muktau sva-tattva-jñānena māyāpagamato hi saḥ |
nivartate ghanānanda-brahmāṁśānubhavo bhavet ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.188)
“That [i.e., the delusion of saṁsāra] ceases on account of the withdrawal of māyā in [i.e., upon the attainment of] mukti by means of knowledge of the essential nature (tattva) of the self, and [then for a jīva who thus becomes liberated] the experience of [only] a part (aṁśa) of the condensed bliss of Brahman shall occur.”
atas tasmād abhinnās te bhinnā api satāṁ matāḥ |
muktau satyam api prāyo bhedas tiṣṭhed ato hi saḥ ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.2.186)
“Therefore, they [i.e., the jīvas] are considered by the sat non-distinct from him and also distinct [from him], and therefore even when mukti occurs, that distinction shall certainly remain in most cases.”
mahat-sevāṁ dvāram āhur vimuktes
tamo-dvāraṁ yoṣitāṁ saṅgi-saṅgam |
mahāntas te sama-cittāḥ praśāntā
vimanyavaḥ suhṛdaḥ sādhavo ye |
ye vā mayīśe kṛta-sauhṛdārthā
janeṣu dehambhara-vārtikeṣu ||
gṛheṣu jāyātmaja-rātimatsu
na prīti-yuktā yāvad-arthāś ca loke ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.5.2–3; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.17, 69; Bhakti Sandarbha: 186; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.82)
“Service to the mahats is said to be the door to ultimate mukti, and attachment to those who are attached to women [is said to be] the door to darkness. The mahāntas are they who are of equal mind, tranquil, free from anger, friendly, and virtuous, or, they who (1) have made affection [i.e., prema] for me, Īśa, their aim, (2) are unpossessed of affinity for persons fixated upon affairs related to bodily maintenance and houses accompanied by wives, children, and friends, and (3) are possessed of only so much wealth [as is necessary] in this world.”
yasmin yasmiṁs tu viṣaye yo yo yāti viniścayam |
sa tam evābhijānāti nānyaṁ bharata-sattama ||
yathā yathā ca paryeti loka-tantram asāravat |
tathā tathā virāgo’tra jāyate nātra saṁśayaḥ ||
evaṁ vyavasite loke bahu-doṣe yudhiṣṭhira |
ātma-mokṣa-nimittaṁ vai yateta matimān naraḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.175.3–5)
“Whatever firm resolve one acquires in regard to whatever object—that alone one understands [to be truly beneficial], and not anything else, O best of the Bharatas. As far as one maturely recognizes [i.e., deliberates upon and thereby understands] the intrinsic nature of the world to be essenceless, so far detachment towards it arises. Of this there is no doubt. When the world is thus determined to be possessed of numerous defects, O Yudhiṣṭhra, an intelligent person shall certainly endeavor for the sake of liberation of the self.”
āge haya mukta, tabe sarva-bandha-nāśa |
tabe sei haite pāre śrī-kṛṣṇera dāsa ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 2.17.106)
“First, one becomes liberated. Then the destruction of all bondage occurs. Then one can become a servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
bhukti-mukti-spṛhā yāvat piśācī hṛdi vartate |
tāvad bhakti-sukhasyātra katham abhyudayo bhavet ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛtā-sindhu: 1.2.22)
“As long as the fiend of desire for enjoyment or mukti remains in the heart, how can the emergence of the happiness of bhakti occur there?”
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam |
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.57; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.285; Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 189, 247; Prīti Sandarbha: 30)
“[Bhagavān Śiva to the Pracetas:] I equate neither Svarga nor non-repetition of birth, much less the benedictions had by human beings, with even half a moment of association with those who are attached to Bhagavān.”
so’haṁ tavāṅghry-upagato’smy asatāṁ durāpaṁ
tac cāpy ahaṁ bhavad-anugraha īśa manye |
puṁso bhaved yarhi saṁsaraṇāpavargas
tvayy abja-nābha sad-upāsanayā matiḥ syāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.40.28)
“Being such [i.e., although I am unable to restrict my mind from the pull of the senses upon it towards their various objects], I have approached your feet, which are difficult to attain for the asat. That too, furthermore, I consider your favor, O Īśa! When the cessation of saṁsāra shall come about for a person, O you of lotus navel, inclination towards you shall come about as a result of worship of the sat.”
maivaṁ mamādhamasyāpi syād evācyuta-darśanam |
hriyamāṇaḥ kāla-nadyā kvacit tarati kaścana ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.38.5; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.44)
“[Akrūra muses:] It is not like that. Although [I am] fallen, I may indeed have darśana of Acyuta. Sometimes someone being carried by the river of time crosses over.”
ye’nye’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ |
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.42; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 111, 121; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.30, 2.24.131, 141, 2.25.32)
“[The devas address Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the womb of Mother Devakī:] O Lotus-eyed One, others, who consider themselves fully liberated yet are of not fully purified intellect because of having forsaken bhāva for you, ascend with hardship to the highest position but fall down from there because of their having disregarded your feet.”
