jñāna-pūrvā bhavel lipsā lipsā-pūrvābhisandhitā |
abhisandhi-pūrvakaṁ karma karma-mūlaṁ tataḥ phalam ||
(Mahābhārata: Śānti-parva, 206.6)
“Desire [for an object] shall be preceded by knowledge [of the object], aim [for an object] preceded by desire [for it], and action [to attain it] preceded by the aim [for it]. Then the result, the basis of which is the action, occurs.”
prathamaṁ varjayed doṣān yugapat pṛthag eva vā |
tathā dharmam avāpnoti doṣa-tyāgo hi duṣkaraḥ |
doṣa-sākalya-santyāgān munir bhavati mānavaḥ ||
duṣkṛta-tyāga-mātreṇa padam ūrdhvaṁ hi labhyate |
(Mahābhārata: 13.232.5, 8)
“First, one should give up faults, all at once or just one by one. Then, one achieves dharma. Giving up faults [however] is certainly difficult to do. [Yet] By completely giving up faults in totality, a human being becomes a sage. … Just by giving up misconduct, a higher standing is attained.”
mahābhūtāny ahaṁkāro buddhir avyaktam eva ca |
indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca pañca cendriya-gocarāḥ ||
icchā dveṣaḥ sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ saṁghātaś cetanā dhṛtiḥ |
etat kṣetraṁ samāsena sa-vikāram udāhṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 13.5-6)
“The [five] gross elements (mahābhūtas), the ego (ahaṅkāra), the intellect (buddhi), the unmanifested [i.e., prakṛti], the ten senses and the one [additional one], the five objects of the senses, desire, aversion, happiness, suffering, the aggregate [i.e., the body], consciousness, and resolution—this in sum is said to be the field (kṣetra) along with its transformations.”
taṁ tvākhilātma-dayiteśvaram āśritānāṁ
sarvārtha-daṁ sva-kṛta-vid visṛjeta ko nu |
ko vā bhajet kim api vismṛtaye’nu bhūtyai
kiṁ vā bhaven na tava pāda-rajo-juṣāṁ naḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.29.5; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 328)
“[Uddhava to Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Indeed, who cognizant of what has been done for oneself [by you] would reject you, he who is the Self, Beloved, and Īśvara of all and the bestower of all ends upon those who have taken shelter? Who would adore anyone else for the sake of [worldly] well-being or even forgetfulness [of the world, i.e., mokṣa]? And what shall we who delight in the dust of your feet not have [if we simply continue to engage solely in bhakti to you with disinterest in all else]?”
alpa-mātraṁ kṛto dharmo bhavej jñānavatāṁ mahān |
mahān api kṛto dharmo hy ajñānān niṣphalo bhavet ||
(Mahābhārata: 13.227.28)
“Dharma performed even slightly shall be great for one possessed of knowledge. Dharma performed even greatly shall be fruitless as a result of ignorance.”
veda-gamyaḥ paraḥ śuddha iti me dhīyate matiḥ ||
adhyātma-dhyāna-saṁbhūta-bhūtaṁ dīpavat sphuṭam |
jñānaṁ viddhi śubhācāre tena yānti parāṁ gatim ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.220.100)
“[Bhīṣmadeva:] The pure Supreme is knowable through the Veda. This is my firmly held view. O you of fine conduct, know knowledge (jñāna) to be that which is born of meditation related to the higher self and [self-] evident like a lamp. Thereby, one attains the supreme destination.”
veda-gamyaṁ paraṁ śuddham iti satyā parā śrutiḥ |
(Mahābhārata: 12.220.97)
“‘The pure Supreme is knowable through the Veda.’ This śruti [i.e., statement] is supremely true.”
veda-gamyaḥ paro’cintya iti paurāṇikā viduḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.220.96)
“The ancients know, ‘The Supreme is inconceivable and knowable through the Veda.’”
niḥsaṁśayeṣu sarveṣu nityaṁ vasati vai hariḥ |
sa-saṁśayād dhetu-balān nādhyāvasati mādhavaḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.349.71; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 17 and Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-tīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.40.10)
“Hari ever abides in all who are free from doubt. As a result of doubting and the strength of reasoning, [however,] Mādhava does not dwell [in a given place, i.e., Mādhava does not dwell in the hearts of those who are doubtful and rely solely upon reasoning to ascertain reality].”
yā dustyajā durmatibhir yā na jīryati jīryataḥ |
yo’sau prāṇantiko rogas tāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ tyajataḥ sukham ||
(Mahābhārata: 12.168.45)
“Happiness comes from casting off desire, that which is difficult to cast away for the ill-minded, which does not age as a result of aging [i.e., does not wane even as the body becomes decrepit], and which is a fatal disease.”
