From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 11:
“In the Hari-bhakti-vilasa there is the following statement about self-surrender: ‘My dear Lord, a person who has surrendered himself unto You, who is in firm conviction that he is Yours, and who actually acts in that way by his body, mind and words, can actually relish transcendental bliss.’”
“In the Nrsimha Purana, Lord Nrsimha-deva says, ‘Anyone who prays unto Me and takes shelter from Me becomes My ward, and I protect him always from all sorts of calamities.’”
“In the Skanda Purana there is another statement about tulasi as follows: ‘Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about or simply by sowing this tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the tulasi tree in the above-mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world.’”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 12:
“A similar statement is in the Third Canto, seventh chapter, verse 19 of Srimad-Bhagavatam: ‘Let me become a sincere servant of the devotees, because by serving them one can achieve unalloyed devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord. The service of devotees diminishes all miserable material conditions and develops within one a deep devotional love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’”
“The same thing is confirmed in the Adi Purana by Krishna. While addressing Arjuna He says, ‘Anyone who is engaged in chanting My transcendental name must be considered to be always associating with Me. And I may tell you frankly that for such a devotee I become easily purchased.’”
“As soon as one develops his spontaneous service attitude, he can immediately understand the transcendental nature of the holy names of the maha-mantra.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 14:
“Parvata Muni, a friend of Narada’s, saw the wonderful transformation of the hunter by devotional service and remarked, ‘My dear hunter, your unwillingness to kill even an ant is not very astonishing. Any person who develops the devotional attitude has all the good qualities automatically manifested in his person. A devotee is never a cause of distress to anyone.’”
“With the first complete engagement [in any one of the nine processes of devotional service], one becomes automatically detached from material contamination, and liberation becomes the maidservant of the devotee.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 19:
“In the Narada-pancaratra it is clearly stated that when lust is completely transferred to the Supreme Godhead and the concept of kinship is completely reposed in Him, such is accepted as pure love of God by great authorities like Bhisma, Prahlada, Uddhava and Narada.”
“An example of such extraordinary mercy is given in the Eleventh Canto, Twelfth Chapter, verse 7, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, wherein Lord Krishna tells Uddhava, ‘The gopis in Vrindavana did not study the Vedas to achieve Me. Nor had they ever been in holy places of pilgrimage. Nor did they devoutly execute any regulative principle. Nor did they undergo any kind of austerity. It is simply by My association that they have attained the highest perfection of devotional service.’”
“In the Narada-pancaratra pure, unalloyed devotional service is explained as being without any motive for personal benefit. If a devotee is continuously in love with Lord Krishna and his mind is always fixed upon Him, that devotional attitude will prove to be the only means of attracting the attention of the Lord.”
“In the Narada-pancaratra Lord Shiva therefore tells Parvati, ‘My dear supreme goddess, you may know from me that any person who has developed the ecstasy of love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and who is always merged in transcendental bliss on account of this love, cannot even perceive the material distress or happiness coming from the body or mind.’”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 20:
“The gradual process of development to the stage of devotional service is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto: ‘The beginning is to hear about Lord Krishna in the association of devotees who have themselves cleansed their hearts by association. Hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord will result in one’s feeling transcendental bliss always.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.1:
“Even a person with no knowledge can immediately acquire all knowledge simply by the benediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore I am praying to the Lord for His causeless mercy upon me.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.63, purport:
“Those who were thought unfit to enter the Jagannatha temple were daily visited by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and this indicates that Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not approve of the prohibitions.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.87, purport:
“In the highest transcendental ecstasy there is a feeling of being enchanted in the presence of the enchanter.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 1.126, purport:
“The conclusion is that whenever a kirtana of pure devotees takes place, the Lord is immediately present. By chanting the holy names of the Lord, we associate with the Lord personally.”
From Nectar of Instruction, Text 3, purport:
“One should not be impatient in Krishna consciousness. Indeed, this Krishna consciousness movement was started single-handedly, and in the beginning there was no response, but because we continued to execute our devotional activities with patience, people gradually began to understand the importance of this movement, and now they are eagerly participating.”
From How Krishna Displays God’s Qualities” in “Back to Godhead, Vol. 54, No. 3 (May/June 2020):
[From a lecture in Los Angeles on May 18, 1972.]
“There are 8,400,000 species of life: the aquatics, the trees, the plants, the birds, the bees, the insects. Then human beings. And out of the human beings, many are uncivilized. Civilized human beings are very few. And out of the civilized human beings, very few take to religious life. Very few. And out of these so-called religious persons in human society, most of them simply designate, ‘I am Hindu,’ ‘I am Muslim,’ ‘I am Christian,’ but they do not know about religion.
“Those who are a little attracted are engaged in philanthropic work – to give help to the poor or to open a school or a hospital. This is called karma-kanda. Out of many millions of these karma-kanda people, one is a jñani. Jñani means “one who knows.” Out of millions of persons who know, one is liberated. And out of millions of liberated persons, one can understand what is Krishna. This is the position of Krishna.”
“To understand Krishna is a little difficult. Actually, to understand God is a very difficult subject matter. But God Himself is explaining Himself in the Bhagavad-gita: ‘I am like this. I am like this. This material nature is like this. The spiritual nature is like this. The living entities are like this.’ Everything is completely described in the Bhagavad-gita. God Himself is giving His own knowledge.
“That is the only process to understand God. Otherwise, by speculation we cannot understand God. It is not possible. He is unlimited, and we are limited. Our knowledge, our perception, all of these are very limited. So how can we understand the unlimited? But if we accept the version of the unlimited – ‘I am like this, like that’ – then we can understand. That is perfect knowledge.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.44, purport:
“The process by which we give up our thoughts of material things is called pratyahara, which entails being freed from all material thoughts and engagements.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.25, purport:
“It is a fact that every living entity is eternally a servant of Krishna. This is forgotten due to the influence of maya, which induces one to believe in material happiness. Being illusioned by maya, one thinks that material happiness is the only desirable object. This material consciousness is like a chain around the neck of the conditioned soul. As long as he is bound to that conception, he cannot get out of maya’s clutches. However, if by Krishna’s mercy he gets in touch with a bona fide spiritual master, abides by his order and serves him, engaging other conditioned souls in the Lord’s service, he then attains liberation and Lord Sri Krishna’s shelter.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.33, purport:
“One is immediately freed from the clutches of maya if he seriously and sincerely says, ‘My dear Lord Krishna, although I have forgotten You for so many long years in the material world, today I am surrendering unto You. I am Your sincere and serious servant. Please engage me in Your service.’”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 7.1 in Los Angeles on December 2, 1968:
“Your business is to satisfy Krishna, and then the crowd will be automatically satisfied. We are not going to please the crowd. We are going to give them Krishna. So you should be very much careful whether you are delivering Krishna in the right way. Then they’ll be satisfied. Your only business should be to satisfy Krishna.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.39:
“Pure devotional service is so sublime that one can very easily forget the happiness derived from material enjoyment, material liberation and mystic or yogic perfection. Thus the devotee is bound by Krishna’s mercy and His uncommon power and qualities.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 25:
“Anyone who becomes exhilarated by hearing of the pastimes of Lord Krishna when He was present on this earth with His associates is to be understood as nitya-siddha, eternally perfect.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 2.28:
“‘My dear friends, unless I serve the transcendental form, qualities and pastimes of Sri Krishna, all My days and all My senses will become entirely useless. Now I am uselessly bearing the burden of My senses, which are like stone blocks and dried wood. I do not know how long I will be able to continue without shame.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 2.32:
“The nectar from the lips of Lord Krishna and His transcendental qualities and characteristics surpass the taste of the essence of all nectar, and there is no fault in tasting such nectar.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 2.36:
“Because I could not see the beautiful form of Krishna to My heart’s content, when I again see His form I shall decorate the phases of time with many jewels.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 3.14–15:
“When He heard all the cowherd boys also chanting ‘Hari! Hari!’ Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was very pleased. He approached them, put His hand on their heads and said, ‘Go on chanting like that.’ Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu thus blessed them all, saying that they were all fortunate. In this way He praised them, and He felt very successful because they chanted the holy name of Lord Hari.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 4.192–93:
diksa-kale bhakta kare atma-samarpana
sei-kale krishna tare kare atma-sama
“At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders unto the service of the Lord, Krishna accepts him to be as good as Himself.”
sei deha kare tara cid-ananda-maya
aprakrta-dehe tanra carana bhajaya
“When the devotee’s body is thus transformed into spiritual existence, the devotee, in that transcendental body, renders service to the lotus feet of the Lord.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 26:
“To be attracted by the qualities of Krishna means to be attracted by Krishna Himself, because there is no real distinction between Krishna and His qualities. Krishna’s name is also Krishna. Krishna’s fame is also Krishna. Krishna’s entourage is also Krishna. Krishna and everything related with Krishna that gives stimulation to love of Krishna are all Krishna, but for our understanding these items may be considered separately.”
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