Sūkti-sudhākara

“A mine of the nectar of fine statements”

About

This Sūkti-sudhākara is a compendium of categorically organized sūktis [i.e., quotations, lit., “fine statements”]. It presently contains over two thousands entries organized in over nine hundred categories, and roughly half of the entries include commentary on the primary statement in the entry. The primary sources of this compendium are Śrīmad Bhāgavatam and the works of the gosvāmīs of Vraja, principally, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, and Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī. Supplementarily, statements are also included from numerous other śāstras, numerous other ācāryas, and numerous other genres of Sanskrit literature, such as vyākaraṇa, kāvya, the ṣaḍ-darśanas, and subhāṣitas. The entries compiled herein have been categorized according to their source and author, unless these are unknown, and statements that are cited in the works of the gosvāmīs have also been added to the categories of the work in which they are cited as well as that of its author. Furthermore, entries in the compendium are categorized according to the subjects they discuss. The sources used to compile the great majority of the entries cited in this Sūkti-sudhākara can be referenced in the bibliography. The purposes of this compendium are as follows:
• To make particularly noteworthy content from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, the works of the gosvāmīs, and other works readily accessible to those seeking knowledge related to particular concepts and themes, as well as particular authors and textual sources,
• To thereby indicate the sections in various śāstras and commentarial works where one can proceed in one’s inquiries for further understanding of both topics of interest and the context and intent of the statements cited in this compendium,
• To provide exact references as far as possible to cited content so as to support study and discussion that is tangibly grounded in śāstra and the works of the gosvāmīs.
The following are not purposes of this compendium:
• Replacing or de-emphasizing studying śāstra and commentaries on śāstra thoroughly and directly under the guidance of a guru (i.e., de-facto promotion of remote self-study),
• Facilitating or indirectly promoting the tendency to cherry-pick statements related to particular subjects and neglect to study them in context and with regard to the author’s intent.
It should also be noted that the content is this compendium has been gathered and posted in no specific order and by no means provides comprehensive references or discussion of the subjects found throughout the categories. The content, rather, is simply a gradually developing peripheral by-product of the author’s personal study and pursuit of the ideal of uttama-bhakti which is made available on this site partially for the sake of efficiently fulfilling countless requests for references, translations, and explanations and thereby precluding a fair number of future requests from arising. Suggestions for additional content and corrections to existing content can be submitted on the contact page.

Usage tips

The numbers beside the categories indicate the number of entries found in each category. When you click on a category and arrive at the page listing the categories’ entries, you will see displayed only the principal passage in each entry. Roughly half the entries contain commentary, especially entries with content from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā, and other works with a robust commentarial tradition, and the content in any given entry related to the category of your interest may be found in the commentary rather than the principal passage, and thus may not be visible on the category page. Some words and concepts that have a large degree of similarity in meaning have not been given separate categories, e.g., there is a category for grace and no additional separate category for mercy. Categories are thus best considered somewhat loose in their application. Some Sanskrit language categories have a parallel English language equivalent, as in the case of the categories Viveka and Discernment, but many others do not, e.g., Śravaṇa has no parallel category called “Hearing.” If you don’t find your topic of interest as a category, you can also try running a search for it on the search page.

Sūkti-sudhākara

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