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.”
yasya nāsti svayaṁ prajñā śāstraṁ tasya karoti kim |
locanābhyāṁ vihīnasya darpaṇaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 10.9)
“What does the śāstra do for he who himself has no discernment [alt., intelligence]? What can a mirror do for he who has no eyes?”
dehas tu sarva-saṅghāto jagat tasthur iti dvidhā |
atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti netīty atat tyajan ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.23)
“The body, the combination of all these [i.e., prakṛti, the guṇas, the mahat-tattva, ahaṅkāra, the five tanmātrās, the five mahābhūtas, and the eleven senses], however, is of two types: moving and stationary. Here itself [i.e., while embodied], the Puruṣa [i.e., the Paramātmā] is to be sought out by rejecting that which is not that [i.e., not the Puruṣa, considering], ‘Not this, not this …’ [i.e., ‘This is not the ātmā, this too is not the ātmā, etc.].”
yadaivam etena viveka-hetinā
māyāmayāhaṅkaraṇātma-bandhanam |
chittvācyutātmānubhavo’vatiṣṭhate
tam āhur ātyantikam aṅga samplavam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.4.34; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 84)
“O King! When in this way the ātma’s [i.e., the self’s] bondage—the notion of ‘I’ constituted of māyā—is cut away with the sword of discernment and one is situated in unwavering experience of the Ātmā, then that is called absolute dissolution [i.e., mukti].”
