Mind

viṣaya thākite kṛṣṇa-prema nāhi haya

viṣaya thākite kṛṣṇa-prema nāhi haya |
viṣayīra dūre kṛṣṇa jāniha niścaya ||
viṣaye āviṣṭa mana baḍai jañjāla |
strī-putra māyā-jāla, ei saba kāla ||
daive kona bhāgyavān sādhu-saṅga pāya |
viṣaye āveśa chāḍi kṛṣṇere bhajaya ||
sei saba aparādha habe punar-bāra |
viṣayera dharma ei śuna kathā-sāra ||
‘viṣaya pāsara ahar-niśa bala hari’ ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 1.16.59–63)

“[Hari Dāsa Ṭhākura to inmates in jail:] “Kṛṣṇa-prema does not manifest in the presence of viṣaya [i.e., objects of the senses and mental inclinations for them]. Know for certain that Kṛṣṇa is far from viṣayīs. A mind absorbed in viṣaya is a great disturbance. Wife and sons are the net of māyā. They are all death [i.e., the bewilderment produced attachment related to them effectively terminates one’s endeavor to transcend the realm of saṁsāra and perpetuates only absorption in worldly ends]. If by destiny some fortunate person attains association with a sādhu, then one gives up absorption in viṣaya and serves Kṛṣṇa. All that offense [i.e., all the offenses in the form of violence towards, and disturbance of, other living beings that you have committed and thus wound up in jail] will happen again [if you do not follow my advice]. This is the nature of viṣaya [i.e., the nature of worldly objects and the mental inclinations they produce, that is, vāsanās, is that they cause one to perpetually engage in the same behaviors]. Listen to the essence of my message …: ‘Forget viṣaya and day and night chant, “Hari!”’”

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mano yadi na nirjitaṁ kim amunā tapasyādinā

mano yadi na nirjitaṁ kim amunā tapasyādinā
kathaṁ sa manaso jayo yadi na cintyate mādhavaḥ |
kim asya ca vicintanaṁ yadi na hanta ceto-dravaḥ
sa vā katham aho bhaved yadi na vāsanā-kṣālanam ||
(Caitanyacandrodaya-nāṭaka: 7.7)

“If the mind is not conquered, then what will come of all these austerities and so forth? How is the mind conquered if Mādhava is not thought of? Oh, and what is contemplation of him if the heart does not melt? But alas, how will that happen if the vāsanās [i.e., the vāsanās unrelated to him remaining in the heart] are not washed away?”

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īkṣeta cintāmayam enam īśvaraṁ

īkṣeta cintāmayam enam īśvaraṁ
yāvan mano dhāraṇayāvatiṣṭhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.12)

“Behold [i.e., meditate on] this Īśvara consisting of thought [i.e., manifest through meditation] as long as the mind remains steady with concentration.”

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kiṁ durāpādanaṁ teṣāṁ puṁsām uddāma-cetasām

kiṁ durāpādanaṁ teṣāṁ puṁsām uddāma-cetasām |
yair āśritas tīrtha-padaś caraṇo vyasanātyayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.23.42)

“What is difficult to attain for those persons of unfettered mind [i.e., of strong mind, or, even alternately, of uncontrolled mind] who take shelter in the feet of he whose feet are the origin of all tīrthas, the feet which bring about the cessation of [all] plight [i.e., saṁsāra itself]?”

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matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā

matir na kṛṣṇe parataḥ svato vā
mitho’bhipadyeta gṛha-vratānām |
adānta-gobhir viśatāṁ tamisraṁ
punaḥ punaś carvita-carvaṇānām ||
na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ
durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ |
andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānās
te’pīśa-tantryām uru-dāmni baddhāḥ ||
naiṣāṁ matis tāvad urukramāṅghriṁ
spṛśaty anarthāpagamo yad-arthaḥ |
mahīyasāṁ pāda-rajo-’bhiṣekaṁ
niṣkiñcanānāṁ na vṛṇīta yāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.5.30–32)

“[Śrī Prahlāda to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Inclination towards Kṛṣṇa cannot arise on account of another, on its own, or on account of both [i.e., on its own and on account of another] for those intent upon household life, who have entered darkness because of uncontrolled senses and whose chewing is [only] of the chewed [therein] again and again. They, of debased mind, who honor only those whose aim is in the external, certainly do not understand Viṣṇu, he who is the object to be reached [only] for those whose aim is related to the Self. They also become bound by the strong strands of Īśa’s cord like the blind being led by the blind. Their inclination, the need of which is the cessation of the insubstantial, does not touch the feet of he of great stride [i.e., Bhagavān] so long as one shall not accept a bath in the foot-dust of the divested—the great ones.”

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aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi

aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi |
utsarpati rajo ghoraṁ tato vaikārikaṁ manaḥ ||
rajo-yuktasya manasaḥ saṅkalpaḥ sa-vikalpakaḥ |
tataḥ kāmo guṇa-dhyānād duḥsahaḥ syād dhi durmateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.9–10)

[In response to Uddhava’s inquiry as to why human beings engage in sensual enjoyment even though they generally know it ultimately results only in suffering, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:] “When a false notion of ‘I’ [i.e., identification with the material body and mind] surges in the heart of a bewildered person [i.e., someone devoid of proper discrimination], then frightful rajas surges in the sāttvika mind [i.e., even though the mind is sāttvika by nature]. Resolve along with fancy arise in a mind possessed by rajas, and then irresistible desire arises because of the deluded person’s [consequent] meditation on qualities [i.e., mental absorption in the qualities of the object of the mind’s resolve and fancy].”

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api sphārāmode pratipada-sudhā-koṭi-madhure

api sphārāmode pratipada-sudhā-koṭi-madhure
purāṇa-grāmāntar-vahati tava līlā-rasa-jhare |
mano-vatsaḥ pātuṁ viṣaya-viṣa-garte viśati me
kṛpā-yaṣṭyā tūrṇaṁ damaya tam amuṁ tarṇaka-pate ||
(Stava-mālā: Nandotsavādi-carita, 11)

“Although the stream of your līlā-rasa, abundantly fragrant [i.e., imbued with the fine fragrance of your qualities and renown] and sweet at every step with the highest grade of nectar, flows through the old village [i.e., the Purāṇas led by Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], the calf of my mind enters a ditch to drink the poison of viṣaya. O calf-keeper [i.e., O Kṛṣṇa], please quickly restrain it with the stick of your grace [so that it drinks only your līlā-rasa and no more the poison of viṣaya].”

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āvirbhūya mano-vṛttau vrajanti tat-svarūpatām

āvirbhūya mano-vṛttau vrajanti tat-svarūpatām |
svayaṁ-prakāśa-rūpāpi bhāsamānā prākāśyavat ||
vastutaḥ svayam āsvāda-svarūpaiva ratis tv asau |
kṛṣṇādi-karmakāsvāda-hetutvaṁ pratipadyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.3.4–5)

“Although self-luminous in form, this rati appears in a vṛtti of the mind, assumes the state of its nature, and shines like something to be illuminated [by that vṛtti]. In reality this rati is itself taste just by [its own] nature, yet it enters the state of being the cause of tasting its objects, Kṛṣṇa and so forth.”

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citta dṛḍha hañā lāge mahimā-jñāna haite

citta dṛḍha hañā lāge mahimā-jñāna haite ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.2.118)

“The mind becomes firmly attached because of knowledge of greatness [i.e., the mind becomes firmly attached to an object when it the greatness of the object is known].”

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sakṛn manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor

sakṛn manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor
niveśitaṁ tad-guṇa-rāgi yair iha |
na te yamaṁ pāśa-bhṛtaś ca tad-bhaṭān
svapne’pi paśyanti hi cīrṇa-niṣkṛtāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.1.19; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 74)

“Those here [i.e., in this world] by whom the mind has once been placed upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and been colored by his qualities do not, even in dreams, see Yama or his chain-carrying soldiers since they have [effectively] observed atonement [for their sins by having placed the mind on Bhagavān and consequently are sinless].”

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