bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya
jātiḥ śāstraḿ japas tapaḥ
aprāṇasyeva dehasya
maṇḍanaḿ loka-rañjanam
For a person devoid of devotional service, birth in a great family or nation, knowledge of the revealed scriptures, performance of austerities and penance, and chanting of Vedic mantras are all like ornaments on a dead body. Such ornaments simply serve the concocted pleasures of the general populace. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
veda-niṣṭha-madhye ardheka veda 'mukhe' māne
veda-niṣiddha pāpa kare, dharma nāhi gaṇe
Among human beings, those who are followers of the Vedic principles are considered civilized. Among these, almost half simply give lip service while committing all kinds of sinful activities against these principles. Such people do not care for the regulative principles.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
dharmācāri-madhye bahuta 'karma-niṣṭha'
koṭi-karma-niṣṭha-madhye eka 'jñānī' śreṣṭha
Among the followers of Vedic knowledge, most are following the process of fruitive activity and distinguishing between good and bad work. Out of many such sincere fruitive actors, there may be one who is actually wise. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
koṭi-jñāni-madhye haya eka-jana 'mukta'
koṭi-mukta-madhye 'durlabha' eka kṛṣṇa-bhakta
Out of many millions of such wise men, one may actually become liberated (mukta), and out of many millions of such liberated persons, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is very difficult to find. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
kṛṣṇa-bhakta — niṣkāma, ataeva 'śānta'
bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kāmī — sakali 'aśānta'
Because a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jñānīs desire liberation, and yogīs desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
mālī hañā kare sei bīja āropaṇa
śravaṇa-kīrtana-jale karaye secana
When a person receives the seed of devotional service, he should take care of it by becoming a gardener and sowing the seed in his heart. If he waters the seed gradually by the process of śravaṇa and kīrtana (hearing and chanting), the seed will begin to sprout.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
upajiyā bāḍe latā 'brahmāṇḍa' bhedi' yāya
'virajā', 'brahma-loka' bhedi' 'para-vyoma' pāya
As one waters the bhakti-latā-bīja, the seed sprouts, and the creeper gradually grows to the point where it penetrates the walls of this universe and goes beyond the Virajā River, lying between the spiritual world and the material world. It attains brahma-loka, the Brahman effulgence, and penetrating through that stratum, it reaches the spiritual sky and the spiritual planet Goloka Vṛndāvana.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
tabe yāya tad-upari 'goloka-vṛndāvana'
'kṛṣṇa-caraṇa'-kalpa-vṛkṣe kare ārohaṇa
Being situated in one's heart and being watered by śravaṇa-kīrtana, the bhakti creeper grows more and more. In this way it attains the shelter of the desire tree of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally situated in the planet known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, in the topmost region of the spiritual sky. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
tāhāń vistārita hañā phale prema-phala
ihāń mālī sece nitya śravaṇādi jala
The creeper greatly expands in the Goloka Vṛndāvana planet, and there it produces the fruit of love for Kṛṣṇa. Although remaining in the material world, the gardener regularly sprinkles the creeper with the water of hearing and chanting.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā
upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi' yāya pātā
If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaiṣṇava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
eita parama-phala 'parama-puruṣārtha'
yāńra āge tṛṇa-tulya cāri puruṣārtha
To taste the fruit of devotional service in Goloka Vṛndāvana is the highest perfection of life, and in the presence of such perfection, the four material perfections — religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation — are very insignificant achievements.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaḿ
jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam
ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-
śīlanaḿ bhaktir uttamā
When first-class devotional service develops, one must be devoid of all material desires, knowledge obtained by monistic philosophy, and fruitive action. The devotee must constantly serve Kṛṣṇa favourably, as Kṛṣṇa desires. (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
anya-vāñchā, anya-pūjā chāḍi' 'jñāna', 'karma'
ānukūlye sarvendriye kṛṣṇānuśīlana
A pure devotee must not cherish any desire other than to serve Kṛṣṇa. He should not offer worship to the demigods or to mundane personalities. He should not cultivate artificial knowledge, which is devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and he should not engage himself in anything other than Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. One must engage all one's purified senses in the service of the Lord. This is the favourable execution of Kṛṣṇa conscious activities. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaḿ
tat-paratvena nirmalam
hṛṣīkeṇa hṛṣīkeśa-
sevanaḿ bhaktir ucyate
Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one's senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
bhukti-mukti ādi-vāñchā yadi mane haya
sādhana karile prema utpanna nā haya
If one is infected with the desire for material enjoyment or material liberation, he cannot rise to the platform of pure loving service unto the Lord, even though he may superficially render devotional service according to the routine regulative principles.
(Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat
piśācī hṛdi vartate
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra
katham abhyudayo bhavet
The material desire to enjoy the material world and the desire to become liberated from material bondage are considered to be two witches, and they haunt one like ghosts. As long as these witches remain within the heart, how can one feel transcendental bliss? As long as these two witches remain in the heart, there is no possibility of enjoying the transcendental bliss of devotional service.
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
sādhana-bhakti haite haya 'rati'ra udaya
rati gāḍha haile tāra 'prema' nāma kaya
By regularly rendering devotional service, one gradually becomes attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When that attachment is intensified, it becomes love of Godhead. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
prema vṛddhi-krame nāma — sneha, māna, praṇaya
rāga, anurāga, bhāva, mahābhāva haya
The basic aspects of prema, when gradually increasing to different states, are affection, abhorrence, love, attachment, further attachment, ecstasy and great ecstasy. (Sri Caitanya Caritamrta).
sāndraś citta-dravaḿ kurvan premā 'sneha' itīryate
kṣaṇikasyāpi neha syād viśleṣasya sahiṣṇutā
That aspect of prema in which the melting of the heart for the lover is concentrated is called sneha, or affection. The symptom of such affection is that the lover cannot for a moment remain without the association of the beloved. (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
snehaḥ sa rāgo yena syāt sukhaḿ duḥkham api sphuṭam
tat-sambandha-lave 'py atra prītiḥ prāṇa-vyayair api
That stage at which affection for the beloved converts unhappiness into happiness is called rāga, or attachment. When one has such attachment for Kṛṣṇa, he can give up his own life to satisfy his beloved Kṛṣṇa. (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu).
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