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.”
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.”
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].”
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.”
kalpayitvātmanā yāvad ābhāsam idam īśvaraḥ |
dvaitaṁ tāvan na viramet tato hy asya viparyayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.12.10)
[Translation based on Bhāvārtha-dīpikā:] “As long as the jīva is not capable by means of the ātmā [i.e., by virtue of self-realization, ātma-sākṣātkāra] of determining this [i.e., the body, senses, and so forth] to be a guise [i.e., a mere false appearance], then duality [i.e., perception of distinctions such as, “He is a man; she is a woman,”] does not cease, and certainly thereby one’s misapprehension [i.e., one’s mentality of enjoyment] remains.”
anādy-avidyopahatātma-saṁvidas
tan-mūla-saṁsāra-pariśramāturāḥ |
yadṛcchayopasṛtā yam āpnuyur
vimuktido naḥ paramo gurur bhavān ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.46)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “He whom those here whose awareness of the self has been covered by beginningless ignorance (anādi-avidyā) and who are [thus] suffering from the toil of saṁsāra, the root of which is this [viz., beginningless ignorance], can independently [i.e., only by his favor, or, by the independent grace of his bhakta] become sheltered in and attain—he who is the Bestower of ultimate liberation and our Supreme Guru—you—he who by means of whose service [i.e., by means of bestowing service to himself] dispels the unrighteous mentality of these unknowing persons [like ourselves] bound by their own karma who perform karma which is [ultimately] dissatisfying out of desire for [the attainment of] satisfaction—are [thus] our Guru [by so dispelling our unrighteous mentality] and able to sever the knot in our hearts [i.e., the ignorance situated therein].
doṣa-mūlaṁ hi jīvasya parama-tattva-jñānābhāva evety uktam—‘bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syāt’ ity ādau, ‘īśād apetasya’ ity-ādibhiḥ | atas taj-jñānam eva śuddhatvam … |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“The root of the jīva’s deficiency (doṣa) is only the absence of awareness of the Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva), as stated by [the phrase], ‘For one who is averse to the Lord’ (Īśād apetasya) in [the verse] bhayaṁ dvitīyābhiniveśataḥ syād … [i.e., SB 11.2.37]. Therefore, only awareness of him [i.e., the Supreme Entity] is purity.”
pītvā mukunda-mukha-sāragham akṣi-bhṛṅgais
tāpaṁ jahur viraha-jaṁ vraja-yoṣito’hni |
tat satkṛtiṁ samadhigamya viveśa goṣṭhaṁ
savrīḍa-hāsa-vinayaṁ yad apāṅga-mokṣam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.15.43; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 315)
“Drinking the honey from the face of Mukunda with the bees of their eyes, the women of Vraja gave up the sorrow produced by separation during the day. Accepting their excellent reception in the form of casting sidelong glances with bashful smiles and modesty, he entered his abode.”
taṁ gorajaś-churita-kuntala-baddha-barha-
vanya-prasūna-rucirekṣaṇa-cāru-hāsam |
veṇum kvaṇantam anugair upagīta-kīrtiṁ
gopyo didṛkṣita-dṛśo’bhyagaman sametāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.15.42)
“The assembled gopīs came forward, their eyes desiring to see him playing the flute with charming glances and a lovely smile as his glories are sung by his companions and his hair bound with a peacock feather and forest flowers is covered with dust raised by the cows.”
śrī-rūpa-darśita-diśā likhitāṣṭa-kālyā
śrī-rādhikeśa-kṛta-keli-tatir mayeyam |
sevāsya yogya-vapuṣāniśam atra cāsyā
rāgādhva-sādhaka-janair manasā vidheyā ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 23.94)
“This profusion of play performed by Śrī Rādhikā’s Īśa throughout the eight times [of the day] has been written by me following the direction shown [to me] by Śrī Rūpa. Sevā to him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] and to her [i.e., Śrī Rādhikā] herein [i.e., within this līlā throughout the eight times of the day, or, here in Śrī Vṛndāvana] is to be performed continuously by sādhakas on the path of rāga with a befitting form within the mind.”
