hitvātma-māyā-racitā gṛhāpatya-suhṛt-striyaḥ |
tamo viśanty anicchanto vāsudeva-parāṅmukhāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.5.18)
“Giving up their homes, children, friends, and wife, created by the Ātmā’s māyā [i.e., Bhagavān’s māyā, or, their own māyā], those averse to Vāsudeva [at death] enter darkness against their will.”
ātmārāmān madhura-caritair bhakti-yoge vidhāsyam
nānā-līlā-rasa-racanayā nandayiṣyan sva-bhaktān |
daityānīkair bhuvam atibharāṁ vīta-bhārāṁ kariṣyan
mūrtānando vraja-pati-gṛhe jātavat prādurāsīt ||
(Ānanda-vṛndāvana-campū: 2.9)
“To direct ātmārāmas to bhakti-yoga
With his sweet acts,
To delight his own bhaktas
With a production of the rasa of various līlās,
And to unburden the earth
From the excessive burden of the armies of the daityas,
Embodied Bliss [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]
Appeared in the home of Vraja’s king
Like a newborn.”
brahmacaryaṁ samāpya gṛhī bhavet, gṛhī bhūtvā vanī bhavet, vanī bhūtvā pravrajet, yadi vetarathā brahmacaryād eva pravrajet gṛhād vā vanād vā | atha punar avratī vā vratī snātako vāsnātako votsannāgnir anagniko vā, yad ahar eva virajyet tad ahar eva pravrajet |
(Jābāla Upaniṣad: 4; cited in Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra 3.4.49)
“After completing brahmacarya, one may become a householder. After having become a householder, one may become a vanaprastha. After having become a vanaprastha, one may roam [i.e., become a sannyāsī], yet after brahmacarya itself one may roam, or after household life, or after vanaprastha. Furthermore, be one a non-student or student [i.e., one who has never gone to school to be trained in brahmacarya or one who is presently in school observing brahmacarya], be one a graduate or a non-graduate [i.e., a graduate of brahmacarya or not], and be one of extinguished fire or no fire [i.e., be one someone who has ceased to maintain the sacred fire sustained in homes by couples after marriage because one’s wife has expired or one has left one’s wife, or be one someone who has never married and thus never maintained the sacred fire], on the very day one may [i.e., should happen to] become detached, on that very day one may roam [i.e., one should leave and take sannyāsa].”
na cāsya kaścin nipuṇena dhātur
avaiti jantuḥ kumanīṣa ūtīḥ |
nāmāni rūpāṇi mano-vacobhiḥ
santanvato naṭa-caryām ivājñaḥ ||
sa veda dhātuḥ padavīṁ parasya
duranta-vīryasya rathāṅga-pāṇeḥ |
yo’māyayā santatayānuvṛttyā
bhajeta tat-pāda-saroja-gandham ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.37–38)
“No living being of corrupt intelligence understands with the mind or words through expertise [i.e., skill in argument and like, or skill in adhering to the paths of jñāna or yoga] the sports, names, and forms of the [Supreme] Element, he who extends [his names, forms, and sports when he graciously descends in age after age], just as an ignorant person [does not understand] the performance of a dancer. [Only] One who can non-deceitfully, continuously, and accordingly worship the fragrance of his lotus feet knows the way [alt., position] of the Supreme Element, he of infinite potency and chakra in hand.”
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.”
etasmād viramendriyārtha-gahanād āyāsakād āśraya
śreyo-mārgam aśeṣa-duḥkha-śamana-vyāpāra-dakṣaṁ kṣaṇāt |
svātmībhāvam upaihi santyaja nijāṁ kallola-lolaṁ gatiṁ
mā bhūyo bhaja bhaṅgurāṁ bhava-ratiṁ cetaḥ prasīdādhunā ||
(Vairāgya-śatakam: 63)
“Therefore,
Desist from the troublesome labyrinth
Of the sense-objects.
Take shelter in the path
Of the highest good (śreyas),
Capable in the matter of extinguishing
Endless suffering within a moment.
Reach the state of your own self,
Abandoning your own [present] condition,
Inconstant like a wave.
Do not again
Foster transient affinity for the world
[Much less partake of transient pleasures of the world based on it].
O mind,
Be satisfied now.”
paribhramasi kiṁ mudhā kvacana citta viśrāmyatāṁ
svayaṁ bhavati yad yathā bhavati tat tathā nānyathā |
atītam ananusmarann api ca bhāvy asaṅkalpayann
atarkita-samāgamān anubhavāmi bhogān aham ||
(Vairāgya-śatakam: 62)
“Why do you wander about in vain?
O Mind!
Rest somewhere.
Whatever happens of its own accord
Happens howsoever
And not otherwise.
[So,] Not repeatedly recalling the past,
And not planning in regard to the future,
I experience unconsidered, approaching objects.
kāyena dūre vrajinaṁ tyajantī
japantam antaḥkaraṇe hasantī |
samādhi-yoge ca bahir bhavantī
sandṛśyate kāpi mukunda-bhaktiḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.221)
“Extraordinary Mukunda-bhakti can be seen naturally avoiding from afar one engaged in karma, laughing at one engaged in japa within the mind, and leaving one fixed in samādhi.”
prītir yato yasya sukhaṁ ca yena
samyag bhavet tad-rasikasya tasya |
tat sādhanaṁ śreṣṭhatamaṁ susevyaṁ
sadbhir mataṁ pratyuta sādhya-rūpam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.152)
“The sādhana related to him [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān] of a relisher of him for which one’s complete affinity (__prīti__), and by which [one’s complete] satisfaction, shall come about is the best of all, [is] to be excellently performed, and [is] considered, rather, the goal and a form [of that goal] by the sat.”
sukhaṁ vā yadi vā duḥkhaṁ dveṣyaṁ vā yadi vā priyam |
prāptaṁ prāptam upāsīta hṛdayenāparijitaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.168.36)
“Undergo all that is encountered, whether happiness or unhappiness, whether detestable or pleasant, with heart undefeated.”
