yo vai bhūmā tat sukhaṁ, nālpe sukham asti |
bhūmaiva sukhaṁ, bhūmā tv eva vijijñāsitavya iti bhūmānaṁ bhagavo vijijñāsa iti ||
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 7.23.1)
[Sanat Kumāra]: “That which is infinite is happiness. There is no happiness in the finite [i.e., the minute, alt., the trifling]. Only the infinite is happiness. Indeed the infinite should be desired to be known in detail.” [Nārada:] “O venerable one, I desire to know the infinite in detail.”
janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-vedanābhir upadrutam |
saṁsāram imam utpannam asāraṁ tyajataḥ sukham ||
(Hitopadeśa: Sandhi, 94)
“Happiness comes from giving up this insubstantial world of saṁsāra which is overrun by birth, death, old age, disease, and sorrow.”
asyā janma-lakṣaṇaṁ bhakti-vyatirekeṇānyatrānabhirucim upalakṣya—sā śraddadhānasya vivardhamānā viraktim anyatra karoti puṁsaḥ | hareḥ padānusmṛti-nirvṛtasya samasta-duḥkhāpyayam āśu dhatte ||
(Excerpted from Bhakti Sandarbha: 310)
“Indicating the absence of relish [alt., pleasure, inclination, interest, desire] for anything apart from bhakti to be the characteristic of its [i.e., rāgānugā-bhakti’s] appearance [i.e., to be the characteristic of taste (ruci) for a specific rāga and its manners of expression (paripāṭis)], [it is stated in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.5.13]: ‘That [i.e., inclination, meaning, taste, for discussion of Hari], upon flourishing, produces disinterest in all else in a person endowed with śraddhā. The dissolution of all suffering of one who is delighted by continuous remembrance of Hari’s feet is quickly effected.’”
sukhaṁ me sarvadā bhūyāt dukhaṁ mā bhūt kadācana |
itīcchā sarva-sāmānyā jñānād eva tat siddhyate ||
(Unknown source)
“May I always be happy. May I never suffer. This desire is common to all, and it is fulfilled only through knowledge.”
sukham eva sadā me syāt duḥkhaṁ mā bhūt kadācana |
(Bhaviṣyottara Purāṇa: 1.10)
“May I always be happy. May I never suffer.”
śrīr guṇā nairapekṣyādyāḥ sukhaṁ duḥkha-sukhātyayaḥ |
duḥkhaṁ kāma-sukhāpekṣā paṇḍito bandha-mokṣa-vit ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.19.41)
“[Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] Embellishment is qualities beginning with indifference [i.e., and not crowns and so forth]. Happiness is overcoming [worldly] suffering and happiness [i.e., and not mere worldly enjoyment]. Suffering is regard for the pleasure of sense objects [i.e., and not being burned in a fire, etc.]. A paṇḍita is one knows bondage and liberation [i.e., and not simply one who is knowledgeable or explains śāstra].”
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā vine nahe duḥkhera mocana |
thākila vā vidyā kula koṭi koṭi dhana ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 1.7.138)
“Without Kṛṣṇa’s grace, deliverance from suffering does not occur, even if one has learning, nobility, or crores and crores of wealth.”
āśā hi paramaṁ duḥkhaṁ nairāśyaṁ paramaṁ sukham |
yathā sañchidya kāntāśāṁ sukhaṁ suṣvāpa piṅgalā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.8.44)
“Hope [i.e., material desire] is the greatest unhappiness, and hopelessness [i.e., freedom from material desire] is the greatest happiness, as after completely cutting away any hope for a lover, Piṅgalā slept happily.”
na jātu kāmān na bhayān na lobhād
dharmaṁ tyajej jīvitasyāpi hetoḥ |
nityo dharmaḥ sukha-duḥkhe tv anitye
jīvo nityo hetur asya tv anityaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: Svargārohana Parva, 5.50)
“Never—neither because of desires, nor because of fears, nor because of greed—forsake dharma, even for the sake of [one’s] life. Dharma is eternal, whereas pleasure and displeasure are temporary. Life is eternal, whereas its means [i.e., the body] is temporary.”
anavāpyaṁ ca śokena śarīraṁ copatapyate |
amitrāś ca prahṛṣyanti mā sma śoke manaḥ kṛthā ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.36.43)
“Through grief, there is nothing to be attained, the body becomes afflicted, and adversaries rejoice. The mind should never succumb to grief.”
