Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī | 180,912 words
The English translation of the Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu verse 1.1.36; a medieval era Sanskrit book, written by Rupa Goswami (fl. 15th century) which represents a devotional (bhakti) masterpiece. In this work Goswami describes the nature and different forms of pure love (rasa) as well as various other topics on Vaishnavism and devotion.
Verse 1.1.36
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation:
तत्र आद्या, यथा तान्त्रे —
ज्ञानतः सुलभा मुक्तिर् भुक्तिर् यज्ञादि-पुण्यतः ।
सेयं साधन-साहस्रैर् हरि-भक्तिः सुदुर्लभा ॥१.१.३६॥tatra ādyā, yathā tāntre —
jñānataḥ sulabhā muktir bhuktir yajñādi-puṇyataḥ |
seyaṃ sādhana-sāhasrair hari-bhaktiḥ sudurlabhā ||1.1.36||
English translation
The first type of rarity is illustrated in one of the Tantras:
“Liberation is easily attained by jñāna and material enjoyment is easily attained by puṇyas such as sacrifice, after attaining dedication to those goals by thousands of attempts. But bhāva-bhakti to the Lord cannot be attained if one practices thousands of different sādhanas(because āsakti will not appear).”