Jīva

nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ

nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
tvayi sudhiyo’bhave dadhati bhāvam anuprabhavam |
katham anuvartatāṁ bhava-bhayaṁ tava yad bhrū-kuṭiḥ
sṛjati muhus trinemir abhavac-charaṇeṣu bhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.32)

[Translated according to Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s commentary:] “Understanding the ignorance as a consequence of your māyā among these human beings wherefrom repeated birth ensues, the wise foster bhāva [i.e., render service] profusely for you, Non-existence [i.e., you who are the cause of liberation from material existence]. How could your followers have any distress on account of [material] existence, since the furrowing of your brows—time (trinemi)—creates distress perpetually for those who are not in your shelter?”

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saty api bhedāpagame nātha tavāhaṁ na māmakīnas tvam

saty api bhedāpagame nātha tavāhaṁ na māmakīnas tvam |
sāmudro hi taraṅgaḥ kvacana samudro na tāraṅgaḥ ||
(Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s Viṣṇu-ṣaṭpadī-stotram: 3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.419; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmārta: 2.2.196)

“Even once the cessation of distinction (bheda) [between you and I] occurs, O Nātha, I am yours, [but] you are not mine. A wave certainly belongs to the ocean, [but] nowhere does the ocean belong to a wave.”

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tad-aṁśatvāt tad-abhinnatvena tadīyatvena vā svātmānaṁ vijānīyād

tad-aṁśatvāt tad-abhinnatvena tadīyatvena vā svātmānaṁ vijānīyād ity arthaḥ | evaṁ ca sati so’ham iti—saḥ śrī-bhagavad-aṁśaḥ śuddha-buddha-mukta-svabhāvo’ham; yad vā, tad-aṁśatvena tad-adhīno nitya-sevako’smīty arthaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 5.65)

“One should understand one’s self (ātmā) as being non-different from him [i.e., Paramātmā] or as being his own, on account of [the ātmā’s] being a part (aṁśa) of him. This is the meaning [of the aforementioned bhūta-śuddhi meditation]. Since this is such, ‘I am he’ (so’ham) means, ‘I, who am of pure, conscious, and liberated nature, am he, meaning, [I am] a part (aṁśa) of Śrī Bhagavān,’ or alternately, ‘because of [my] being a part of him, I am dependent on him and an eternal servant [of him].’”

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atha svārpaṇa-vidhiḥ

atha svārpaṇa-vidhiḥ—
ahaṁ bhagavato’ṁśo’smi sadā dāso’smi sarvathā |
tat-kṛpāpekṣako nityam ity ātmānaṁ samarpayet ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 8.418)

“Now, the method of offering the self [is explained; one should meditate]: ‘I am a part of Bhagavān. I am forever a servant [of him] in all respects. I am always a seeker of his grace.’ In this way, one should fully offer oneself.”

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Bhārata Sāvitrī

Bhārata Sāvitrī

Śrī Vedavyāsa’s final message to humanity in Mahābhārata.

Excerpted from the Svargārohana Parva, 5.47–51.

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niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam

niṣeka-garbha-janmāni bālya-kaumāra-yauvanam |
vayo-madhyaṁ jarā mṛtyur ity avasthās tanor nava ||
etā manoratha-mayīr hānyasyoccāvacās tanūḥ |
guṇa-saṅgād upādatte kvacit kaścij jahāti ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.22.47–48)

“Impregnation, gestation, birth, childhood [up to five years], boyhood [up to sixteen years], youth [up to forty-five years], middle age [up to sixty years], old age, and death are the nine states of the body. Sometimes someone [i.e., a jīva] takes on these greater and lesser manifestations of another [i.e., of a material body], which are made of desire, as a result of attachment to the guṇas, and [sometimes someone] gives [them] up [as a result of Śrī Bhagavān’s grace].”

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yathā vastūni paṇyāni hemādīni tatas tataḥ

yathā vastūni paṇyāni hemādīni tatas tataḥ |
paryaṭanti nareṣv evaṁ jīvo yoniṣu kartṛṣu ||
nityasyārthasya sambandho hy anityo dṛśyate nṛṣu |
yāvad yasya hi sambandho mamatvaṁ tāvad eva hi ||
evaṁ yoni-gato jīvaḥ sa nityo nirahaṅkṛtaḥ |
yāvad yatropalabhyeta tāvat svatvaṁ hi tasya tat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.16.6–8)

“As commodities such as gold pass on and on among people, so does a jīva among families and progenitors. Among people, [even] a relationship with a permanent entity [i.e., with another jīva] is seen to be impermanent, and only as long as one has the relationship is there possessiveness (mamatva) [lit., ‘my-ness,’ for that entity]. The jīva situated in a [particular] family similarly is eternal and without ego [i.e., the jīva does not inherently possessed of any sense of identity or belonging related the body, the family, or the other particulars into which it is born in a given lifetime]. Its [i.e., a jīva’s] identification with that [i.e., the family, body, and so forth into which it is born] remains only as long as it may be found there [i.e., only as long as that lifespan lasts].”

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śarīrākāra-bhūtānāṁ bhūtānāṁ yad viśodhanam

śarīrākāra-bhūtānāṁ bhūtānāṁ yad viśodhanam |
avyaya-brahma-samparkād bhūta-śuddhir iyaṁ matā ||
bhūta-śuddhiṁ vinā kartur japa-homādikāḥ kriyāḥ |
bhavanti niṣphalāḥ sarvā yathā-vidhy apy anuṣṭhitāḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 5.63–64)

“Purification of the elements which are existent in the form of the body by union with imperishable brahman—this is considered bhūta-śuddhi [lit., ‘purification of the elements’]. Without bhūta-śuddhi, an actor’s acts of japa, homa, and so forth, even all those performed according to rule, become fruitless.”

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dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte

dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte |
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṁ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhicākaśīti ||
samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno’niśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ |
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.1–2)

“Two birds of beautiful plumage,

Ever-united in friendship,

Perch on the same tree.

Among them,

One eats the tasty berry [of the tree],

And the other, not eating, watches over [the first].

On the same tree,

The puruṣa [i.e., the embodied living entity], absorbed,

Laments because of [his] powerlessness, being deluded.

When he sees the other, the Lord, satisfied, and his [i.e., the Lord’s] greatness, he becomes free from lamentation.”

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