atas tasmād abhinnās te bhinnā api satāṁ matāḥ |
muktau satyam api prāyo bhedas tiṣṭhed ato hi saḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.186)
“Therefore, they [i.e., the jīvas] are considered by the sat non-distinct from him and also distinct [from him], and therefore even when mukti occurs, that distinction shall certainly remain in most cases.”
bodho’nya-sādhanebhyo hi sākṣān mokṣaika-sādhanam |
pākasya vahnivaj jñānaṁ vinā mokṣo na sidhyati ||
(Ātma-bodha: 2)
“In comparison to other means (sādhanas), certainly understanding is directly the sole means to mokṣa. Mokṣa is not attained without knowledge, which is like fire for cooking [i.e., as cooking cannot be accomplished without fire, so mokṣa cannot be attained without knowledge].”
saty api bhedāpagame nātha tavāhaṁ na māmakīnas tvam |
sāmudro hi taraṅgaḥ kvacana samudro na tāraṅgaḥ ||
(Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s Viṣṇu-ṣaṭpadī-stotram: 3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.419; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmārta: 2.2.196)
“Even once the cessation of distinction (bheda) [between you and I] occurs, O Nātha, I am yours, [but] you are not mine. A wave certainly belongs to the ocean, [but] nowhere does the ocean belong to a wave.”
yāny anavadyāni karmāṇi tāni sevitavyāni no itarāṇi |
yāny asmākaṁ sucaritāni tāni tvayopāsyāni no itarāṇi |
(Taittirīya Upaniṣad: 1.11.2–3)
“Those acts which are unobjectionable are to be practiced, and not others. Those which are fine deeds of ours are to be honored by you, and not others.”
pañcīkṛta-mahābhūta-sambhavaṁ karma-sañcitam |
śarīraṁ sukha-duḥkhānāṁ bhogāyatanam ucyate ||
pañca-prāṇa-mano-buddhi-daśendriya-samanvitam |
apañcīkṛta-bhūtotthaṁ sūkṣmāṅgaṁ bhoga-sādhanam ||
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Ātma-bodha: 11–12)
“Constituted of fivefold gross matter (mahābhūta) [i.e., the five fundamental elements of space, air, fire, water, and earth] and amassed by karma, the [gross] body is the site of the experience (bhoga) of happiness and suffering. The subtle body, not born of fivefold [gross] matter and replete with the five prāṇas, mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ten senses, is the means of [that] experience (bhoga) [of happiness and suffering].”
smaraṇaṁ darśanaṁ strīṇāṁ guṇa-karmānukīrtanam |
samīcīnatva-dhīs tāsu prītiḥ saṁbhāṣaṇaṁ mithaḥ ||
sahavāsaś ca saṁsargo’ṣṭadhā maithunaṁ viduḥ |
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Sarva-vedānta-siddhānta-sāra-saṅgraha: 109-110)
“Know intercourse to be eightfold: remembering women, looking at them, mentioning their qualities and activities, thinking of the suitability of them, favoring them [alt., taking pleasure in them], conversing with them privately, cohabiting with them, and copulating with them.”
sadā pramāṇa-bhūtānām asmākaṁ mahatāṁ tathā |
vākyāni vyavahārāś ca pramāṇaṁ khalu sarvathā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.197)
“The statements and behaviors of ourselves and the great, being pramāṇa [i.e., authoritative], are always pramāṇa [i.e., authoritative means of knowing] verily in all respects.”
oṁ pārthāya pratibodhitāṁ bhagavatā nārāyaṇena svayaṁ
vyāsena grathitāṁ purāṇa-muninā madhye mahābhārate |
advaitāmṛta-varṣiṇīṁ bhagavatīm aṣṭādaśādhyāyiṇīm
amba tvām anusandadhāmi bhagavad-gīte bhava-dveṣiṇīm ||
(Śaṅkarācārya’s Gītā-dhyāna: 1)
“Oṁ, I meditate upon you of divine nature, O Mother, O Bhagavad-gītā, destroyer of material existence and showerer of the nectar of non-duality, constituted of eighteen chapters, composed by the ancient sage Vyāsa within the Mahābhārata, and taught to Arjuna by Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself.”
naiva vācā na manasā prāptuṁ śakyo na cakṣuṣā |
astīti bruvato’nyatra kathaṁ tad-upalabhyate ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.12)
“He [i.e., the Supreme Puruṣa] is attainable neither by speech, nor by the mind, nor by the eye. How can he be realized other than by one who says, ‘He is’ [i.e., who first of all has śraddhā in his existence]?”
bhagavato’nyatra pṛthaṅ na kadācid api yā bhavati sā tv ananyā bhaktiḥ | sarvair api karaṇaiḥ vāsudevād anyan na upalabhyate yayā, sānanyā bhaktiḥ … |
(Śaṅkarācārya’s bhāṣya on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 11.54)
“That which never manifests separately apart from Bhagavān is ananyā-bhakti [i.e., bhakti which has no other object]. That by which nothing other than Vāsudeva is perceived with all the senses is ananyā-bhakti.”
