Vishwananda, Paramahamsa. Mukunda-mālā-stotram: Commentary on Kulaśekhara Alvar's Offering of Love and Surrender (p. 10).
When something is constant, it becomes a habit. When something becomes a habit, you start to enjoy it. When you start to enjoy it, of course, it becomes part of you. When it becomes part of you, that is when the transformation happens. (p. 12).
Bhagavān wanted to teach them that a pilgrimage is firstly to transform yourself. (p. 13).
When you are doing japam, for example, it’s a constant chanting of the Divine Name. Something that is constant brings change. (p. 13).
Bhakti awakens when there is sincerity inside of you, when your mind is fully saturated with rāsa. (pp. 13-14).
Here Bhagavān Himself is indirectly guiding His devotee to tanmaya (absorption), the transformation of the mind itself. (p. 15).
How to have this relationship is only by constantly thinking about Him. (p. 15).
To be delivered is to be freed from the cycle of māyā so that you can serve Him, and your mind doesn’t disturb you. (p. 16).
The moment you stop chanting the Divine Name, the mundane reality will take over. (p. 22).
Bhakti is nothing but undiluted and unstained love and devotion to the Lotus Feet of the Lord, and devotion for Bhagavān, which is the purest of all kinds. (p. 39).
mukunda mūrdhnā praṇipatya yāce
bhavantaṁ ekāntaṁ iyantam arthaṁ |
avismṛtis tvac-caraṇāravinde
bhave bhave me ‘stu bhavat-prasādāt || 3 ||
O Mukunda! I bow my head and beg You to fulfil one desire of mine: in this life and in future ones, I should, by Your mercy, always remember You and never forget Your Lotus Feet.
In verse three, he says, ‘O Mukunda! I bow my head and beg You to fulfil one desire of mine.’ Desires should not be many. Only one. ‘In this life, in future ones, I should, by Your mercy, always remember You and never forget Your Lotus Feet.’ This is a heart full of devotion, bhakti. The great devotees of the Lord Himself don’t want anything. They don’t even want to be free. They don’t want to attain a certain mokṣa. Mokṣa means liberation, but liberation in the mind of people is very often painted in a beautiful way, as if they know what it is.
Vishwananda, Paramahamsa. Mukunda-mālā-stotram: Commentary on Kulaśekhara Alvar's Offering of Love and Surrender (p. 27). Bhakti Marga Publications. Kindle Edition.