jīva-svarūpa-bhūtasya sac-cid-ānanda-vastunaḥ |
sākṣād-anubhavenāpi syāt tādṛk sukham alpakam ||
(Bṛhad-Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.176)
“The happiness that arises from direct experience of the existence, consciousness, and bliss inherent in the jīva’s svarūpa is meager.”
yeṣāṁ tu mate muktāv ānandānubhavo nāsti, teṣāṁ pum-arthatā na sampadyate | sato’pi vastunaḥ sphuraṇābhāve nirarthakatvāt | na ca sukham ahaṁ syām iti kasyacid icchā, kintu sukham ahan anubhavāmi ity eva | tataś ca pravṛtty-abhāvāt tādṛśa-puruṣārtha-sādhana-preraṇāpi śāstre vyarthaiva syāt | tan-mate kevalānanda-rūpasyājñāna-duḥkha-sambandhāsambhavāt tan-nivṛtti-rūpaś ca puruṣārtho na ghaṭate | vigītaṁ tv īdṛśa-puruṣārthatvaṁ prācīnabarhiṣaṁ prati śrī-nārada-vākye ‘duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate’ iti | tasmād asty evānubhavaḥ | tathā ca śrutiḥ—‘rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati’ iti | ‘ātma-ratiḥ ātma-krīḍaḥ’ ity ādiś ca |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 5)
“The quality of being the puruṣārtha cannot be established in the mukti of those [i.e., the proponents of Kevalādvaitavāda] in whose view there is no experience of bliss [in mukti] because of the uselessness even of an existent object in the absence of manifestation [of it, i.e., since something is effectively non-existent when it is existent yet unmanifest and thus unable to be experienced, a form of mukti wherein one is said to have the nature of being happiness yet no have any actual experience of that happiness cannot qualify as the puruṣārtha since the puruṣārtha is not just happiness but rather the experience of happiness]. Furthermore, no one’s desire is, ‘Let me become happiness.’ Rather, it is only, ‘I shall experience happiness.’ Therefore, furthermore, because of the absence of an impetus (pravṛtti) [i.e., because no one would have any motivation to pursue a supposed puruṣārtha wherein there is no experience of bliss since the pursuit of bliss is the fundamental impetus of every living being], even the directives in the śāstra for [taking up] a means (sādhana) to [attaining] such a puruṣārtha [i.e., such a supposed puruṣārtha devoid of the experience of bliss] would just go in vain. Because of the impossibility in their [i.e., the Kevalādvaitavādīs’] view of one whose form is bliss alone having a relation with ignorance and suffering, a puruṣārtha in the form of the cessation of these [i.e., of ignorance and suffering] also does not occur [according to them]. Such being the puruṣārtha [i.e., this idea of the Kevalādvaitavādīs that the puruṣārtha is neither the attainment of bliss nor the cessation of suffering], however, is contradicted in a statement of Śrī Nārada to Prācīnabarhi [in SB 4.25.4], ‘The highest good (śreyas) is the elimination of suffering and attainment of happiness, and that is not attainable here [i.e., by means of karma performed with a mind attached to worldly ends].’ Therefore, there is certainly experience [of bliss in mokṣa, that is, in the puruṣārtha]. Furthermore, there is also the Śruti [i.e., statements in the śāstra such as Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.7.1], ‘Only upon attaining this rasa [i.e., the Supreme Entity] does one become blissful,’ and [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.25.2], ‘One [then] has delight in the self and play in the self.’”
puruṣa-prayojanaṁ tāvat sukha-prāptir duḥkha-nivṛttiś ca |
puruṣa-prayojanaṁ tāvat sukha-prāptir duḥkha-nivṛttiś ca | śrī-bhagavat-prītau tu sukhatvaṁ duḥkha-nivartakatvaṁ cātyantikam iti | etad uktaṁ bhavati—yat khalu parama-tattvaṁ śāstra-pratipādyatvena pūrvaṁ nirṇītaṁ, tad eva sad-ananta-paramānandatvena siddham | … nānā-svarūpa-dharmato’pi tasya kevalānanda-svarūpatvam eva ca darśitam | tathā-bhūta-mārtaṇḍādi-maṇḍalasya kevala-jyotiṣṭvavat |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“The aim (prayojana) of an embodied being (puruṣa), fundamentally, is the attainment of happiness and elimination of suffering, and only in prīti for Śrī Bhagavān are happiness and elimination of suffering absolute. Thus, this is said: only that Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva), who was ascertained previously [i.e., in the first four sandarbhas] as being the object to be taught by the śāstra, is established [by the śāstra] as being eternal, infinite, paramount bliss. … Although possessed of various inherent characteristics, his [i.e., that Supreme Entity’s] verily being of the nature of bliss alone is also shown [in śāstra, i.e., his fundamental nature, upon which all of his other attributes are based, is bliss (ānanda) alone], just as the sun, which has [within it] the there existent Mārtaṇḍa [i.e., the devatā Sūrya] and so forth [i.e., as well as Sūryadeva’s chariot, horses, etc.], is [fundamentally] of the nature of light alone.”
vayam iha parituṣṭā valkalais tvaṁ dukūlaiḥ
sama iha paritoṣo nirviśeṣo viṣeśaḥ |
sa tu bhavatu daridro yasya tṛṣṇā viśālā
manasi ca parituṣṭe ko’rthavān ko daridraḥ ||
(Vairāgya-śatakam: 53)
“Here [i.e., in the forest], we [i.e., ascetics] are fully satisfied with bark garments, and you [O King, are fully satisfied in your palace] with fine raiments. In this regard, the full satisfaction [we both feel] is the same. The distinction [between the means of our satisfaction] is insignificant. He, rather, should be [considered] poor whose desires are vast. When the mind is fully satisfied, who is rich? Who is poor?”
mṛga-tṛṣṇāṁ yathā bālā manyanta udakāśayam |
evaṁ vaikārikīṁ māyām ayuktā vastu cakṣate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.73.11)
“As the childish [i.e, the unintelligent] consider a mirage to be a reservoir of water, so the inattentive [i.e., the undiscerning] see transformed māyā [i.e., māyā in its state of being transformed into the manifest elements of sound, touch, sight, and so on] to be a reality.”
aprārthitāni duḥkhāni yathaivāyānti dehinām |
sukhāny api tathā manye daivam atrātiricyate ||
(Tantrākhyāyika: 121; cited in ṭīkās to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.18)
“As unrequested sufferings certainly come to the embodied, so too do pleasures. I consider that destiny prevails in this regard.”
tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido
na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ |
tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ
kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.18)
“A wise person should endeavor for the sake of that which is not attained by those [jīvas] wandering above [up to Brahmaloka] and below [down into inanimate lifeforms], as [sensual] happiness is otherwise attained [as a result of one’s previous karma] everywhere [throughout saṁsāra, even in Naraka], just like suffering, as a result of the deep force of time.”
sukhasyānantaraṁ duḥkhaṁ duḥkhasyānantaraṁ sukham |
cakravat parivartante sukhāni ca duḥkhāni ca ||
(Unknown source)
“Just after joy there is sorrow, and just after sorrow there is joy. Joys and sorrows rotate like a wheel.”
tad etat sarvam api yuktam eva | parama-sukhaṁ khalu bhagavatas tad-guṇa-vṛndasya ca svarūpam | sukhaṁ ca nirupādhi-prīty-āspadam | tatas tad-anubhave prīter eva mukhyatvam iti | tasmāt puruṣeṇa saiva sarvadānveṣitavyeti puruṣa-prayojanatvaṁ tatraiva paramatamam iti sthitam |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“Therefore [i.e., because of the six aforementioned characteristics of prīti], all of this too is certainly appropriate [i.e., it is certainly true that direct perception (sākṣātkāra) of the Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva) manifest with clear specificity as Bhagavān is the supreme puruṣārtha]. [Moreover,] The nature (svarūpa) of Bhagavān and his qualities is verily supreme happiness, and happiness is the object of unconditional prīti. Therefore, in experience of him [i.e., Bhagavān], prīti alone has primacy [i.e., prīti is the primary cause, means, and feature of experiencing him]. Therefore, it [i.e., prīti] alone is always to be sought out by a living being, and thus it alone is established as being the supreme-most aim of a living being [i.e., although mokṣa is generally accepted as the supreme puruṣārtha and it is mokṣa in the form of direct perception (sākṣātkāra) of the Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva) manifest with clear specificity as Bhagavān that is the actual supreme puruṣārtha, prīti for Bhagavān is the primary cause, means, and feature of such direct perception of Bhagavān and thus prīti for Bhagavān is the supreme-most puruṣārtha].”
sukham āpatitaṁ sevyaṁ duḥkham āpatitaṁ tathā |
cakravat parivartante duḥkhāni ca sukhāni ca ||
>(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 166)
“Befallen joy is to be experienced as is befallen sorrow. Sorrows and joys rotate like a wheel.”
