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.”
ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahādāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam |
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam ||
(Padyāvalī: 22; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.20.12)
“Cleansing the mirror of the mind,
Extinguishing the raging forest fire of material existence,
Shining moonlight on the evening lotus of good fortune,
The life of the wife of knowledge,
Expanding the ocean of bliss,
The taste of full nectar at every moment,
Bathing the entire self—
Śrī Kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtana is supremely triumphant!”
antar-dhvāntacayaṁ samasta-jagatām unmūlayantī haṭhāt
premānanda-rasāmbudhiṁ niravadhiṁ prodvelayantī balāt |
viśvaṁ śītalayanty atīva vikalaṁ tāpa-trayeṇāniśaṁ
yuṣmākaṁ hṛdaye cakāstu satataṁ caitanya-candra-cchaṭā ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 17)
“May Caitanyacandra’s radiance, which forcibly uproots all darkness from the heart of the entire world, powerfully swells the boundless ocean of the rasa of prema’s bliss, and greatly soothes the world constantly dismayed by the three miseries, shine within your heart forever.”
saṁsāra-sindhu-taraṇe hṛdayaṁ yadi syāt
saṅkīrtanāmṛta-rase ramate manaś cet |
premāmbudhau viharaṇe yadi citta-vṛttiś
caitanyacandra-caraṇe śaraṇaṁ prayātu ||
(Caitanya-candrāmṛta: 93)
“If you wish to cross the ocean of saṁsāra, if you desire to relish the rasa of the amṛta of saṅkīrtana, and if you yearn to swim in the ocean of prema, then take shelter at the feet of Caitanyacandra.”
yo’jñāna-mattaṁ bhuvanaṁ kṛpālur
ullāghayann apy akarot pramattam |
sva-prema-sampat-sudhayādbhutehaṁ
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanyam amuṁ prapadye ||
(Govinda-līlāmṛta: 1.2; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.19.54)
“I take shelter in him,
The gracious Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya,
Astonishing in his activities,
Who cured the world
Maddened by ignorance,
And drove it thoroughly mad,
With the nectar of the wealth
[alt., the vṛddhi-tonic]
Of prema for himself.”
tat-saṅga-bhraṁśitaiśvaryaṁ saṁsarantaṁ kubhāryavat |
tad-gatīr abudhasyeha kim asat-karmabhir bhavet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 6.5.15)
“One situated in saṁsāra [i.e., a conditioned jīvātmā] is deprived of capability by its [i.e., the deluded intellect’s] association like a man with a wicked wife [i.e., the conditioned jīvātmā follow the movements of the deluded intellect just as a man who follows the dictates of a wicked wife]. What can be the use of the meaningless acts here [i.e., in this world] of one who does not understand its effects [i.e., of one who does not recognize the outcomes that will be inevitably experienced by indiscriminately following the dictates of the deluded intellect]?”
prāyeṇa manujā loke loka-tattva-vicakṣaṇāḥ |
samuddharanti hy ātmānam ātmanaivāśubhāśayāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.7.19)
“Generally, human beings in the world who are clear-sighted about the nature of the world [i.e., who are adept in discerning causes of benefit and harm in the visible world] deliver themselves from harmful predispositions [i.e., vāsanās related to sense objects] by their own selves [i.e., by exercising their own faculties of discernment].”
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.”
yāvaj jano bhajati no bhuvi viṣṇu-bhakti-
vārttā-sudhā-rasa-viśeṣa-rasaika-sāram |
tāvaj jarā-maraṇa-janma-śatābhighāta-
duḥkhāni tāni labhate bahu-dehajāni ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Pātāla-khaṇḍa, 85.33; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 11.607; Bhakti Sandarbha: 115)
“As long as a human being on earth does not partake of [i.e., take shelter with bhakti in] the one essence—the rasa of the exceptional nectar of the tidings of Viṣṇu-bhakti—then one undergoes the sufferings of the lashings of hundreds of infirmities, deaths, and births begotten by numerous bodies [i.e., the severe suffering of saṁsāra is extinguished only when one attains Viṣṇu-bhakti, and thus attaining it is imperative].”
mana diyā bujha, deha chāḍiyā calile |
dhana vā pauruṣa saṅge keho nāhi cale ||
eteke mahānta saba sarva parihari |
karena īśvara-sevā dṛḍha-citta kari ||
eteke chāḍiyā vipra, sakala jañjāla |
śrī-kṛṣṇa-caraṇa giyā bhajaha sakāla ||
yāvat maraṇa nāhi upasanna haya |
tāvat sevaha kṛṣṇa kariyā niścaya ||
sei se vidyāra phala jāniha niścaya |
kṛṣṇa-pāda-padme yadi citta-vitta haya ||
mahā-upadeśa ei kahila tomāre |
sabe viṣṇu-bhakti satya ananta-saṁsāre ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata 1.13.174–179; 9.174–179)
[Śrīman Mahāprabhu to the Digvijayī Paṇḍita:] “Mindfully understand: when leaving the body and departing, no one departs with wealth or prowess [alt., possessions]. Therefore, all the great ones forsake everything and engage in service to Īśvara with firm resolve. Therefore, O brāhmaṇa, leaving all this rubbish, go and worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet immediately. So long as death has not arrived, serve Kṛṣṇa resolutely. Know for certain that this is the fruit of learning: when your mind and wealth are fixed on Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. I tell you this great teaching: ‘Amid everything in unending saṁsāra, Viṣṇu-bhakti [alone] is real.’”
