divā paśyati nolūkaḥ kāko naktaṁ na paśyati |
apūrvaḥ ko’pi kāmāndhaḥ divā naktaṁ na paśyati ||
(Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra)
“An owl cannot see during the day, and a crow cannot see during the night, but indeed how peculiar is it that one who is blinded by kāma cannot see during the day or the night.”
jāta-śraddho mat-kathāsu nirviṇṇaḥ sarva-karmasu |
veda duḥkhātmakān kāmān parityāge’py anīśvaraḥ ||
tato bhajeta māṁ prītaḥ śraddhālur dṛḍha-niścayaḥ |
juṣamāṇaś ca tān kāmān duḥkhodarkāṁś ca garhayan ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.27–28)
“One who has śraddhā in discussions of me, is disinterested in all karmas [i.e., in all activities that are unrelated to me], and knows that desires are full of suffering [i.e., are invariable causes of suffering] yet is still unable to relinquish them, should thereafter worship me, being affectionate, full of śraddhā, and of firm resolve while both acceding to and condemning those objects of desire, the consequences of which are [only ultimately] suffering.”
ātmendriya-prīti-icchā—tāre bali ‘kāma’ |
kṛṣṇendriya-prīti-ichchā —dhare ‘prema’ nāma ||
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara |
kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema nirmala bhāskara ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.165, 172)
“The desire to please one’s own senses—that we call ‘kāma,’ and the desire to please Kṛṣṇa’s senses bears the name ‘prema.’ … Therefore, there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is [like] blinding darkness, and prema is [like] a taintless sun.”
tvan-māyā-racite loke vastu-buddhyā gṛhādiṣu |
bhramanti kāma-lobherṣyā-moha-vibhrānta-cetasaḥ ||
adya naḥ sarva-bhūtātman kāma-karmendriyāśayaḥ |
moha-pāśo dṛḍhaś chinno bhagavaṁs tava darśanāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.8.25–26)
“Those whose minds are bewildered by kāma, greed, envy, and delusion wander about their houses and elsewhere in this plane made by your māyā with the mentality that it is real [i.e., that the world of their present experience is of ultimate importance]. O Ātmā of all beings! O Bhagavān! Today the strong rope of our bewilderment, which is the seat of kāma, karma, and the senses, has been cut by your darśana.”
tvaṁ sarva-lokasya suhṛt priyeśvaro
hy ātmā gurur jñānam abhīṣṭa-siddhiḥ |
tathāpi loko na bhavantam andha-dhīr
jānāti santaṁ hṛdi baddha-kāmaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.24.52)
[Satyavrata Rāja to Matsya Avatāra:] “You are the friend, beloved, Īśvara, Self, guru, knowledge, and desired attainment of all people. Still, a person of blind mind, bound by desire at heart, does not recognize you as a sādhu [i.e, does not recognize that you come in the form of a sādhu to guide them, that is, that you are the guru who guides them on the path to ultimate well-being].”
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].”
pratiṣṭhā-rajjūbhir baddhaṁ kāmādyair vartma-pātibhiḥ |
chittvā tāḥ saṁharantas tān aghāreḥ pāntu māṁ bhaṭāḥ ||
(Vraja-vilāsa-stava: 1)
“I have been bound with the ropes of pratiṣṭhā by the highwaymen of kāma and so forth. May the soldiers of Agha’s Foe [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s bhaktas] protect me by cutting away these ropes and routing these highwaymen.”
