duratikramaḥ |
śvā yadi kriyate rājā tat kiṁ nāśnāty upānaham ||
(Unknown source)
“The svabhāva one has is always difficult to overcome. If a dog is made a king, does he not eat shoes?”
hutāśane hāṭaka-saṁparīkṣā vipatti-kāle gṛhiṇī-parīkṣā |
raṇa-sthale śastra-bhṛtāṁ parīkṣā vidyāvatāṁ bhāgavate parīkṣā ||
(Unknown source)
“The test of gold is in fire.
The test of a wife is at the time of adversity.
The test of warriors [lit., ‘weapon-bearers’] is at the battle ground.
And the test of the knowledgable is in the Bhāgavatam.”
kāyena dūre vrajinaṁ tyajantī
japantam antaḥkaraṇe hasantī |
samādhi-yoge ca bahir bhavantī
sandṛśyate kāpi mukunda-bhaktiḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.221)
“Extraordinary Mukunda-bhakti can be seen naturally avoiding from afar one engaged in karma, laughing at one engaged in japa within the mind, and leaving one fixed in samādhi.”
