Srimad Bhagavatam 11.19.20 – 24

Firm faith in the blissful narrations of My pastimes, constant chanting of My glories, unwavering attachment to ceremonial worship of Me, praising Me through beautiful hymns, great respect for My devotional service, offering obeisances with the entire body, performing first-class worship of My devotees, consciousness of Me in all living entities, offering of ordinary, bodily activities in My devotional service, use of words to describe My qualities, offering the mind to Me, rejection of all material desires, giving up wealth for My devotional service, renouncing material sense gratification and happiness, and performing all desirable activities such as charity, sacrifice, chanting, vows and austerities with the purpose of achieving Me — these constitute actual religious principles, by which those human beings who have actually surrendered themselves to Me automatically develop love for Me.

What other purpose or goal could remain for My devotee?

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.34 – 41

Udhava Gita

Dear Uddhava, one can give up false pride and prestige by engaging in the following devotional activities.

One may purify oneself by seeing, touching, worshiping, serving, and offering prayers of glorification and obeisances to My form as the Deity and to My pure devotees.

One should also glorify My transcendental qualities and activities, hear with love and faith the narrations of My glories and constantly meditate on Me.

One should offer to Me whatever one acquires, and accepting oneself as My eternal servant, one should give oneself completely to Me.

One should always discuss My birth and activities and enjoy life by participating in festivals, such as Janmāṣṭamī, which glorify My pastimes.

In My temple, one should also participate in festivals and ceremonies by singing, dancing, playing musical instruments and discussing Me with other Vaiṣṇavas.

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Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.20 – 30

SB 11.3.20: One cannot find permanent happiness even on the heavenly planets, which one can attain in the next life by ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices. Even in material heaven the living entity is disturbed by rivalry with his equals and envy of those superior to him. And since one’s residence in heaven is finished with the exhaustion of pious fruitive activities, the denizens of heaven are afflicted by fear, anticipating the destruction of their heavenly life. Thus they resemble kings who, though enviously admired by ordinary citizens, are constantly harassed by enemy kings and who therefore never attain actual happiness.

SB 11.3.21: Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of the bona fide guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.

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Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.24

ahaṁ hare tava pādaika-mūla-
dāsānudāso bhavitāsmi bhūyaḥ
manaḥ smaretāsu-pater guṇāṁs te
gṛṇīta vāk karma karotu kāyaḥ

TRANSLATION

O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, will I again be; able to be a servant of Your eternal servants who find shelter only at Your lotus feet? O Lord of my life, may I again become their servant so that my mind may always think of Your transcendental attributes, my words always glorify those attributes, and my body always engage in the loving service of Your Lordship?

(Srimad Bhagavatam 6.11.24)

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.42

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.42

भक्ति: परेशानुभवो विरक्ति-
रन्यत्र चैष त्रिक एककाल: ।
प्रपद्यमानस्य यथाश्न‍त: स्यु-
स्तुष्टि: पुष्टि: क्षुदपायोऽनुघासम् ॥ ४२ ॥

bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
anyatra caiṣa trika eka-kālaḥ
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
tuṣṭiḥ puṣṭiḥ kṣud-apāyo ’nu-ghāsam

When we are weak, dissatisfied, and hungry, we have the tendency, we have earnestness, to eat. Similarly, by our bhajan, after the surrender, the transaction that will go on will give us three things.

1. Bhaktiḥ: the tendency for divine service will increase with accelerated motion.

2. Pareśānubhavo: we will come to some conception of what is reality proper—what is Brahma, what is Paramātma, what is Nārāyaṇ, what is Kṛṣṇa, what is sat, what is chit, what is ānandam. We will have some sort of conception of all these principles and feel that we are advancing.

3. Viraktir anyatra: our indifference for other things than what is holy will increase.

Our withdrawal from the mundane world, from non-God and non-holy things, will also increase.
Just as when we take food, with every morsel our hankering for eating, and our weakness, decrease, and we feel satisfaction, so too we shall experience in our heart our progress towards our holy object…

Absolute compassion of Sri Caitanyacandra

prema namadbhutarthah sravanapathagatah kasya namnam mahimnah
ko vetta kasya vrndavanavipina-mahamadhurisu pravesah
ko va janati radham paramrasacamatkarmadhuryasimam
ekascaitanyacandrah paramkarunayah sarvvamaviscakara

Translation:

Had anyone ever heard of something known as Prema, as the ultimate aim of mankind?
Did anyone know of the divine power of the holy name?
Had anyone entered the sweet, charming forest of Vrindavana?
Did anyone know of Sri Radha as the embodiment of the highest transcendental ecstasy, worthy of loving adoration?
Only due to the absolute compassion of Sri Caitanyacandra were these rarest gems discovered, found shimmering in the darkness of Kaliyuga, lit by the moonlight of his benevolence.

From Caitanya Candramritam

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.82.48

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.82.48

आहुश्च ते नलिननाभ पदारविन्दं
योगेश्वरैर्हृदि विचिन्त्यमगाधबोधै: ।
संसारकूपपतितोत्तरणावलम्बं
गेहं जुषामपि मनस्युदियात् सदा न: ॥ ४८ ॥

āhuś ca te nalina-nābha padāravindaṁ
yogeśvarair hṛdi vicintyam agādha-bodhaiḥ saṁsāra-kūpa-patitottaraṇāvalambaṁ
gehaṁ juṣām api manasy udiyāt sadā naḥ

Translation:

The gopīs spoke thus: Dear Lord, whose navel is just like a lotus flower, Your lotus feet are the only shelter for those who have fallen into the deep well of material existence. Your feet are worshiped and meditated upon by great mystic yogīs and highly learned philosophers. We wish that these lotus feet may also be awakened within our hearts, although we are only ordinary persons engaged in household affairs.

Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.1

Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.1


सूत उवाच
यं ब्रह्मा वरुणेन्द्ररुद्रमरुत: स्तुन्वन्ति दिव्यै: स्तवै-
र्वेदै: साङ्गपदक्रमोपनिषदैर्गायन्ति यं सामगा: ।
ध्यानावस्थिततद्गतेन मनसा पश्यन्ति यं योगिनो
यस्यान्तं न विदु: सुरासुरगणा देवाय तस्मै नम: ॥ १ ॥

sūta uvāca
yaṁ brahmā varuṇendra-rudra-marutaḥ stunvanti divyaiḥ stavair
vedaiḥ sāṅga-pada-kramopaniṣadair gāyanti yaṁ sāma-gāḥ
dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino
yasyāntaṁ na viduḥ surāsura-gaṇā devāya tasmai namaḥ

Translation:

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṇa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon — unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances.

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.19.27–45

An excerpt from Srimad Bhagavatam (11.19.27–45) in which Lord Krishna answers Uddhava’s questions about seeing the world in the proper way.

Srimad Bhagavatam

Q: What is dharma?

A: That which produces devotion to Me.

Q: What is knowledge (jnan)?

A: Seeing the presence of the Supersoul.

Q: What is detachment (vairagya)?

A: Disinterest in the sense objects.

Q: What is equanimity (sama)?

A: Being intent upon Me (not simply peace of mind).

Q: What is discipline (dama)?

A: Control of the senses (not control over others).

Q: What is tolerance (titiksa)?

A: Enduring suffering (as prescribed by the scriptures or as inflicted by disrespectful persons; not a foolish self-induced attempt to endure heat or cold).

Q: What is steadiness (dhrti)?

A: Mastery of the tongue and genitals (other types of steadiness are useless without this).

Q: What is the greatest charity (dana)?

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Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.8

Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj

तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणो
भुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् ।
हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्ते
जीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥ ८ ॥

tat te’ nukampam susamiksamano
bhunjana evatma-kritam vipakam
hrid-vag-vapurbhir vidhan namas te
jiveta yo mukti-pade sa daya-bhak

My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

SB 10:14:8

Srila Guru Maharaj (Srila Bhakti Rarhak Sridhar Maharaj) quotes SB 10:14:8 and says,

With the help of the Guru, the Sastra, and the previously experienced persons, I shall try to stand the test, that, “Yes, because the bile is so, everything is tasting bitter. But this process will remove the bile. I shall have to wait for some time, and when the bile is gone, I shall taste sugar candy as sweet.”