Silence

asaṅkalpāj jayet kāmaṁ

asaṅkalpāj jayet kāmaṁ krodhaṁ kāma-vivarjanāt |
arthānarthekṣayā lobhaṁ bhayaṁ tattvāvamarśanāt ||
ānvīkṣikyā śoka-mohau dambhaṁ mahad-upāsayā |
yogāntarāyān maunena hiṁsāṁ kāmādy-anīhayā ||
kṛpayā bhūtajaṁ duḥkhaṁ daivaṁ jahyāt samādhinā |
ātmajaṁ yoga-vīryeṇa nidrāṁ sattva-niṣevayā ||
rajas tamaś ca sattvena sattvaṁ copaśamena ca |
etat sarvaṁ gurau bhaktyā puruṣo hy añjasā jayet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavata: 7.15.22–25)

“One can conquer desire [i.e., desire for the mundane] with negative resolve [e.g., resolutions such as ‘this is not for my enjoyment’ in regard to objects of desire], anger with rejection of desire [for violence], greed with vision of the anartha [i.e., the meaninglessness, vice, etc.] within desired ends (arthas), fear with consideration of truth, lamentation and delusion with rational examination [i.e., discrimination between the self and non-self], pride with service to great persons, obstacles in yoga with silence, violence with indifference to desire and so forth. One can overcome suffering caused by other beings with compassion [i.e., actions performed for their benefit], suffering caused by destiny [i.e., foreboding] with meditation [on Bhagavān], suffering caused by the self [i.e., the body] with the strength of yoga [e.g., prāṇayāma, etc.], sleep with a sattvic diet, rajas [i.e., passion] and tamas [i.e., ignorance] with sattva [i.e., goodness], and sattva with composure [i.e., indifference towards even sattvic action]. But a person can quickly conquer all of these with bhakti to guru.”

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mauna-vrata-śruta-tapo-’dhyayana-sva-dharma

mauna-vrata-śruta-tapo-’dhyayana-sva-dharma-
vyākhyā-raho-japa-samādhaya āpavargyāḥ |
prāyaḥ paraṁ puruṣa te tv ajitendriyāṇāṁ
vārtā bhavanty uta na vātra tu dāmbhikānām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.46; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 168)

“O Puruṣa [i.e., O indwelling Regulator], the means to apavarga [i.e., mokṣa]—silence, rites, hearing [i.e. learning the Vedas], austerities, studying, [observing one’s] svadharma, explaining [i.e., teaching the Vedas to others], [residing in] solitude, japa, and samādhi [i.e., meditation]—generally here [i.e., in saṁsāra], however, become mere livelihoods of those of uncontrolled senses, and sometimes, however, not even that for the deceitful [since the fruitfulness of deceitfulness is uncertain].”

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apasaraṇam eva śaraṇaṁ

apasaraṇam eva śaraṇaṁ maunaṁ vā tatra rajahaṁsasya |
kaṭu raṭati nikata-vartī vācālaṣ ṭiṭṭibho yatra |
(Unknown source)

“A royal swan simply retreats or takes recourse to silence there where a nearby talkative ṭiṭṭibha (lapwing, Vanellus indicus) bitterly bawls.”

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