adhruveṇa śarīreṇa pratikṣaṇa-vināśinā |
dhruvaṁ yo nārjayed dharmaṁ sa śocyo mūḍha-cetanaḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“One who does not acquire imperishable dharma with the perishable body, which is subject to destruction at every moment, is pitiable and foolish.”
na jātu kāmān na bhayān na lobhād
dharmaṁ tyajej jīvitasyāpi hetoḥ |
nityo dharmaḥ sukha-duḥkhe tv anitye
jīvo nityo hetur asya tv anityaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.50)
“Never—neither because of desires, nor because of fears, nor because of greed—forsake dharma, even for the sake of [one’s] life. Dharma is eternal, whereas pleasure and displeasure are temporary. Life is eternal, whereas its means [i.e., the body] is temporary.”
dīkṣā-kāle bhakta kare ātma-samarpaṇa |
sei-kāle kṛṣṇa tāre kare ātma-sama ||
sei deha kare tāra cid-ānandamaya |
aprākṛta-dehe tā̐ra caraṇa bhajaya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.4.192–3)
“At the time of dīkṣā, a bhakta fully offers the self, and at that time Kṛṣṇa accepts them and makes the body [of the bhakta] spiritual and blissful. In that supramundane body, the bhakta [then] serves his [i.e., Kṛṣṇa’s] feet.”
anavāpyaṁ ca śokena śarīraṁ copatapyate |
amitrāś ca prahṛṣyanti mā sma śoke manaḥ kṛthā ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.43)
“Through grief, there is nothing to be attained, the body becomes afflicted, and adversaries rejoice. The mind should never succumb to grief.”
eṣā buddhimatāṁ buddhir manīṣā ca manīṣiṇām |
yat satyam anṛteneha martyenāpnoti māmṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.22)
“This is the intelligence of the intelligent, and the cleverness of the clever: here with that which is unreal and mortal [the material body], one attains Me, who am real and immortal.”
bhāro’vivekinaḥ śāstraṁ bhāro jñānaṁ ca rāgiṇaḥ |
aśāntasya mano bhāraḥ bhāro’nātmavido vapuḥ ||
(Yoga Vāsiṣṭa: 1.14.13; Mahopaniṣad: 2.16)
“The śāstra is a burden for the indiscriminate. Knowledge is a burden for the passionate. The mind is a burden for the disquieted, and the body is a burden for one devoid of knowledge of the self.”
stheyaṁ ca jīva-hiṁsā ca para-strī-gamanaṁ tathā |
kalanja-bhojanaṁ caiva kāyikaṁ malam eva hi ||
(Unknown Source)
“Stealing, violence towards living beings, approaching another’s wife, and eating flesh—these are impurities of the body.”
bhogāya pāmarāṇāṁ yogāya vivekināṁ śarīram idam |
bhogāya ca yogāya ca na kalpate durvidgdhānām ||
(Appayya Dīkṣita’s Vairāgya-śataka)
“This body is considered to be for enjoyment by the base, for yoga by the wise, and neither for enjoyment nor yoga by the deranged.”
anarthi-tarpaṇaṁ vittaṁ cittam adhyāna-darpaṇam |
atīrtha-sarpaṇaṁ dehaṁ paryante śocyatāṁ vrajet ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Wealth that does not satisfy the needy, a mind that is not a mirror for meditation, and a body that does not go to the tīrthas shall become lamentable in the end.”
yāvaj jano bhajati no bhuvi viṣṇu-bhakti-
vārttā-sudhā-rasa-viśeṣa-rasaika-sāram |
tāvaj jarā-maraṇa-janma-śatābhighāta-
duḥkhāni tāni labhate bahu-dehajāni ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Pātāla-khaṇḍa, 85.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.607; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)
“As long as a human being on earth does not partake of [i.e., take shelter with bhakti in] the one essence—the rasa of the exceptional nectar of the tidings of Viṣṇu-bhakti—then one undergoes the sufferings of the lashings of hundreds of infirmities, deaths, and births begotten by numerous bodies [i.e., the severe suffering of saṁsāra is extinguished only when one attains Viṣṇu-bhakti, and thus attaining it is imperative].”
