bhogā na bhuktā vayam eva bhuktāḥ
tapo na taptaṁ vayam eva taptāḥ |
kālo na yāto vayam eva yātās
tṛṣṇā na jīrṇā vayam eva jīrṇāḥ ||
(Vairāgya-śatakam of Bhartṛhari: 7)
“Pleasures [alt., foods] have not been consumed. We ourselves have been consumed [by them].
Austerities have not been practiced [lit., ‘inflamed‘]. We ourselves have been inflamed.
Time has not passed by. We ourselves have passed by.
Desires have not wasted away. We ourselves have wasted away.”
santuṣṭasya nirīhasya svātmārāmasya yat sukham |
kutas tat kāma-lobhena dhāvato’rthehayā diśaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.16)
“Where is the happiness of one who is satisfied, desireless, and fulfilled within the ātmā for one who runs in all directions out of desire for wealth on account of lust and greed?”
ātmānaṁ ced vijānīyāt paraṁ jñāna-dhutāśayaḥ |
kim icchan kasya vā hetor dehaṁ puṣṇāti lampaṭaḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.40; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.314)
“If one whose inclinations [i.e., vāsanās] have been cast away by knowledge can understand the ātmā [i.e., self] to be distinct [from the body], then desiring what, or, for what reason, does one [then] covetously nourish the body? [i.e., the only reason could be that a person’s vāsanās have not actually be cast away, and under their influence the person hankers to satisfy the tongue, genitals, and so on.]”
aprāpye’pi yathā kāme dharme cintā na kiṁ tathā |
alābhe’pi dvayor ekā bhayadā śivadāparā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2184)
“Why does one not think of dharma as much as even an unattainable desire? Even if neither are attained, one [i.e., thought of unattainable desires] causes stress and the other [i.e., thought of dharma] causes auspiciousness.”
apūrvo’yaṁ dhanur-vedo manmathasya mahātmanaḥ |
śarīram akṣataṁ kṛtvā bhinatty antargataṁ manaḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2116)
“This archery of mighty Manmatha [lit., ‘the mind-churner,’ i.e., Kāmadeva] is extraordinary: leaving the body uninjured, he pierces the heart within.”
dina-yāminyau sāyam prātaḥ
śiśira-vasantau punar āyātaḥ |
kālaḥ krīḍati gacchaty āyus
tad api na muñcaty āśā-vāyuḥ ||
(Moha-mudgāra-stotram: 12)
“Day and night, dusk and dawn,
winter and spring revolve.
Time plays on, and life passes away.
Still, the wind of desire does not let up.”
na ca paśyati janmāndhaḥ kāmāndho naiva paśyati |
na paśyati madonmatto hy arthī doṣān na paśyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 6.8)
“Neither can one who is blind from birth see, nor can one who is blinded by lust see, nor one can one who is intoxicated by pride see, nor can one who seeks wealth see faults [in one’s actions and their consequences].”
kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ
sa kāmabhir jāyate tatra tatra |
paryāpta-kāmasya kṛtātmanas tu
ihaiva sarve pravilīyanti kāmāḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.2.2)
“One who engenders desire for and dwells upon objects of desire is born there among them with [those] desires, but all the desires of one who is of satisfied desire and has realized the ātmā vanish even here [i.e., even while still in a material body within saṁsāra].”
yadṛcchayopapannena santuṣṭo vartate sukham |
nāsantuṣṭas tribhir lokair ajitātmopasāditaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.19.24)
“[Vāmanadeva to Bali Mahārāja:] One who is satisfied with that which it attained of its own accord is happy. One who has not controlled oneself [i.e., one’s senses] is not satisfied even upon having attained the three worlds.”
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
nālam ekasya tat sarvam iti matvā śamaṁ vrajet ||
(Hari-vaṁśa Purāṇa: 22.38; Mahābhārata: 5.63.11; cited in the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā and Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.37)
“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth are not sufficient for one [person]. Deliberate on this and take to equanimity.”
