ūtayaḥ karma-vāsanāḥ
ūtayaḥ karma-vāsanāḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.10.4)
“Ūtis (wishes) are vāsanās (inclinations) produced from actions.”
ūtayaḥ karma-vāsanāḥ Read on →
Svabhāva
yaḥ svabhāvo hi yasyāsti sa nityaṁ duratikramaḥ
yaḥ svabhāvo hi yasyāsti sa nityaṁ duratikramaḥ |
śvā yadi kriyate rājā tat kiṁ nāśnāty upānaham ||
(Unknown source)
“The svabhāva one has is always difficult to overcome. If a dog is made a king, does he not eat shoes?”
yaḥ svabhāvo hi yasyāsti sa nityaṁ duratikramaḥ Read on →
svabhāvo nopadeśena śakyate kartum anyathā
svabhāvo nopadeśena śakyate kartum anyathā |
sutaptam api pānīyaṁ punar gacchati śītalam ||
yadi syac chītalo vahniḥ śītāṁśur dahanātmakaḥ |
na svabhāvo’tra martyānāṁ śakyate kartum anyathā ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-bheda, 280–281)
“The svabhāva cannot be changed by instructions. Although [it may be made] very hot [for a certain period of time], water again [inevitably] goes cold. [Even] If fire were to become cold, and the moon [lit. ‘that which has cool rays’] were to become fiery, [still] the svabhāvas of mortal beings in this world could not be changed.”
svabhāvo nopadeśena śakyate kartum anyathā Read on →
sarvasya hi parīkṣyante svabhāvā netare guṇāḥ
sarvasya hi parīkṣyante svabhāvā netare guṇāḥ |
atītya hi guṇān sarvān svabhāvo mūrdhni vartate ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 20)
“The natures (svabhāvas) of all are to be examined, and not, on the contrary, the qualities, since the nature (svabhāva) [of a person], surpassing all qualities, abides at the head [i.e., the svabhāva predominates in the thinking and behavior of person].”
sarvasya hi parīkṣyante svabhāvā netare guṇāḥ Read on →
svabhāvo yādṛśo yasya na jahāti kadācana
svabhāvo yādṛśo yasya na jahāti kadācana |
aṅgāraḥ śata-dhautena malinatvaṁ na muñcati ||
(Unknown source; cited in Śabda-kalpa-druma)
“Whatever one’s svabhāva [may be], one can never give it up. Charcoal does not give up its blackness [even] by washing it a hundred times.”
svabhāvo yādṛśo yasya na jahāti kadācana Read on →
na dharma-śāstraṁ paṭhatīti kāraṇaṁ
na dharma-śāstraṁ paṭhatīti kāraṇaṁ
na cāpi vedādhyayanaṁ durātmanaḥ |
svabhāva evātra tathātiricyate
yathā prakṛtyā madhuraṁ gavāṁ payaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: Mitra-lābha, 17)
“Neither reciting dharma-śāstras nor studying the Veda are means for [reforming] a wicked person. The svabhāva [i.e., one’s conditioned nature] alone prevails herein, just as cows milk is naturally sweet.”
na dharma-śāstraṁ paṭhatīti kāraṇaṁ Read on →
sattvānurūpā sarvasya
sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati bhārata |
śraddhāmayo’yaṁ puruṣo yo yac-chraddhaḥ sa eva saḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 17.3)
“The śraddhā of all beings corresponds to their disposition (sattva), O descendant of Bhārata. A person is made of śraddhā. One verily is the śraddhā one has.”
sattvānurūpā sarvasya Read on →