cittam eva hi saṁsāras tat prayatnena śodhayet |
yac cittas tanmayo bhāti guhyam etat sanātanam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.3; Śāṭyāyanīya Upaniṣad: 3)
“The citta (mind) itself is saṁsāra [i.e., the condition of one’s citta is the cause of the perpetuation of one’s bondage in saṁsāra]. Purify it with exertion. As is the citta, so one becomes [i.e., one becomes absorbed in, constituted of, and/or identical to the content in one’s citta]. This is the eternal secret.”
na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagad-īśa kāmaye |
mama janmani janmanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi ||
(Śikṣāṣṭakam: 4; cited in Padyāvalī 94; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.29)
“O Master of the universe,
I desire neither wealth,
Nor men [i.e., assistants, followers, relatives, etc.],
Nor beautiful women [i.e., an excellent wife],
Nor erudition [i.e., intellectual prowess or recognition thereof],
Or otherwise [i.e., mukti].
In birth after birth, O Īśvara,
Let me have unconditional bhakti to you.”
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahādāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam |
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam ||
(Padyāvalī: 22; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.12)
“Cleansing the mirror of the mind,
Extinguishing the raging forest fire of material existence,
Shining moonlight on the evening lotus of good fortune,
The life of the wife of knowledge,
Expanding the ocean of bliss,
The taste of full nectar at every moment,
Bathing the entire self—
Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana is supremely triumphant!”
ārādhyo bhagavān vrajeśa-tanayas tad-dhāma vṛndāvanaṁ
ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇa yā kalpitā |
śāstraṁ bhāgavataṁ pramāṇam amalaṁ premā pumārtho mahān
itthaṁ gaura-mahāprabhor matam atas tatrādaro naḥ paraḥ ||
(Caitanya-mata-mañjuṣā: 1.1)
“‘The object of worship is Bhagavān, the Son of Vraja’s king. His abode is Vṛndāvana. The lovely worship [that is to be performed] is that which is performed by the ladies of Vraja. The flawless pramāṇa [i.e., means of knowing these conclusions] is the śāstra [Śrīmad] Bhāgavatam, and the [rightful ultimate] aim of a human being is prema.’ This is the view of Gaura Mahāprabhu, and thus we have the highest regard for it.”
vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-
śikṣārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ |
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-śarīra-dhārī
kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṁ prapadye ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭakam: 6.74; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.6.254)
“The one, primeval Puruṣa,
The Ocean of grace,
Who became he bearing the figure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya
For the sake of teaching
Knowledge of non-attachment
And the practice of bhakti to himself—
I take shelter in him.”
acintya adbhuta kṛṣṇa-caitanya-vihāra |
citra bhāva, citra guṇa, citra vyavahāra ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.306)
“Kṛṣṇa Caitanya’s play is inconceivable and astonishing. Extraordinary is his bhāva, extraordinary are his qualities, and extraordinary is his behavior.”
sei kṛṣṇa sei gopī—parama virodha |
acintya-caritra prabhura—ati sudurbodha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.17.304)
“He is Kṛṣṇa, and he is a gopī [i.e., Rādhā]—this is completely contradictory. Prabhu’s character is inconceivable—it is extremely difficult to understand.”
vande gurūn īśa-bhaktān īśam īśāvatārakān |
tat-prakāśāṁś ca tac-chaktīḥ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-saṁjñakam ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.1.1)
“I offer obeisance unto my gurus, the Lord’s bhaktas, the Lord’s avatāras, the Lord’s manifestations, the Lord’s śaktis, and the Lord [himself], known as Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.”
ūrdhva-bāhur viraumy eṣa na ca kaścic chṛṇoti me |
dharmād arthaś ca kāmaś ca sa kim arthaṁ na sevyate ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.49)
“With arms upraised, I shout this, but no one listens to me. From dharma come artha and kāma. [So,] Why is it [i.e., dharma] not followed?”
tat-saṅga-bhraṁśitaiśvaryaṁ saṁsarantaṁ kubhāryavat |
tad-gatīr abudhasyeha kim asat-karmabhir bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.5.15)
“One situated in saṁsāra [i.e., a conditioned jīvātmā] is deprived of capability by its [i.e., the deluded intellect’s] association like a man with a wicked wife [i.e., the conditioned jīvātmā follow the movements of the deluded intellect just as a man who follows the dictates of a wicked wife]. What can be the use of the meaningless acts here [i.e., in this world] of one who does not understand its effects [i.e., of one who does not recognize the outcomes that will be inevitably experienced by indiscriminately following the dictates of the deluded intellect]?”
