api svarṇamayī laṅkā na me lakṣmaṇa rocate |
jananī-janma-bhūmiś ca svargād api garīyasī ||
(Rāmāyaṇa)
[Rāma:] “Although golden, Laṅkā does not appeal to me, Lakṣmaṇa. One’s mother and motherland are more exalted than even Svarga.”
hasta-sparśo hi mātṝṇām ajalasya jalāñjaliḥ |
(Pratimāna-nāṭaka: 3.12)
“The touch of mothers’ hands is [like] a palmful of water for one deprived of water [i.e., for the parched].”
anabhyāsena vidyānām asaṁsargeṇa dhīmatām |
anigraheṇa cākṣāṇāṁ jāyate vyasanaṁ nṛṇām ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“The plight [alt., addictions, vices, depravity, misfortune, distress, etc.] of human beings arises from a lack of practice of knowledge [i.e., a lack of adherence to the education they receive], a lack of association with the wise, and a lack of restraint of the senses.”
ratnākaras tava gṛhaṁ gṛhinī ca padmā
kiṁ deyam asti bhavate jagadīśvarāya |
ābhīra-vāma-nayanāhṛta-mānasāya
dattaṁ mano yadupate tad idaṁ gṛhāna ||
(Rahīma-ratnāvalī)
“Your home is the ocean [lit., the source of jewels], and your wife is Padmā [i.e., Lakṣmī Devī, the goddess of wealth]. What can be given to you, the Lord of the universe [i.e., you who possess everything]? Therefore, to you whose mind has been stolen by the charming eyes of the gopīs, I have given my mind. O King of the Yadus, please accept it.”
ka īpsitārtha-sthira-niścayaṁ manaḥ
payaś ca nimnābhimukhaṁ pratīpayet ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.5)
“Who can oppose the mind firmly resolved upon a desired object or water flowing downwards?”
yatraikāgrato tatrāviśeṣāt |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 4.1.11)
“[Where should one perform upāsana?] Where one-pointedness [of mind] occurs, because of [there being] no particulars in that regard [i.e., because śāstra gives no injunctions regarding where upāsana should be performed other than where the mind can become one-pointed].”
mana ekatra saṁyuñjyāj jita-śvāso jitāsanaḥ |
vairāgyābhyāsa-yogena dhriyamāṇam atandritaḥ ||
yasmin mano labdha-padaṁ yad etac
chanaiḥ śanair muñcati karma-reṇūn |
sattvena vṛddhena rajas tamaś ca
vidhūya nirvāṇam upaity anindhanam ||
tadaivam ātmany avaruddha-citto
na veda kiñcid bahir antaraṁ vā |
yatheṣu-kāro nṛpatiṁ vrajantam
iṣau gatātmā na viveda pārśve ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.11–13)
“Mastering one’s posture and [then] mastering one’s breath, fix the steadied mind in one place alertly through non-attachment and regulated practice. The mind in which a position is attained [i.e., a mind which has become fixed on its object] gradually gives up the dust of karma [i.e., the vāsanās produced by karma], by an increase of sattva shakes off rajas and tamas, and attains perfect repose (nirvāṇa) free from any kindling [i.e., any effects of the guṇas]. Then, in this way, the mind shut in upon the ātmā does not perceive anything external [e.g., sights] or internal [e.g., memories], just as an arrow-maker, his mind absorbed in [crafting] arrows, did not notice in the least a king passing beside him [with a large entourage playing kettle-drums].”
idaṁ hi yogeśvara yoga-naipuṇaṁ
hiraṇyagarbho bhagavāñ jagāda yat |
yad anta-kāle tvayi nirguṇe mano
bhaktyā dadhītojjhita-duṣkalevaraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.19.13)
“O Master of yoga, that which Bhagavān Hiraṇyagarbha [i.e., Lord Brahmā] has spoken of is certainly expertise in yoga: at the time of death, the wavering mind, abandoning the contemptible body, should be placed with bhakti on you who are nirguṇa.”
markaṭasya surāpānaṁ madhye vṛścika-daṁśanam |
tan-madhye bhūta-sañcāro yadvā tadvā bhaviṣyati ||
(Samayocita-padya-mālikā)
“Anything may become of a monkey who, while drinking alcohol, is bitten by a scorpion and possessed by a ghost.”
kṣaṇe ruṣṭaḥ kṣaṇe tuṣṭaḥ ruṣṭe tuṣṭe kṣaṇe kṣaṇe |
avyavasthita-cittasya prasādo’pi bhayaṅkaraḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited partially in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3434)
“He is angry at one moment and pleased in the next. He is angry and satisfied from moment to moment. Even the favor of one of unstable mind is fearsome.”
