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  • ekā bhāryā prakṛti-mukharā cañcalā ca dvitīyā
    putro’py eko bhuvana-vijayī manmatho durnivāraḥ |
    śeṣaḥ śayyā vasati-jaladhau vāhanaṁ pannagāriḥ
    smāraṁ smāraṁ svagṛha-caritaṁ dārubhūto murāriḥ |
    (Unknown source)

    “His first wife is garrulous. And the second is fickle. His only son, Pradyumna [lit., “the mind-churner,” Kāmadeva],  is uncontrollable, and has conquered the world. His bed is Śeṣa [i.e., a serpent]. His residence is on the ocean. And his carrier is Pannagāri [i.e., Garuḍa; lit., “the foe of serpents”]. Mulling over the affairs in his household,  Murāri [i.e., Bhagavān Viṣṇu] became wooden [i.e., Jagannātha]!”

    Read on →: ekā bhāryā prakṛti-mukharā cañcalā ca dvitīyā

  • āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca
    sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām |
    dharmo hi teṣām adhiko viśeṣo
    dharmeṇa hīnāḥ paśubhiḥ samānāḥ ||
    (Hitopadeśa: Maṅgalācaraṇam, 25)

    “Eating, sleeping, fearing, and mating—these on the part of humans are common with animals. Dharma is their [i.e., humans’] greater, distinguishing quality. Those who are devoid of dharma are the same as animals.”

    Read on →: āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca

  • sopāna-bhūtaṁ mokṣasya mānuṣyaṁ prāpya durlabham |
    yas tārayati nātmānaṁ tasmāt pāpa-tarotra kaḥ ||
    tataś cāpy uttamaṁ janma labdhvā cendriya-sauṣṭhavam |
    na vettātma-hitaṁ yas tu sa bhavet ātma-ghātakaḥ ||
    vinā dehena kasyāpi puruṣārtho na vidyate |
    tasmād deha-dhanaṁ prāpya puṇya-karmāṇi sādhayet ||
    rakṣet sarvātmanātmānam ātmā sarvasya bhājanam |
    rakṣaṇe yatnam ātiṣṭhet yāvat tattvaṁ na paśyati ||
    (Kulārṇava Tantra: Ullāsa 1, 16–19)

    “So, who is a greater sinner in this world than one who receives this rare to attain human form which is the ladder to liberation but does not deliver oneself? Moreover, one who attains this topmost birth along with the excellence of its [i.e., human] senses but does not know one’s own good is a destroyer of one’s own self. Without a [human] body, no one’s puruṣārthas are attained. Therefore, having received the fortune of this body, one should perform auspicious acts. One should protect oneself in all respects, as the self [i.e., body] is the vessel for everything. One should take care in protecting [one’s body] until one sees the truth.”

    Read on →: sopāna-bhūtaṁ mokṣasya mānuṣyaṁ prāpya durlabham

  • labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte
    mānuṣyam arthadam anityam apīha dhīraḥ |
    tūrṇaṁ yateta na pated anumṛtyu yāvan
    niḥśreyasāya viṣayaḥ khalu sarvataḥ syāt ||
    (Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.29)

    “Having attained after many births here [i.e., in this world of saṁsāra] this rare to attain human form, which is highly valuable but temporary, the wise should immediately endeavor for the highest good so long as the body has not fallen to its inevitable death; objects of the senses (viṣaya) [which are satisifying to the senses of one’s present body] can be had everywhere [i.e., in all forms of life into which one is perpetually born throughout the beginningless and endless course of saṁsāra].”

    Read on →: labdhvā sudurlabham idaṁ bahu-sambhavānte

  • dvy-arthaiḥ padaiḥ piśunayec ca rahasya-vastu |
    (Unknown source; cited from a kāma-śāstra in Kāvya-prakāśa, Sāhitya-darpaṇa, and the Vaiṣṇavānandinī-ṭīkā to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.33.26)

    “One should indicate a confidential matter with words that have a double meaning.”

    Read on →: dvy-arthaiḥ padaiḥ piśunayec ca rahasya-vastu

  • labdhātmikā satī rūḍhir bhaved yogāpahāriṇī |
    kalpanīyā tu labhate nātmānaṁ yoga-bādhataḥ ||
    (Kumārila Bhaṭṭa; cited in Jīva Gosvāmī’s ṭīkā to Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)

    “The acquired conventional meaning (rūḍhi-artha) [of a word] overrides its etymological meaning (yoga-artha). A word meaning should not be supposed [through etymology] when there is an obstruction to its own etymological meaning [by the conventional meaning in the context of the word’s usage].”

    Read on →: labdhātmikā satī rūḍhir bhaved yogāpahāriṇī

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