cittam eva hi saṁsāras tat prayatnena śodhayet |
yac cittas tanmayo bhāti guhyam etat sanātanam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.3; Śāṭyāyanīya Upaniṣad: 3)
“The citta (mind) itself is saṁsāra [i.e., the condition of one’s citta is the cause of the perpetuation of one’s bondage in saṁsāra]. Purify it with exertion. As is the citta, so one becomes [i.e., one becomes absorbed in, constituted of, and/or identical to the content in one’s citta]. This is the eternal secret.”
viṣayīra anna khāile malina haya mana |
malina mana haile nahe kṛṣṇera smaraṇa ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.278)
“When you eat the food of viṣayīs, the mind becomes contaminated, and when the mind is contaminated, there is no remembrance of Kṛṣṇa.”
nirviṇṇasya viraktasya puruṣasyokta-vedinaḥ |
manas tyajati daurātmyaṁ cintitasyānucintayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.23)
“The mind of a person who is disinterested, detached, cognizant of what has been said, and thoughtful, by means of contemplation gives up ill-naturedness.”
bhāro’vivekinaḥ śāstraṁ bhāro jñānaṁ ca rāgiṇaḥ |
aśāntasya mano bhāraḥ bhāro’nātmavido vapuḥ ||
(Yoga Vāsiṣṭa: 1.14.13; Mahopaniṣad: 2.16)
“The śāstra is a burden for the indiscriminate. Knowledge is a burden for the passionate. The mind is a burden for the disquieted, and the body is a burden for one devoid of knowledge of the self.”
anarthi-tarpaṇaṁ vittaṁ cittam adhyāna-darpaṇam |
atīrtha-sarpaṇaṁ dehaṁ paryante śocyatāṁ vrajet ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)
“Wealth that does not satisfy the needy, a mind that is not a mirror for meditation, and a body that does not go to the tīrthas shall become lamentable in the end.”
etāvān eva loke’smin puṁsāṁ niḥśreyasodayaḥ |
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena mano mayy arpitaṁ sthiram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.25.44; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 47)
“The mind [in a state of being] offered to me through resolute bhakti-yoga [i.e., through engagement in practices of bhakti, such as hearing] and [thus remaining] steady [i.e., absorbed in me]—this much alone [i.e., being in this state of mind by means of bhakti] is [itself] the manifestation of the highest good [i.e., the attainment of the ultimate puruṣārtha] for the living being in this world.”
sa kiṁ guruḥ sa kiṁ tātaḥ sa kiṁ putra sa kiṁ sakhā |
sa kiṁ rājā sa kiṁ bandhur na dadyād yo harau matim ||
(Garga-saṁhitā: 10.62.11)
“One who shall not focus his mind on Hari—is he a guru? Is he a father? Is he a son? Is he a friend? Is he a king? Is he a relative?”
avadhāraya dharmeṣu pradhānam avadhānataḥ |
nirbharānanda-kandāya govindāya mano’rpaya ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3238)
“Attentively determine the foremost principle among all dharmas: offer the mind to Govinda, the source of immeasurable bliss.”
cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham |
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 6.34)
“O Kṛṣṇa, because the mind is restless, agitating, powerful, and obstinate, I consider controlling it, like [trying to control] the wind, extremely difficult.”
evaṁ manaḥ karma-vaśaṁ prayuṅkte
avidyayātmany upadhīyamāne |
prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve
na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.6)
“Thus, karma subjugates the mind when the ātmā is covered by avidyā. Until one has prīti for me, Vāsudeva, one is not freed from entanglement with the body.”
