kāmān yaḥ kāmayate manyamānaḥ
sa kāmabhir jāyate tatra tatra |
paryāpta-kāmasya kṛtātmanas tu
ihaiva sarve pravilīyanti kāmāḥ ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.2.2)
“One who engenders desire for and dwells upon objects of desire is born there among them with [those] desires, but all the desires of one who is of satisfied desire and has realized the ātmā vanish even here [i.e., even while still in a material body within saṁsāra].”
yadṛcchayopapannena santuṣṭo vartate sukham |
nāsantuṣṭas tribhir lokair ajitātmopasāditaiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.19.24)
“[Vāmanadeva to Bali Mahārāja:] One who is satisfied with that which it attained of its own accord is happy. One who has not controlled oneself [i.e., one’s senses] is not satisfied even upon having attained the three worlds.”
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
nālam ekasya tat sarvam iti matvā śamaṁ vrajet ||
(Hari-vaṁśa Purāṇa: 22.38; Mahābhārata: 5.63.11; cited in the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā and Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 3.37)
“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth are not sufficient for one [person]. Deliberate on this and take to equanimity.”
yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
na duhyanti manaḥ-prītiṁ puṁsaḥ kāma-hatasya te ||
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāṁyati |
haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 98)
“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth cannot satisfy the mind of a person afflicted with desire. Desire is never extinguished by enjoyment of objects of desire. It is only again further increased [thereby] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”
mano hi dvi-vidhaṁ proktaṁ śuddhaṁ cāśuddham eva ca |
aśuddhaṁ kāma-samparkāt śuddhaṁ kāma-vivarjitam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.6)
“The mind is said to be of two types: pure and impure. It is impure because of association with kāma, and pure when completely purged of kāma.”
akāmasya kriyā kācid dṛśyate neha karhicit |
yad yad dhi kurute jantus tat-tat-kāmasya ceṣṭitam ||
(Manu Smṛti: 2.4)
“No action whatsoever of a desireless person is observable anywhere here [i.e., in this world] since whatever a person does is an action of [i.e., motivated by] desire for that [i.e., for whatever object the action is related to].”
kāmātmatā na praśastā na caivaihāsty akāmatā |
kāmyo hi vedādhigamaḥ karma-yogaś ca vaidikaḥ ||
(Manu Smṛti: 2.2)
“Being desirous is not praiseworthy, but there is no desirelessness in this world. Study of the Veda and the practice of the karma described in the Vedas are based on [i.e., prompted by] desire.”
kāmamaya evāyaṁ puruṣa iti | sa yathā-kāmo bhavati tat-kratur bhavati | yat-kratur bhavati tat karma kurute | yat karma kurute tad abhisampadyate |
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 4.4.5)
“The living being is indeed made of desire. As is his desire, so is his intention. As is his intention, so is the action he performs, and as is the action he performs, so is that which he attains.”
saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo bhavatināṁ mad-arcanam |
mayānumoditaḥ so’sau satyo bhavitum arhati ||
na mayy āveśita-dhiyāṁ kāmaḥ kāmāya kalpate |
bharjitāḥ kvathitā dhānā prāyo bījāya neśate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.22.25–26)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to the gopīs who worshipped Kātyāyanī to attain him as their husband:] O honorable girls, your resolve (saṅkalpa) in worshipping me is understood. It is approved by me and fit to become true. The desire of those whose minds are absorbed in me does not lead to desire [i.e., desire for anything else]. Do fried and boiled roasted grains likely act as seed?”
loka-dharma veda-dharma deha-dharma-karma |
lajjā dhairya deha-sukha ātma-sukha-marma ||
dustyaja ārya-patha nija parijana |
svajane karaye yata tāḍana-bhartsana ||
sarva-tyāga kari kare kṛṣṇera bhajana |
kṛṣṇa-sukha-hetu kare prema-sevana ||
ihāke kahiye kṛṣṇe dṛḍha anurāga |
svaccha dhauta-vastre yaiche nāhi kona dāga ||
ataeva kāma-preme bahuta antara |
kāma andha-tamaḥ, prema nirmala bhāskara ||
ataeva gopī-gaṇe nāhi kāma-gandha |
kṛṣṇa-sukha lāgi mātra, kṛṣṇa se sambandha ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.4.167–172)
“Social dharma [i.e., conventional rites and conduct], Vedic dharma [i.e., rites and conduct enjoined in the Vedas], activities dictated by bodily dharma [i.e., appeasing one’s thirst and hunger, etc.], shyness, composure, and pleasing the body [i.e., activities performed to please the senses]—which are [all] based on pleasing oneself—the difficult to give up noble path [i.e., the code of proper social conduct], one’s own relatives, and all the punishment and chastisement leveled by one’s kinsfolk—forsaking all [of these] and engaging in worship of Kṛṣṇa, that is, engaging in service with prema for the sake of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure—this is called firm anurāga for Kṛṣṇa. It [i.e., such anurāga] is like a pure washed cloth on which there is no blemish whatsoever. Therefore, there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is like blinding darkness, and prema is like the spotless sun. Therefore, there is not even a trace of kāma within the gopīs. Their relationship with Kṛṣṇa is only for the sake of Kṛṣṇa’s happiness.”
