na karma niṣphalaṁ kuryān nāyatyām asukhodayam |
(Manu-smṛti: 4.70; cited in Amṛta-ṭīkā to Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇam: Maṅgalācaraṇa, 1)
“One should perform neither an action that is useless [i.e, has no purpose and will prove fruitless] nor one that gives rise to unhappiness in the future.”
anubandhaṁ ca saṁprekṣya vipākāṁś caiva karmaṇām |
utthānam ātmanaś caiva dhīraḥ kurvīta vā na vā ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.9; Vidura-nīti; Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“A wise person should act, or not [act], only after carefully considering the cause and effects [i.e., benefits and harm] of actions, as well as one’s own capacity [i.e., to perform the action].”
anubandhān avekṣeta sānubandheṣu karmasu |
sampradhārya ca kurvīta na vegena samācaret ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.8; Vidura-nīti)
“One should act [only] after examining and deliberating upon the causes and effects of actions. One should not act out of impulse.”
ekā bhūr ubhayor aikyam ubhayor dala-kāṇḍayoḥ |
śāliśyāmākayor bhedaḥ phalena paricīyate ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha; Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“Both have the same soil, and both have identical shoots and stalks. The difference between rice and millet is known by the result.”
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]?”
nānā-rūpātmano buddhiḥ svairiṇīva guṇānvitā |
tan-niṣṭhām agatasyeha kim asat-karmabhir bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.5.14)
“The ātmā’s intellect (buddhi), like a wanton woman [i.e., like one intent upon selfish gain through reprehensible means], is of various forms and infused with [various, mundane] qualities. What can be the use of the meaningless acts here [i.e., in this world] of one who does not know its application [i.e., one who does not discern between proper and improper application of the intellect]?”
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.”
prāyeṇa manujā loke loka-tattva-vicakṣaṇāḥ |
samuddharanti hy ātmānam ātmanaivāśubhāśayāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.7.19)
“Generally, human beings in the world who are clear-sighted about the nature of the world [i.e., who are adept in discerning causes of benefit and harm in the visible world] deliver themselves from harmful predispositions [i.e., vāsanās related to sense objects] by their own selves [i.e., by exercising their own faculties of discernment].”
analaḥ śīta-nāśāya viṣa-nāśāya gāruḍam |
viveko duḥkha-nāśāya sarva-nāśāya durmatiḥ ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Fire destroys cold, gāruḍa [i.e., a charm applied in the case of snake bites] destroys poison, discrimination destroys sorrow, and foolishness [alt., ignorance, delusion, misunderstanding, conceit, depression, enmity, etc.] destroy everything.”
purāṇam ity eva na sādhu sarvaṁ
na cāpi kāvyaṁ navam ity avadyam |
santaḥ parīkṣyānyatarad bhajante
mūḍhaḥ para-pratyaya-neya-buddhiḥ ||
(Mālavikāgnimitra: 1.2)
“Not all [poems] are good because they are ancient. And a poem is not contemptible because it is modern. The wise examine and favor either of the two [according to their respective merit]. The fool is he whose intellect has to be led by the convictions of others.”
