icchā-vaśāt pāpam upāsakānāṁ
kṣīyeta bhogonmukham apy amuṣmāt |
prārabdha-mātraṁ bhavatītareṣāṁ
karmāvaśiṣṭaṁ tad avaśya-bhogyam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.3.169)
“Even the sin which is about to be experienced [i.e., the prārabdha-karma] of upāsakas is destroyed by this [i.e., by nāma-saṅkīrtana] according to their will. For others, prārabdha [-karma] is the only remaining karma, since that is necessary to be experienced.”
nābhuktaṁ kṣīyate karma kalpa-koṭi-śatair api |
avaśyam eva bhoktavyaṁ kṛtaṁ karma śubhāśubham ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa)
“Karma that is not experienced does not dissipate, even after hundreds of millions of kalpas. Past karma, be it auspicious or inauspicious, must certainly be experienced.”
sukhāya karmāṇi karoti loko
na taiḥ sukhaṁ vānyad upāramaṁ vā |
vindeta bhūyas tata eva duḥkhaṁ
yad atra yuktaṁ bhagavān vaden naḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.5.2)
“People engage in karma in pursuit of happiness, but by that they attain neither happiness nor the cessation of its opposite [i.e., suffering]. Rather, they attain only more suffering. O illustrious sage, please explain what is befitting [for us to do] here [i.e., in this condition in saṁsāra].”
karmaṇā manasā vācā parapīḍāṁ karoti yaḥ |
tad-bījaṁ janma phalati prabhūtaṁ tasya cāśubham ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 1827)
“He who harms others with his actions, mind, and speech—the seed produced by this [behavior] results in immense inauspiciousness for him.”
pāpaṁ kurvan pāpakīrtiḥ pāpam evāśnute phalam |
puṇyaṁ kurvan puṇyakīrtiḥ puṇyam evāśnute phalam ||
pāpaṁ prajñāṁ nāśayati kriyamāṇaṁ punaḥ punaḥ |
naṣṭa-prajñaḥ pāpam eva nityam ārabhate naraḥ ||
puṇyaṁ prajñāṁ vardhayati kriyamāṇaṁ punaḥ punaḥ |
vṛddha-prajñaḥ puṇyam eva nityam ārabhate naraḥ ||
asūyako dandaśūko niṣṭhuro vairakṛn naraḥ |
sa kṛcchraṁ mahad āpnoto nacirāt pāpam ācaran ||
anasūyaḥ kṛta-prajñaḥ śobhanāny ācaran sadā |
akṛcchrāt sukham āpnoti sarvatra ca virājate ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.35.51−6)
“By committing sin, a sinful person certainly receives the results of sin. By practicing piety, a pious person certainly receives the results of piety. Sin committed again and again destroys one’s intellect, and a person whose intellect is destroyed begins to commit sin continuously. Piety practiced again and again enhances one’s intellect, and a person of enhanced intellect starts to practice piety continuously. A persons who is envious, mordacious, cruel, and inimical, by committing sins, soon undergoes great difficulty. One who is non-envious and endowed with intellect, by always performing auspicious acts, attains happiness without difficulty and shines everywhere.”
yadākṣaiś caritān dhyāyan karmāṇy ācinute’sakṛt |
sati karmaṇy avidyāyāṁ bandhaḥ karmaṇy anātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.78)
“[How is the mind the cause of saṁsāra?] When one repeatedly performs karmas thinking of objects attained [previously] by the senses, then, since karma [i.e., a karmic reaction] is present and thus [also] avidyā [i.e., the underlying basis of karma is also present], bondage to the karma of the non-ātmā occurs.”
tat karma hari-toṣaṁ yat sā vidyā tan-matir yayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.49)
“That which satisfies Hari is karma [i.e., only action that is a cause of Hari’s satisfaction is truly action that ought to be performed], and that by which one becomes endowed with understanding of him is vidyā [i.e., only knowledge based on śāstra by which one comes to perceive Hari is true knowledge].”
pūjādimaya-bhakter api tādṛśatvaṁ nānumeyam | apūrvavad bhakter niṣpādyatvābhāvāt | guṇamayaṁ hi niṣpādyaṁ syāt nāguṇamayam | ‘kaivalyaṁ sāttvikaṁ jñānam’ ity ārabhya ekādaśe śrī-bhagavataivāguṇamayatvam aṅgīkṛtam | ataḥ svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti-viśeṣatvena tasyāḥ bhagavat-prasāde sati svayam āvirbhāva eva na janma | sa cāvirbhāvo’nanta eva tadīya-phalānantya-śravaṇāt | tasmāt parmeśvarānāśrayatvaṁ tatropādhir bhaviṣyati | … atra bhakteḥ sādhana-bhūtatve na tādṛśatvaṁ mantavyam | bhagavat-prema-vilāsa-rūpatayā siddhānām api tad-atyāga-śravaṇāt ||
(Prīti Sandarbha: 5)
“Bhakti constituted of [acts of] worship and so forth also being such [i.e., perishable, non-eternal] is not to be inferred because of the non-existence of bhakti’s niṣpādyatva [i.e., quality of being something that needs to be effected] like apūrva [i.e., bhakti does not have niṣpādyatva like the results of performing sacrifice (yajñā), which are called apūrva]. That which is constituted of the [material] guṇas (guṇamaya) shall be niṣpādya [i.e., something that needs to be effected], and [shall] not [be] that which is not constituted of the [material] guṇas (aguṇamaya). Starting from [the statement] kaivalyaṁ sāttvikaṁ jñānam [i.e., SB 11.25.24], [bhakti’s] being not constituted of the [material] guṇas (aguṇamaya) is accepted by Śrī Bhagavān. Therefore, because of [bhakti’s] being a specific function (vṛtti-viśeṣa) of the intrinsic potency (svarūpa-śakti) [of Bhagavān], when Bhagavān is pleased [alt., when Bhagavān’s grace occurs], its [i.e., bhakti’s] appearance (āvirbhāva), and not [its] production (janma), occurs of its own accord [i.e., bhakti manifests in the heart of a living being not as something that was produced there but rather as something that was pre-existent elsewhere which has now appeared there]. That appearance [of bhakti], furthermore, is verily endless [i.e., once bhakti appears there, it remains existent there without end] because of hearing [in śāstra] of the endlessness of its result [i.e., since bhakti gives rises to results that are known to be endless, bhakti‘s presence after manifesting is also to be understood to be endless].Therefore, not being sheltered in Parameśvara shall be the condition (upādhi) in this regard [i.e., if an act that involves perishable objects, such as a yajña, is performed by one who has taken shelter in Parameśvara, then the result shall be imperishable, but if one has not taken shelter in Parameśvara, then the acts performed shall not produce imperishable results]. … In this regard [i.e., in regard to the principle that something which is perishable and a means to another goal cannot itself be the ultimate goal (paramārtha)], bhakti’s being such [i.e., being not the ultimate goal (paramārtha)] because of [its] being existent as a sādhana (means) is not be considered on account of hearing [in śāstra] of non-abandonment of it even on the part of siddhas [i.e., those in whom bhakti is established and thus is no longer a sādhana] because of [bhakti’s] being a form of the play of prema for Bhagavān [i.e., bhakti is indeed the ultimate goal (paramārtha) because it is not perishable or merely a means to attain another goal; this is proven by the fact that even siddhas never give it up, and rather, eternally foster it, in the form of prema, in the midst of the eternal līlā of Śrī Bhagavān].”
na pāpaṁ prati pāpaḥ syāt sādhur eva sadā bhavet |
ātmanaiva hataḥ pāpo yaḥ pāpaṁ kartum icchati ||
(Mahābhārata: 3.210.33)
“Let no counter-sin arise in response to a sin. One should always and only be a sādhu [i.e., honest and virtuous, and not succumb to a lower standard of behavior just because others are acting in that manner towards oneself]. A sinner who desires to commit sin is destroyed by his own self.”
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].”
