Sukha

yadā vai sukhaṁ labhate’tha karoti

yadā vai sukhaṁ labhate’tha karoti, nāsukhaṁ labdhvā karoti, sukham eva labdhvā karoti |
sukhaṁ tv eva vijijñāsitavyam iti sukhaṁ bhagavo vijijñāsa iti ||
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 7.22.1)

[Sanat Kumāra:] “Certainly when one attains happiness, then one acts. Upon attaining unhappiness, one does not act. Only upon attaining happiness does one act. Indeed happiness is to be desired to be known in depth.”
[Nārada:] “O venerable one, I desire to know happiness in depth.”

Read on →

kṛpāra samudra—dīna-hīne dayāmaya

kṛpāra samudra—dīna-hīne dayāmaya |
kṛṣṇa-kṛpā vinā kona sukha nāhi haya ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.17.75)

“Kṛṣṇa is an ocean of grace and is [especially] gracious to the humble and lowly. Without Kṛṣṇa’s grace, no happiness comes to be.”

Read on →

śrīr guṇā nairapekṣyādyāḥ sukhaṁ duḥkha-sukhātyayaḥ

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].”

Read on →

yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ

yat pṛthivyāṁ vrīhi-yavaṁ hiraṇyaṁ paśavaḥ striyaḥ |
na duhyanti manaḥ-prītiṁ puṁsaḥ kāma-hatasya te ||
na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāṁyati |
haviṣā kṛṣṇa-vartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.13–14; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha 98)

“All the rice, barley, gold, animals, and women on earth cannot satisfy the mind of a person afflicted with desire. Desire is never extinguished by enjoyment of objects of desire. It is only again further increased [thereby] like a fire by oblations [of ghee].”

Read on →

anartham arthataḥ paśyann

anartham arthataḥ paśyann arthaṁ caivāpy anarthataḥ |
indriyaiḥ prasṛto bālaḥ suduḥkhaṁ manyate sukham ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.34.59; Vidura-nīti: 213; cited in Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha)

“Seeing anartha within artha and artha within anartha [i.e., seeing nonsense within sense and even sense within nonsense, misfortune within fortune and even fortune within misfortune, evil within good and even good within evil, etc.], the fool, pulled by the senses, considers great suffering to be happiness.”

Read on →

vadanti tat tattva-vidas

vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam |
brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti śabdyate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.11)

“Knowers of the Tattva say that which is non-dual consciousness and is called Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān is the Tattva.”

Read on →

Scroll to Top