Bhakti Quotes

"As the saying goes, 'having started on the dance it is no use to draw close the veil.' I am doing the duty of the Guru, but if I preach that no one should shout 'Jai' to me, that is to say, if I say in a round about way, 'sing Jai to me,' it would be nothing short of duplicity. Our Gurudeva has not taught us such insincerity. Mahaprabhu has not taught such insincerity. I have to serve God in the straightforward way . The word of God has come down to the Gurudeva; I have to obey it in all sincerity. I will not disrespect the Guru at the instance of any foolish or malicious sectarians." - by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Excerpt from " Assuming Responsibility Of Being Guru" https://www.bvmlu.org/SBSST/guru.htm

"Within this world, only those who attend to Śrī Bhagavān’s holy name (nāma), His abode (dhāma) and His desires (kāma) are truly worthy of adoration. No being can extricate himself from misunderstanding, which arises from māyā, without serving śrī nāma. The result of serving śrī nāma is that one will be freed from all forms of prejudice and will become settled in serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s desires (kāma). And the result of serving śrī dhāma is that one will be freed from the clutches of the tremendously dangerous conception that “I am the Lord; God has no eternal name, form, qualities, pastimes, majesty and so on .” Then, by serving Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s kāma (desires), one will save oneself from the serious danger of selfish, sensual gratification. Thus freed from transient lust (kāma), one will become firmly established in serving the transcendental Kāmadeva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as well as the Kāma-gāyatrī. If by good fortune we are able to gain attachment to serving the desires (kāma) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa then

We offer our sincere praṇāmas repeatedly to Śrīmad Bhakti Sarvasva Govinda Mahārāja. Despite his profound knowledge, he remained remarkably humble and held deep honor for our beloved Śrīla Gurudeva. This reverence is evident in the heartfelt puṣpañjalīs he wrote to Śrīla Gurudeva, such as the following (published in Rays of The Harmonist No. 23): A Humble Offering  For the occasion of Śrī Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja’s Appearance Day by Śrīmad Bhakti Sarvasva Govinda Mahārāja nama om viṣṇu-pādāya gaura-kṛṣṇa-priyāya ca śrīmate bhaktivedānta nārāyaṇaya te nāmaḥ (1) I offer my obeisances over and over again unto oṁ viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja, who is very dear to Gaurahari and Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or to that Kṛṣṇa whose form is golden [Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Vinoda-bihārī]. rūpānuga-rasajñāya rāga-bhakti-pradāyine  visva-pracarakottama-yatīndrāya namo nāmaḥ (2) He is exceptionally enlightened in the mellows of service (sevā-rasa) under the keen guidance o

The following is an excerpt from  Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Jaiva Dharma, chapter 8. Nityānanda dāsa: How should a Vaiṣṇava behave towards the followers of other religions? Bābājī: The instruction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.26) is: nārāyaṇa-kalāḥ śāntāḥ bhajanti hy anasūyavaḥ Those who are free from the propensity to slander others and who are fully peaceful worship Śrī Nārāyaṇa and His plenary portions. There is no dharma other than vaiṣṇava-dharma. All other dharmas that are or ever will be propagated in the world are either steps on the staircase of vaiṣṇava-dharma or else distortions of it. Those dharmas that are steps leading to bhakti should be respected in proportion to their degree of purity. One should not bear any malice towards dharmas that are distortions of bhakti, but one should focus exclusively on the cultivation of one’s own devotional truths. One should not maintain any animosity towards the followers of other religions. When the time is ripe, the followers of v

The following is an excerpt from Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura's Jaiva Dharma, chapter 8. Nityānanda dāsa: It seems from this that one cannot be a Vaiṣṇava without humility and compassion. Bābājī: That is quite true. Nityānanda dāsa: Then does Bhakti-devī depend on humility and compassion? Bābājī: No, bhakti is completely independent. Bhakti is the personification of beauty and she is the supreme ornament; she does not depend on any other good quality. Humility and compassion are not separate qualities, but are included within bhakti. “I am a servant of Kṛṣṇa,” “I am destitute,” “I have nothing,” “Kṛṣṇa is my all-in-all‚” – the bhakti that is expressed in these attitudes is itself humility (dainya). The tenderness of heart experienced towards Kṛṣṇa is known as bhakti. All other jīvas are servants of Kṛṣṇa, and tenderness of heart towards them is compassion (dayā). Therefore, compassion is included within bhakti. Kṣamā (forgiveness) is the bhāva situated between humility and compassion

"It was in the year 1486 A.D. that Shri Chaitanya Deva appeared before us at Mayapura in Antardwipa [the island at the core or centre of the nine (nava) islands (dwipa) of which Navadwipa consists] on the eastern bank of the holy Ganges and lived there for the first twentyfour years of His stay here playing the part of house-holder. He accepted as his father, Jagannatha Misra a respectable Brahmin Pandita of Sylhet, then settled at Navadwipa, and Sachi Devi, an ideal Brahmin lady of the time as His mother. He had a human form so perfectly built, so lustrously complexioned, so highly statured and so lovely as purely inconceivable in a human body, and possessed such a pleasing and overpowering intelligence before whose effulgence the brightest and sharpest human intelligences burned like glow-worms.  With all these superhuman gifts and possessions, He led the life of an ideal Vaishnava and with a view to establish an exemplar life of a pure and sincere devotee, extremely painful at

 

Question:  What kind of perspective should we accept to assure our auspiciousness? Answer: If we can see the whole universe as engaged in the service of Sri Bhagavan, then we will never experience any distress. We must hear katha about how to serve Bhagavan from one who can show us Bhagavan and who is engaged in service to Him twenty-four hours a day. This is the only way to attain our eternal, spiritual well-being. With their eyes of devotion, the sadhus who are bhaktas, or devotees of Bhagavan, always see Syamasundara Krsna within their hearts. Through the association and mercy of such sadhus, we also can see Bhagavan in our hearts. We will constantly busy ourselves in service to Bhagavan without wasting even a single moment. We have to serve, remaining exclusively in the association of sadhus. By constantly remaining in such sadhu-sanga, our aptitude for service will continuously be enhanced. Bhagavan fulfils every desire of His surrendered bhaktas without fail, and He never rejects

 

"It is imperative that we listen to and accept the word chanted by śrī guru and yet, even after we have been enabled to receive the word issuing from the lotus lips of śrī guru, we still cannot retain Him, for He tends to be eclipsed if He is not chanted to others . If we busy ourselves in any unnecessary pursuit by abstaining from chanting the word received from śrī gurudeva, we lose our connection to the eternal entity and render ourselves fit for welcoming sorrow: tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.8 ) A person is entitled to the treasure of serving the lotus feet of Godhead, who redeems us of our worldly bondage, if he lives with his heart, speech and body submitted to Him and if, through his good vision, he truly sees the mercy of Godhead in the sufferings he brought about by his own deeds. There is no other way of being delivered from this world. Whatever

 

  Question: Is everything the mercy of the Lord? Answer: All things are indeed the mercy of the supreme embodiment of mercy. Śrī Gaurasundara keeps us in different kinds of discomfort and among different people to test us in various ways. Success in all such tests depends on one’s fortune. Śrī Gaurahari, as the indwelling Supersoul, mercifully reveals the eternal truth to the honest and sincere (niṣkapaṭa) person. Faith in the illusory words of someone traversing the wrong path never arises in those who have sincerely and honestly taken shelter of the lotus feet of śrī guru and Śrī Hari. Only the unfortunate jīvas get bewildered by hearing deceitful words. The lotus feet of Śrīman Mahāprabhu are the only shelter. We should always read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta and listen to the commentary of a Vaiṣṇava who knows its true purports. We should constantly engage in chanting the holy names of the Lord without offence, and remain far away from the association of non-devotees. And we should als

 

 

  Question: When we act out of a sense of duty, is it bhakti? Answer: Feelings of duty, debt and so forth are functions of the mind. They are not the characteristics or constitutional nature of the soul. A sense of obligation operates on the level of the mind, intelligence and false ego, whereas bhakti functions on the level of the soul. Any activity that is not performed out of pure love is not pure bhakti . Acts that are performed with divine affection are alone pure bhakti. Duty is but a regulation. The characteristic nature of the soul is bhakti, and the characteristic nature of the mind is a sense of duty. Acting according to the characteristic nature of the soul is the only way to secure our real welfare.  - by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda Translated by the Rays of The Harmonist team from Śrīla Prabhupādera Upadeśāmṛta https://www.purebhakti.com/resources/harmonist-monthly/37-year-1/939-who-is-a-real-disciple Rays of The Harmonist On-line, Year 1 & 14, I

  "...If we engage ourselves in the service of śrī dhāma then service to the desires (kāma) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is available to us. The word dhāma can mean rays, prowess, influence, home, place, body, birth and so forth. According to truly learned savants of God, śrī dhāma should be accepted in its sense as that in which there is no malice, jealousy or evanescence, and that which is eternally self-manifested, spiritual and blissful. By adventing in śrī dhāma, Śrī Caitanyadeva has made the world conscious of its transcendence. We had failed to realize the exaltation of śrī dhāma; we had no predilection for serving śrī dhāma and not so much faith in the worshipful deity form of Śrī Bhagavān. We remained absorbed in study, sure of our notion that we could vanquish everyone on earth through our expertise in dialectics, the splendour of our erudition, and the glory of our exemplary character. But then some holy saints, who were engaged in serving śrī dhāma, enlightened us. They told us that t