Saṁsāra

na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā

na vidyate yasya ca janma karma vā
na nāma-rūpe guṇa-doṣa eva vā |
tathāpi lokāpyaya-sambhavāya yaḥ
sva-māyayā tāny anukālam ṛcchati ||
tasmai namaḥ pareśāya brahmaṇe’nanta-śaktaye |
arūpāyoru-rūpāya nama āścarya-karmaṇe ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 8.3.8–9)

“Obeisance unto the Supreme Īśa, unto Brahman, unto he possessed of unending potency, unto he who has no birth or action, no name or form, and no faults in the form of [material] qualities whatsoever, and who by means of his own māyā still accepts these [i.e., births, actions, names, forms, and qualities] perpetually for the sake of the dissolution and the attainment of the people. Obeisance unto he who has no [material] form, unto he who has an excellent [spiritual] form, unto he of astonishing action.”

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na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt

na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.35)

“‘No, [Brahman cannot be said to be free from partiality or cruelty just by making reference to karma] because of the non-distinction of karma [from Brahman prior to the emanation of the universe].’ If this [objection is raised], [then to that it is said] no, [karma is not simply undivided prior to the emanation of the universe] because of [karma’s] being beginningless [i.e., because of karma’s becoming recurrently distinguished from Brahman in each successive emanation of the universe in accord with its state at the end of each previous emanation of the universe in a perpetual cycle without beginning].”

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lokavat tu līlā-kaivalyam

lokavat tu līlā-kaivalyam |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.33)

“Like a person’s [endeavor to act], it [i.e., Brahman’s endeavor of emanating the universe], rather, is a singularity of play.”

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duḥkham evāsti na sukhaṁ tasmāt tad upalabhyate

duḥkham evāsti na sukhaṁ tasmāt tad upalabhyate |
tṛṣṇārti-prabhavaṁ duḥkhaṁ duḥkhārti-prabhavaṁ sukham ||
sukhasyānantaraṁ duḥkhaṁ duḥkhasyānantaraṁ sukham |
na nityaṁ labhate duḥkhaṁ na nityaṁ labhate sukham ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.26.22–23)

“Suffering alone exists, not happiness. Thus, that [i.e., suffering] is experienced. Suffering is that the cause of which is the distress of desire, and happiness is that the cause of which is the distress of suffering. After happiness there is suffering, and after suffering there is happiness. Suffering is never permanently attained, and happiness is never permanently attained.”

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sa yad ajayā tv ajām anuśayīta guṇāṁś ca juṣan

sa yad ajayā tv ajām anuśayīta guṇāṁś ca juṣan
bhajati sarūpatāṁ tad anu mṛtyum apeta-bhagaḥ |
tvam uta jahāsi tām ahir iva tvacam ātta-bhago
mahasi mahīyase’ṣṭa-guṇite’parimeya-bhagaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.38; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 24; Paramātma Sandarbha: 39)

“Since he [i.e., the jīva], however, can lie down with the unborn [i.e., ignorance (avidyā) on account of the unborn (ajayā) [i.e., māyā], he partakes of the qualities [of the unborn] and thereafter of likeness [to those qualities of the unborn], becomes deprived of fortune (apeta-bhagaḥ), and undergoes death [i.e., saṁsāra]. You, on the contrary, shun her [i.e., the unborn, i.e., māyā], like a serpent [its] skin, and, being possessed of fortune, are exalted in [your own] eightfold greatness, being of immeasurable fortune.”

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nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ

nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
tvayi sudhiyo’bhave dadhati bhāvam anuprabhavam |
katham anuvartatāṁ bhava-bhayaṁ tava yad bhrū-kuṭiḥ
sṛjati muhus trinemir abhavac-charaṇeṣu bhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.32)

[Translated according to Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s commentary:] “Understanding the ignorance as a consequence of your māyā among these human beings wherefrom repeated birth ensues, the wise foster bhāva [i.e., render service] profusely for you, Non-existence [i.e., you who are the cause of liberation from material existence]. How could your followers have any distress on account of [material] existence, since the furrowing of your brows—time (trinemi)—creates distress perpetually for those who are not in your shelter?”

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tasyā eva praticchāyā-rūpā māyā guṇātmikā

tasyā eva praticchāyā-rūpā māyā guṇātmikā ||
mithyā-prapañca-jananī mithyā-bhrānti-tamomayī |
ato’nirūpyānityādyā jīva-saṁsāra-kāriṇī ||
aṣṭamāvaraṇāsyādhiṣṭhātrī mūrtimatī hi yā |
kāryākāra-vikārasyāprāptyā prakṛtir ucyate ||
yasyās tv atikrameṇaiva muktir bhaktiś ca sidhyati |
utpāditaṁ yayā viśvam aindrajālikavan mṛṣā ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.4.179–182)

“Her [i.e., Bhagavān’s superior potency’s (parā-śakti’s)] semblance is [his inferior (aparā) śakti known as] māyā constituted of the guṇas, who is the mother of the false phenomenal world (prapañca), constituted of the darkness of delusions based on falsity, thus unascertainable, impermanent, primordial, the cause of the jīvas’ saṁsāra, possessed of form as the superintendent of the eight coverings [of the brahmāṇḍa], and called prakṛti on account of [her] non-obtainment of transformations in the form of [the] effects [she produces]; only by crossing beyond whom [i.e., her] mukti, as well as bhakti, is attained, and by whom [i.e., her], like a magician, the universe is falsely produced.”

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dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet

dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet |
saṁsṛtiṁ cātma-nāśaṁ ca tatra vidvān sa ātma-dṛk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.20)

“Having understood the seen and the heard to be asat, one who shall not meditate repeatedly [on] and shall not enjoy [them], knowing that saṁsāra and loss of the self ensue from them, is a seer of the Ātmā.”

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mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ

mayoditeṣv avahitaḥ sva-dharmeṣu mad-āśrayaḥ |
varṇāśrama-kulācāram akāmātmā samācaret ||
anvīkṣeta viśuddhātmā dehināṁ viṣayātmanām |
guṇeṣu tattva-dhyānena sarvārambha-viparyayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.10.1–2)

“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Attentive to one’s dharmas as stated by me and desireless, one whose shelter is in me should observe the conduct of one’s varṇa, āśrama, and family. [Thus] Being of highly purified mind, one should repeatedly observe the reversal of all the endeavors based on thought of real existence in regard to qualities [in objects of the senses] of embodied beings whose minds are [fixed] upon objects of the senses.”

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