tāvad bhayaṁ draviṇa-deha-suhṛn-nimittaṁ
śokaḥ spṛhā paribhavo vipulaś ca lobhaḥ |
tāvan mamety asad-avagraha ārti-mūlaṁ
yāvan na te’ṅghrim abhayaṁ pravṛṇīta lokaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.9.6)
“So fear, grief, longing, humiliation, and immense greed on account of wealth, the body, and companions, and so the false [alt., wicked] temperament of ‘mine’—the root of distress—remain as long as a person does not embrace your fearless feet.”
śruti-ratna-vibhūṣaṇa-ruci-jita-pūṣaṇam alidūṣaṇa-nayanānta-gatiṁ
yamunā-taṭa-talpita-puṣpam analpita-mada-jalpita-dayitāpta-ratim |
vandemahi vandita-nandam amandita-kulam andhita-khala-kaṁsa-matiṁ
tvām iha dāmodara haladhara-sodara hara no daram anubaddha-ratim ||
(Stava-mālā: Tribhaṅgī-pañcakam, 5)
“Unto you whose jeweled earrings have conquered the splendor of the sun, you whose sidelong glances belittle black bees, you who lie on a bed of flowers on the bank of the Yamunā, you who become delighted by the plentiful proud words of your beloved, you by whom Nanda is venerated, you who are of a prominent family, you who blinded the mind of wicked Kaṁsa, you who are bound by rati [to your bhaktas]—we offer obeisance. O Dāmodara! O Brother of Haladhara [i.e., O Kṛṣṇa, brother of Balarāma]! Please remove our fear here [i.e., our fear related to saṁsāra].”
na tatra mūḍhā gacchanti puruṣā viṣayātmakāḥ |
dambha-lobha-bhaya-droha-krodha-mohair abhidrutāḥ ||
nirmamā nirahaṅkārā nirdvandvāḥ saṁyatendriyāḥ |
dhyāna-yoga-ratāś caiva tatra gacchanti sādhavaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: 2.95.16–18; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 10)
“Foolish persons absorbed in objects of the senses and overpowered by deceit [alt., arrogance], greed, fear, enmity, anger, and delusion, do not reach there [i.e., the supreme abode of Viṣṇu]. Only sādhus free from possessiveness, free from egotism, free from duality, of controlled senses, and engaged in the practice of meditation (dhyāna-yoga) reach there.”
asaṅkalpāj jayet kāmaṁ krodhaṁ kāma-vivarjanāt |
arthānarthekṣayā lobhaṁ bhayaṁ tattvāvamarśanāt ||
ānvīkṣikyā śoka-mohau dambhaṁ mahad-upāsayā |
yogāntarāyān maunena hiṁsāṁ kāmādy-anīhayā ||
kṛpayā bhūtajaṁ duḥkhaṁ daivaṁ jahyāt samādhinā |
ātmajaṁ yoga-vīryeṇa nidrāṁ sattva-niṣevayā ||
rajas tamaś ca sattvena sattvaṁ copaśamena ca |
etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā puruṣo hy añjasā jayet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavata: 7.15.22–25)
“One can conquer desire (kāma) with negative resolve [e.g., resolutions such as ‘this is not for my enjoyment’ in regard to objects of desire], anger with rejection of desire [for violence], greed with vision of the detriment (anartha) [i.e., the meaninglessness, vice, etc.] within desired ends (arthas), fear with consideration of truth, lamentation and delusion with rational examination [i.e., discrimination between the self and non-self], pride with service to great persons, obstacles in yoga with silence, violence with indifference to desire and so forth. One can overcome suffering caused by other beings with compassion [i.e., actions performed for their benefit], suffering caused by destiny [i.e., foreboding] with meditation [on Bhagavān], suffering caused by the self [i.e., the body] with the strength of yoga [e.g., prāṇayāma, etc.], sleep with a sattvic diet, rajas [i.e., passion] and tamas [i.e., ignorance] with sattva [i.e., goodness], and sattva with composure [i.e., indifference towards even sattvic action]. A person can quickly conquer all of these [however] by means of bhakti to the guru.”
harṣa-sthāna-sahasrāṇi bhaya-sthāna-śatāni ca |
divase divase mūḍham āviśanti na paṇḍitam ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.48)
“Thousands of occasions for joy, and hundreds of occasions for fear day by day affect the foolish but not the wise.”
apragalbhasya yā vidyā kṛpaṇasya ca yad dhanam |
yac ca bāhu-balaṁ bhīror vyartham etat trayaṁ bhuvi ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2153)
“The knowledge of the timid, the wealth of the miserly, and the arm-strength of the cowardly—these three are useless in the world [because they are never applied and thus never fulfill their potential].”
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.”
tat tu laukika-sad-bandhu-buddhyā prema bhayādi-jam |
vighnaṁ nirasya tad-gopa-gopī-dāsyepsayārjayet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.217)
“With desire for servitude to the gopas and gopīs and the mentality of a real, worldly friend [i.e., relating to Śrī Kṛṣṇa as one’s true and dear friend just as husbands, sons, and others are related to in worldly life], one should overcome the obstacles produced by fear and so forth [e.g., reverence, lack of faith, and shyness] and obtain that prema.”
yathaihikāmuṣmika-kāma-lampaṭaḥ
suteṣu dāreṣu dhaneṣu cintayan |
śaṅketa vidvān kukalevarātyayād
yas tasya yatnaḥ śrama eva kevalam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.19.14)
“The endeavor of a learned person [i.e., the study of śāstra and practice of yoga of one] who fears the passing of the repulsive body, just like someone covetous of objects of enjoyment in the present and the afterlife who worries about his sons, wives, and possessions, is just mere labor [i.e., one’s study of śāstra and practice of yoga are fruitless unless one successfully fixes the mind on Bhagavān and gives up sāṁsārka attachment and thereby fear of death].”
