svakīyaḥ paramānanda-śakti-vṛtti-viśeṣodaya-rūpa-prema-viśeṣa-svarūpo yaḥ kāmas … |
(Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 183)
“Kāma, which is of the nature of a special type of prema in the form of a manifestation of a special functional capacity (vṛtti) of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] own potency (śakti) of supreme bliss ….”
alaso manda-buddhiś ca sukhī ca vyādhi-pīḍitaḥ |
nidrāluḥ kāmukaś caiva ṣaḍ ete śāstra-varjitāḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“The lazy, the dull-witted, the happy-go-lucky, those plagued by disease, the slumberous, and the lustful—these six are excluded by śāstra [i.e., they lack the qualifications needed to follow the teachings given in the śāstra and thus the teachings of the śāstra are not applicable to them; they will not attain the ideals taught in śāstra, and those who wish to attain such ideals should avoid their association].”
na kaṭhoraṁ na vā tīkṣṇam āyudhaṁ puṣpadhanvanaḥ |
tathāpi jitam evāsīd amunā bhuvanatrayam ||
(Kāvyādarśa: 2.324)
“The weapon of he of flower bow [i.e., Kāmadeva] is neither hard nor sharp, yet the three worlds have indeed been conquered with it.”
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobho harṣo māno madas tathā |
ṣaḍ-vargam utsṛjed enaṁ tasmiṁs tyakte sukhī nṛpaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 102)
“Give up the six enemies: lust, anger, greed, pleasure, egotism, and pride. O King, one who rejects them is happy in this world.”
parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo
nirvedam āyān nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.12)
“Having examined the planes attained by karma, a brāhmaṇa reaches disinterest [based on the conclusion], ‘That which is unmade [Brahman] is not attained by that which is made [karma].’ To know in depth that [which is unmade, Brahman], he, with firewood in hand, should only [rather than seeking knowledge of it independently] approach a guru who is learned [in the śāstra] and fixed [exclusively] in Brahman.”
na tat-parasya saṁdadhyāt pratikūlaṁ yadātmanaḥ |
saṁgraheṇaiṣa dharmaḥ syāt kāmād anyaḥ pravartate ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.39.57; 13.114.8)
“That which is objectionable to one’s self should not be done to others. This, in summary, is dharma. Behavior contrary to this arises from kāma [i.e., selfish desire].”
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.”
yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hrdi sthitāḥ |
atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty atra brahma samaśnute ||
(Bṛhad-ārayaṇka Upaniṣad: 4.4.7; Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.14; cited in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Sārātha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.32, Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9, the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55; Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 4.2.7)
“When all the desires present in one’s heart are dispelled, then a mortal becomes immortal and here experiences Brahman.”
hṛd-vapre nava-bhakti-śasya-vitateḥ sañjīvanī svāgamā-
rambhe kāma-tapa-rtu-dāha-damanī viśvāpagollāsinī |
dūrān me maru-śākhino’pi sarasī-bhāvāya bhūyāt prabhu-
śrī-caitanya-kṛpā-niraṅkuśa-mahā-mādhurya-kādambinī ||
(Mādhurya-kādambinī: 1.1)
“The revitalizer of the grains of young bhakti in the field of the heart, the subduer from its outset of the burning of the hot season of kāma, the delighter of the rivers of the world—may that great, unrestrained cloud bank (kādambinī) of the mellifluousness (mādhurya) of Prabhu Śrī Caitanya’s grace from afar fill even me, a [dry] tree in the desert, with rasa [i.e., water, alt., bhakti-rasa].”
ūrdhva-bāhur viraumy eṣa na ca kaścic chṛṇoti me |
dharmād arthaś ca kāmaś ca sa kim arthaṁ na sevyate ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.49)
“With arms upraised, I shout this, but no one listens to me. From dharma come artha and kāma. [So,] Why is it [i.e., dharma] not followed?”
