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jīvera svabhāva—kṛṣṇa-dāsa-abhimāna |
dehe ātma-jñāne ācchādita sei jñāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.24.201)
“The identity of being a servant of Kṛṣṇa is the nature of the jīva. Such awareness is covered by identification with the body.”
Read on →: jīvera svabhāva kṛṣṇa-dāsa-abhimāna |
jīvera svarūpa haya—kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa— |
kṛṣṇera taṭasthā-śakti—bhedābheda-prakāśa ||
sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa yaiche agni-jvālā-caya |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.108–109)
“The jīva’s nature is [that of being] an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s intermediary potency (taṭasthā-śakti), and a manifestation [both] different and non-different [from Kṛṣṇa] like a particle-ray of the sun or sparks from a fire.”
Read on →: jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa
tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti paśu-buddhim imāṁ jahi |
na jātaḥ prāg abhūto’dya deha-vat tvaṁ na naṅkṣyasi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.5.2)
[Śukadeva to Mahārāja Parīkṣit:] “O King, you should give up this animal mentality [of thinking], “I will die.” Like the body, you were not previously non-existent, are not [merely] presently manifest, and will not be destroyed [in the future].”
Read on →: tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti
ātmā na devo na naro na tiryak sthāvaro na ca |
na deho nendriyaṁ naiva manaḥ prāṇo na nāpi dhīḥ ||
na jaḍo na vikārī ca jñāna-mātrātmako na ca |
svasmai svayaṁ-prakāśaḥ syād eka-rūpaḥ svarūpa-bhāk ||
cetano vyāpti-śīlaś ca cid-ānandātmakas tathā |
aham-arthaḥ prati-kṣetraṁ bhinno’ṇur nitya-nirmalaḥ ||
tathā jñātṛtva-kartṛtva-bhoktṛtva-nija-dharmakaḥ |
paramātmaika-śeṣatva-svabhāvaḥ sarvadā svataḥ ||
(Jāmātṛ Muni; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 19)
“The ātma is neither a deva, nor a human, nor an animal, nor a stationary being [i.e., plant, rock, etc.], nor the body, nor the senses, nor the mind, nor the prāṇa, nor the intellect, nor inert, nor transformable, nor of the nature of only awareness [i.e., nor lacking the capacity to know]. The ātma is self-luminous to its own self, of one form, situated in its own nature, conscious, pervasive [of the body], of the nature of consciousness (cit) and bliss (ānanda), the referent of ‘I’, distinct from every [other] field [i.e., entity], atomic, eternal, pure, endowed with its own knowership, doership, and perceivership, and always by its own nature a singular subsidiary of the Paramātmā.”
Read on →: ātmā na devo na naro
jñānāśrayo jñāna-guṇaś cetanaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ |
na jāto nirvikāraś ca eka-rūpaḥ svarūpa-bhāk ||
aṇur nityo vyāpti-śīlaś cid-ānandātmakas tathā |
aham artho’vyayaḥ kṣetrī bhinna-rūpaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
adāhyo’cchedya akledya aśoṣyo’kṣara eva ca |
evam ādi-guṇair yuktaḥ śeṣa-bhūtaḥ parasya vai ||
ma-kāreṇocyate jīvaḥ kṣetrajñaḥ paravān sadā |
dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasyaiva kadācana |
(Padma-purāṇa: Uttara-khaṇḍa, 226.34–37)
“The jīva is the bearer of awareness (jñāna), endowed with the quality of awareness, conscious, beyond material energy (prakṛti), unborn, untransformable, of one form, situated in its own nature, atomic, eternal, pervasive [of the body], of the nature of consciousness (cit) and bliss (ānanda), the referent of‘I’, undecaying, the bearer of the field [i.e., the body], of distinct form [i.e., an individual distinct from all others], never-ending, unburnable, indivisible, unmoistenable, undriable, imperishable, endowed with other attributes, by nature a subsidiary of the Paramātmā, referred to by the letter m [within Om], the knower of the field [i.e., the body] (kṣetrajñā), ever dependent, and a servant of Hari alone and never of anyone else.”
Read on →: jñānāśrayo jñāna-guṇaś
ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha ekaḥ kṣetra-jña āśrayaḥ |
avikriyaḥ sva-dṛg hetur vyāpako’saṅgy anāvṛtaḥ ||
etair dvādaśabhir vidvān ātmano lakṣaṇaiḥ paraiḥ |
ahaṁ mamety asad-bhāvaṁ dehādau mohajaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.19–20; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 46)
“The ātmā is eternal [i.e. indestructible], undiminishing, pure, one [i.e., singular, not an aggregate like the body], the knower of the field [i.e., endowed with capacity for awareness], the shelter [i.e., the shelter of the senses and other faculties, such as the manas and buddhi], immutable, self-witnessing [i.e., self-luminous to its own self], the cause [i.e., the cause of the universe’s emanation], pervasive [i.e., pervasive of the body], unattached, and without any covering. By means of these twelve distinguishing characteristics of the ātmā, a learned person should give up the false notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ related to the body and so forth [i.e., the body’s paraphernalia], which are products of delusion.”
Read on →: ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha