Eye of the beholder, liberated gṛhasthas, quotes in śāstra, attention

A number of points I picked up recently-

The body is just a shell. The person may be beautiful external but demoniac inside, or ugly outside and beautiful inside. How beautiful is a coconut? It looks awful on the outside, but the inside is delicious, juicy and wholesome. The sage Vyāsadeva wrote all the śāstras, but the Mahābhārat says he was too ugly to look at for Kāśīrāj’s daughters when he impregnated them. One of them was punished for it with a blind child even. rūpa mātrena na hāryo hariḥ - Hari is not just captivated by external beauty.

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Liberated householders

Rūpa Goswāmī’s verse nikhilāsv apy avasthāsu jīvan mukta sa ucyate  [Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.187], means that not only sannyāsīs, but also gṛhasthas that are surrendered to Guru are liberated souls.

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 Quotes in śāstra

I received this message recently -

Please accept my dandavats. Now Vaiṣṇavas are facing challenges that quotes from Hari-bhakti-vilāsa cannot be found in the related śāstras (at least, in the texts available on the internet). How do traditional Gauḍīyas explain this problem (if it really exists)?  Unfortunately, nobody of us (either traditional or neo-Gauḍīyas) could give a satisfactory answer. Could you please help me with this question? Thank you in advance.”

Advaitadas: I do not know the source materials myself, but if it is true that they don't exist we should not judge Sanātan Goswāmī's motives - nānā śāstra vicāraṇaika nipuṇau sad-dharma saṁsthāpakau - The Goswāmīs were expert in considering different śāstras to establish true religion."

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Attention is imperative

In the Padma Purāna's version of 'Śrīmad Bhāgavat Māhātmya' (3.62), Uddhava calls the Bhāgavat "vāṇmayī mūrteḥ pratyakṣā vartate hareḥ": "The verbal form of Hari, that makes Him tangible." Attention is imperative -

adṛḍhaṁ ca hataṁ jnānaṁ pramādena hataṁ srutaṁ

sandigdho hi hato mantro vyagra-citto hato japaḥ

"Knowledge which is not firmly rooted is lost, hearing is lost when one is inattentive, advice is lost by doubting it, and japa is lost through a restless mind."

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Deity blog vindicated

kintu bhagavat-sambandha-māhātmyena niketasyāpi nirguṇatvaṁ bhavet, sparśa-maṇi-nyāyena | tādṛśatvaṁ tu tādṛśa-bhakti-cakṣurbhir evopalabdhavyam

In his Krama-sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī says that just as iron is converted into gold through contact with a touchstone, similarly, the Deity’s presence transforms a physical structure into a temple, or in other words, a transcendental residence. He adds, however, that most people do not see the temple as transcendental because they lack the eye of devotion.

This proves Satya-nārāyan Panditjī’s point about Lord being present in the deity only due to the bhakti-eye of the beholder.