ka īpsitārtha-sthira-niścayaṁ manaḥ
ka īpsitārtha-sthira-niścayaṁ manaḥ
payaś ca nimnābhimukhaṁ pratīpayet ||
(Kumāra-sambhava: 5.5)
“Who can oppose the mind firmly resolved upon a desired object or water flowing downwards?”
Manas
idaṁ hi yogeśvara yoga-naipuṇaṁ
idaṁ hi yogeśvara yoga-naipuṇaṁ
hiraṇyagarbho bhagavāñ jagāda yat |
yad anta-kāle tvayi nirguṇe mano
bhaktyā dadhītojjhita-duṣkalevaraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.19.13)
“O Master of yoga, that which Bhagavān Hiraṇyagarbha [i.e., Lord Brahmā] has spoken of is certainly expertise in yoga: at the time of death, the wavering mind, abandoning the contemptible body, should be placed with bhakti on you who are nirguṇa.”
markaṭasya surāpānaṁ madhye vṛścika-daṁśanam
markaṭasya surāpānaṁ madhye vṛścika-daṁśanam |
tan-madhye bhūta-sañcāro yadvā tadvā bhaviṣyati ||
(Samayocita-padya-mālikā)
“Anything may become of a monkey who, while drinking alcohol, is bitten by a scorpion and possessed by a ghost.”
kṣaṇe ruṣṭaḥ kṣaṇe tuṣṭaḥ ruṣṭe tuṣṭe kṣaṇe kṣaṇe
kṣaṇe ruṣṭaḥ kṣaṇe tuṣṭaḥ ruṣṭe tuṣṭe kṣaṇe kṣaṇe |
avyavasthita-cittasya prasādo’pi bhayaṅkaraḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited partially in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3434)
“He is angry at one moment and pleased in the next. He is angry and satisfied from moment to moment. Even the favor of one of unstable mind is fearsome.”
mana eva manuṣyendra bhūtānāṁ bhava-bhāvanam
mana eva manuṣyendra bhūtānāṁ bhava-bhāvanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.77)
“O king of men! The mind of living beings is the cause of worldly existence [i.e., saṁsāra].”
mana eva manuṣyāṇaṁ kāraṇaṁ bandha-mokṣayoḥ
mana eva manuṣyāṇaṁ kāraṇaṁ bandha-mokṣayoḥ |
bandhāya viṣayāsaktaṁ muktyai nirviṣayaṁ smṛtam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.11)
“For human beings, the mind alone is the cause of bondage and mokṣa. A mind that is attached to sense objects is regarded as the cause of bondage, and a mind uninvolved with the sense objects is [regarded as] the cause of liberation.”
māyā manaḥ sṛjati karmamayaṁ balīyaḥ
māyā manaḥ sṛjati karmamayaṁ balīyaḥ
kālena codita-guṇānumatena puṁsaḥ |
chandomayaṁ yad ajayārpita-ṣoḍaśāraṁ
saṁsāra-cakram aja ko’titaret tvad-anyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.21)
“Māyā, with the permission of the Puruṣa, and with its guṇas impelled by time, emanates the mind (manas), which is constituted of karma, most powerful [i.e., very difficult to conquer], filled with fancy (chanda) [i.e., vāsanās], and infused with sixteen transformations by the unborn [i.e., by ignorance (avidyā)]. O Unborn One [i.e., O Bhagavān], who apart from you [i.e., who that has not received your grace and does not engage in your service] can surmount this wheel of saṁsāra [i.e., the mind]?”
yad idaṁ manasā vācā cakṣurbhyāṁ śravaṇādibhiḥ
yad idaṁ manasā vācā cakṣurbhyāṁ śravaṇādibhiḥ |
naśvaraṁ gṛhyamāṇaṁ ca viddhi māyā-manomayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.7.7; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha 69)
“Know that this [world] which is perceived with the mind, speech, eyes, ears, and so forth is transitory and illusory on account of being formulated in the mind.”
ābhīra-pallī-pati-putra-kāntā
ābhīra-pallī-pati-putra-kāntā-
dāsyābhilāṣātibalāśvavāraḥ |
śrī-rūpa-cintāmala-sapti-saṁstho
mat-svānta-durdānta-hayecchur āstām ||
(Stavāvalī: Abhīṣṭa-sūcana: 1)
“May the very strong horseman of longing for servitude unto the Beloved of the Son of the cowherd village’s headman [i.e., Śrī Rādhikā, the beloved of Śrī Kṛṣṇa] that is mounted on the spotless horse of Śrī Rūpa’s thoughts become desirous of [mounting, and riding] the difficult to tame horse of my mind [i.e., may Śrī Rūpa’s line of thought regarding Śrī Rādhikā and the longing it inspires take hold in my mind and forever engage me in the service of Śrī Rādhikā].”
yadākṣaiś caritān dhyāyan karmāṇy ācinute’sakṛt
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.”