tasmād asad-abhidhyānaṁ yathā svapna-manoratham |
hitvā mayi samādhatsva mano mad-bhāva-bhāvitam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.28)
“Therefore, one should reject desire for [alt., meditation upon] the asat, which is like the illusion in a dream, and upon me fully fix the mind imbued with bhāva by way of contemplation of me.”
āvṛtaṁ jñānam etena jñānino nitya-vairiṇā |
kāma-rūpeṇa kaunteya duṣpūreṇānalena ca ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.39)
“The knowledge [i.e., discernment] of the knower is covered by this perpetual enemy in the form of kāma, which is like an insatiable fire.”
kiṁ durāpaṁ mayi prīte tathāpi vibudharṣabhāḥ |
mayy ekānta-matir nānyan matto vāñchati tattva-vit ||
na veda kṛpaṇaḥ śreya ātmano guṇa-vastu-dṛk |
tasya tān icchato yacched yadi so’pi tathā-vidhaḥ ||
svayaṁ niḥśreyasaṁ vidvān na vakty ajñāya karma hi |
na rāti rogiṇo’pathyaṁ vāñchato’pi bhiṣaktamaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.9.47–49)
“[Bhagavān Viṣṇu:] O best of the devatās! What is difficult to attain when I am pleased? [Nothing]. Still, a knower of the essence—one whose mind is one-pointed upon me—does not desire anything other than me. A pitiable seer of substance in [worldly] objects does not understand his own good. If at will someone shall give those [i.e., essenceless worldly objects] to him, [then] he too is of such sort [i.e., then that giver of worldly objects is also ignorant just like the desirer of them is]. One who has knowledge of the highest good himself certainly does not speak of karma to one who is ignorant. An excellent doctor does not administer that which is unsalutary for a patient even if [the patient is] desirous [of that].”
nāsti tṛṣṇā-samaṁ duḥkhaṁ nāsti tyāga-samaṁ sukham |
sarvān kāmān parityajya brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ||
(Unknown source)
“There is no suffering like desire. There is no satisfaction like renunciation. Completely relinquishing all desires, one becomes fit for the state of [i.e., experience of] Brahman.”
prajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān pārtha mano-gatān |
ātmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55)
“O Pārtha, when one completely casts away all desires situated in the mind and is satisfied by the self [i.e., by the bliss of the self] in the self [i.e., in the restrained mind] alone, then one is said to be a sthita-prajña [i.e., ‘one of steady wisdom’].”
vimuñcati yadā kāmān mānavo manasi sthitān |
tarhy eva puṇḍarīkākṣa bhagavattvāya kalpate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9)
“O you of lotus eyes! When a human being completely casts away desires situated in the mind, only then does one become fit for Bhagavattva.”
indriyāṇi manaḥ prāṇa ātmā dharmo dhṛtir matiḥ |
hrīḥ śrīs tejaḥ smṛtiḥ satyaṁ yasya naśyanti janmanā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.8)
“By the appearance of which [i.e., of desire], the senses, the mind, the vital air, the body, dharma, composure, intelligence, modesty, beauty, strength, remembrance, and truthfulness are lost.”
duḥsaṅga kahi—kaitava ātma-vañcanā |
‘kṛṣṇa’-‘kṛṣṇa-bhakti’ vinu anya-kāmanā ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.2.24.100)
“We call deceit and self-deception, that is, desire for anything other than Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, wrong attachment (duḥsaṅga).”
vimuktākhila-tarṣair yā muktir api vimṛgyate |
yā kṛṣṇenātigopyāśu bhajadbhyo’pi na dīyate ||
sā bhukti-mukti-kāmatvāc chuddhāṁ bhaktim akurvatām |
hṛdaye sambhavaty eṣāṁ kathaṁ bhāgavatī ratiḥ ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.42–43)
“That which is sought even by the liberated who are completely free from all [extraneous] desires, which is highly confidential and [which is] not given by Kṛṣṇa quickly even to worshippers [of himself]—how can [that] rati for Bhagavān appear in the heart of those who do not perform pure bhakti on account of being possessed of desire for enjoyment or liberation?”
so’pi saṅkalpajaṁ viṣṇoḥ pāda-sevopasāditam |
prāpya saṅkalpa-nirvāṇaṁ nātiprīto’bhyagāt puram ||
vidura uvāca—
sudurlabhaṁ yat paramaṁ padaṁ harer
māyāvinas tac-caraṇārcanārjitam |
labdhvāpy asiddhārtham ivaika-janmanā
kathaṁ svam ātmānam amanyatārtha-vit ||
maitreya uvāca—
mātuḥ sapatnyā vāg-bāṇair hṛdi viddhas tu tān smaran |
naicchan mukti-pater muktiṁ paścāt tāpam upeyivān ||
dhruva uvāca—
samādhinā naika-bhavena yat padaṁ
viduḥ sanandādaya ūrdhva-retasaḥ |
māsair ahaṁ ṣaḍbhir amuṣya pādayoś
chāyām upetyāpagataḥ pṛthaṅ-matiḥ ||
aho bata mamānātmyaṁ manda-bhāgyasya paśyata |
bhava-cchidaḥ pāda-mūlaṁ gatvāyāce yad antavat ||
matir vidūṣitā devaiḥ patadbhir asahiṣṇubhiḥ |
yo nārada-vacas tathyaṁ nāgrāhiṣam asattamaḥ ||
daivīṁ māyām upāśritya prasupta iva bhinna-dṛk |
tapye dvitīye’py asati bhrātṛ-bhrātṛvya-hṛd-rujā ||
mayaitat prārthitaṁ vyarthaṁ cikitseva gatāyuṣi |
prasādya jagad-ātmānaṁ tapasā duṣprasādanam |
bhava-cchidam ayāce’haṁ bhavaṁ bhāgya-vivarjitaḥ ||
svārājyaṁ yacchato mauḍhyān māno me bhikṣito bata |
īśvarāt kṣīṇa-puṇyena phalī-kārān ivādhanaḥ ||
maitreya uvāca—
na vai mukundasya padāravindayo
rajo-juṣas tāta bhavādṛśā janāḥ |
vāñchanti tad-dāsyam ṛte’rtham ātmano
yadṛcchayā labdha-manaḥ-samṛddhayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.9.27–36)
“[Maitreya:] Even after attaining his desire—that which led [him] to [attaining] the service of Viṣṇu’s feet and because of which his resolve [to propitiate Viṣṇu by means of performing austere worship] was extinguished—he returned home not greatly satisfied.
“Vidura said: ‘Even after having attained in one birth that supreme abode of gracious Hari [i.e., the “vault of heaven” in the upper most region of the material universe], acquired through worship of his feet and most difficult to attain, why did he who was sagacious [i.e., able to discern between essence and non-essence and cognizant of the ultimate puruṣārtha] consider himself as though unsuccessful [i.e., to have not attained a worthwhile goal]?’
“Maitreya said: ‘Having been struck at heart by the arrows of the words of his stepmother and remembering them [i.e., those arrow-like words, at the time of his meeting with Śrī Bhagavān], he did not desire mukti [i.e., bhakti, that is, servitude to Śrī Bhagavān and the position of being one of his associates] from the Lord of mukti [i.e., from Śrī Bhagavān] and [thereafter thus] felt remorse.’
“Dhruva said: ‘After attaining in six months the shade of the feet of he who Sananda and other celibates realized by means of samādhi [only] over the course of many births, I went away [because of] being of separate interest [i.e., because my interest was in an object other than Śrī Bhagavān and thus he did not take me with him to his abode right then]. Oh! Alas! See the mindlessness of I of meager fortune! After having reached the base of the feet of the Destroyer of material existence, I begged for what is perishable. My mind was polluted by the falling, intolerant devas [i.e., by the devas who are inevitably subject to falling from their positions and intolerant of those who attain something beyond them]. Being most wicked, I did not accept the truth of Nārada’s word [when he told me to ignore the harsh remarks of my stepmother that initially prompted me to propitiate Bhagavān for the sake of attaining a kingdom greater than my father’s]. Taking shelter in Bhagavān’s māyā and, as though asleep, being a seer of difference even in a second unreality [i.e., seeing a puruṣārtha other than Śrī Bhagavān as though perceiving unrealities in a dream], I suffered from heartache because of an enemy who was a brother [i.e., I perceived my own brother to be my enemy even though he wasn’t inimical to me at all]. That which was requested [from Śrī Bhagavān] by me is useless, like treatment for a dead person. After propitiating the Self of the universe, the Destroyer of material existence who is difficult to propitiate by means of austerity, I begged for material existence [i.e., something of the realm of material existence that binds one within it], being devoid of fortune. From he who was offering [me] sovereignty [i.e., servitude to himself], honor [i.e., a kingdom and other causes of attaining worldly honor] was begged for by me out of foolishness like unhusked grain is [begged for] from an emperor by a poor man because of being devoid of merit.’
“Maitreya said: ‘My dear [i.e., dear Vidura], persons like you who delight in the dust of the lotus feet of Mukunda and whose well-being of mind comes about [just] by means of that which is attained of its own accord [i.e., those who are satisfied with and able to draw benefit from whatever it is they encounter] certainly do not desire any object of the self [i.e., any puruṣārtha] other than servitude to him.”
