jāti-vidyā-mahatvaṁ ca rūpaṁ yauvanam eva ca |
yatnena parihartavyaḥ pañcaite bhakti-kaṇṭakāḥ ||
(Unknown source)
“Caste, learning, greatness, beauty, and youth are to be relinquished [i.e., one should not foster any conceit because of them]. These five are thorns for [i.e., on the path of] bhakti.”
ālasyāt mūrkha-saṁyogād bhayād roga-nipīḍanāt |
atyaśaktyāc ca mānāc ca ṣaḍbhir vidyā vinaśyati ||
(Māṇḍūkī-śikṣā: 180)
“Because of laziness, because of companionship with fools, because of fear, because of the pain of a disease, because of severe inability, and because of conceit—learning is ruined by these six.”
dviṣataḥ para-kāye māṁ mānino bhinna-darśinaḥ |
bhūteṣu baddha-vairasya na manaḥ śāntim ṛcchati ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.29.23; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 106)
[Kapiladeva:] “The mind of one who is inimical towards me in another’s body, [that is,] of disunited vision, [thus] conceited, and [thus] bound by enmity towards [other] beings, does not attain peace.”
ataḥ kṣamasvācyuta me rajo-bhuvo
hy ajānatas tvat-pṛthag-īśa-māninaḥ |
ajāvalepāndhatamo’ndha-cakṣuṣa
eṣo’nukampyo mayi nāthavān iti ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.14.10; cited in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.4.24)
“Therefore, O Acyuta, forgive me, born of rajas, [thus] ignorant, [thus] possessed of eyes blinded by the utter darkness of the pride of being ‘the unborn one’ [i.e., the emanator of the universe], and [thus] possessed of the conceit of being a lord independent of you, [considering me in the following way,] ‘He is possessed of a master [i.e., he is a servant] in relation to me and [thus] a fit object of [my] favor.’”
śāstraṁ hy abuddhvā tattvena kecid vāda-balāj janāḥ |
kāma-dveṣābhibhūtatvād ahaṅkāra-vaśaṁ gatāḥ ||
yāthātathyam avijñāya śāstrāṇāṁ śāstra-dasyavaḥ |
brahma-stenā nirārambhā dambha-moha-vaśānugāḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 269.53)
“Not understanding śāstra accurately, some persons become captivated by arrogance (ahaṅkāra) on account of being overcome by desire or enmity on the strength of argument. Without knowing the truth of the śāstras, the robbers of the śāstras—thieves of Brahman—controlled by deceit and delusion, remain without undertaking [i.e., they do not take up the practices taught in the śāstras beginning with equanimity and so on].”
namanti phalino vṛkṣāḥ namanti guṇino janāḥ |
śuṣka-kāṣṭhaś ca mūrkhaś ca na namanti kadācana ||
(Unknown source)
“Trees full of fruits bow down.
People full of qualities bow down.
Dry wood and fools [however]
Never bow down.”
nareṣv abhīkṣṇaṁ mad-bhāvaṁ puṁso bhāvayato’cirāt |
spardhāsūyā-tiraskārāḥ sāhaṅkārā viyanti hi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.15)
“The rivalry [with peers], envy [towards superiors], and disdain [towards juniors], along with the egotism [i.e., pride in oneself], of a person who meditates on my constant presence in all human beings certainly vanishes before long.”
na bhajati kumanīṣiṇāṁ sa ijyāṁ
harir adhanātma-dhana-priyo rasa-jñaḥ |
śruta-dhana-kula-karmaṇāṁ madair ye
vidadhati pāpam akiñcaneṣu satsu ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.31.21; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 301)
“The connoisseur of rasa, Hari, he to whom those who have no [worldly] wealth and whose wealth is the Self [i.e., the Ātmā, meaning, Hari himself] are dear, does not accept the worship of those of polluted intellect, who because of the intoxications of learning, wealth, family, and deeds, engage in wrong-doing in relation to sādhus who are without anything [i.e., free from any such intoxications and the pride and possessiveness that underlie them].”
devaḥ sevyatayā yathā sphurati me devyas tathāsya priyāḥ
sarvaḥ prāṇa-samānatāṁ pracinute tad-bhakti-bhājāṁ gaṇaḥ |
smṛtvā sāhasikaṁ bibhemi tam ahaṁ bhaktābhimānonnataṁ
prītiṁ tat-praṇate khare’py avidadhad yaḥ svāsthyam ālambate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 3.2.50)
“As Deva [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] appears [to me] as my object of service, so do his divine beloveds. The multitude of those possessed of bhakti to him are all considered [by me] equal to my very life. I become afraid [however] upon remembering that lout puffed up with the pride of being a bhakta who abides in contentment while failing to honor [i.e., express prīti towards] even a donkey bowed to him [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa].”
bhāgyodayena bahu-janma-samarjitena sat-saṅgamaṁ ca labhate puruṣo yadā vai |
ajñāna-hetu-kṛta-moha-madāndhakāra-nāśanaṁ vidhāya hi tadodayate vivekaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya: 2.76)
“When a person attains association with a sādhu as a result of good fortune acquired over the course of many lives, then discernment (viveka) arises and dispels the darkness of bewilderment and pride caused by ignorance.”
