purāṇam ity eva na sādhu sarvaṁ
na cāpi kāvyaṁ navam ity avadyam |
santaḥ parīkṣyānyatarad bhajante
mūḍhaḥ para-pratyaya-neya-buddhiḥ ||
(Mālavikāgnimitra: 1.2)
“Not all [poems] are good because they are ancient. And a poem is not contemptible because it is modern. The wise examine and favor either of the two [according to their respective merit]. The fool is he whose intellect has to be led by the convictions of others.”
yasya nāsti svayaṁ prajñā śāstraṁ tasya karoti kim |
locanābhyāṁ vihīnasya darpaṇaḥ kiṁ kariṣyati ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 10.9)
“What does the śāstra do for he who himself has no discernment [alt., intelligence]? What can a mirror do for he who has no eyes?”
sṛṣṭvā purāṇi vividhāny ajayātma-śaktyā
vṛkṣān sarīsṛpa-paśūn khaga-dandaśūkān |
tais tair atuṣṭa-hṛdayaḥ puruṣaṁ vidhāya
brahmāvaloka-dhiṣaṇaṁ mudam āpa devaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.9.28)
“After creating trees, reptiles, animals, birds, snakes, and various [other] bodies with his own śakti ajā [i.e., māyā] and being unsatisfied at heart with them, Deva [i.e., Bhagavān] made the human being, endowed with an intellect for perception of Brahman [i.e., with the capacity to realize the him, the Supreme,] and became pleased.”
sā vidyā yā madaṁ hanti sā śrīr yārthiṣu varṣati |
dharmānusāriṇī yā sā buddhir abhidhiyate ||
(Darpa-dalanam)
“That which removes bewilderment is known as knowledge. That which bestows abundantly upon the desirous is [known as] wealth, and that which follows dharma is [known as] intellect.”
śrīmat-prabhupadāmbhojaiḥ sarvā bhāgavatāmṛte |
vyaktīkṛtāsti gūḍhāpi bhakti-siddhānta-mādhurī ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.4.20)
“Although confidential, all the sweetness and siddhānta in regard to bhakti is clearly presented in the Bhāgavatāmṛta [i.e., Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta] by my blessed master of lotus feet [i.e., by Śrīmat Sanātana Gosvāmī Prabhupāda].”
dve vidye veditavye tu śabda-brahma paraṁ ca yat |
śabda-brahmaṇi niṣṇātaḥ paraṁ brahmādhigacchati ||
(Amṛta-bindu Upaniṣad: 17; Brahma-bindu Upaniṣad: 17; Maitrāyaṇi Upaniṣad: 6.22)
“Two types of knowledge, however, are to be known: śabda-brahman and Parabrahman. One who is adept in śabda-brahman attains Parabrahman.”
raso vai saḥ, rasaṁ hy evāyaṁ labdhvānandī bhavati |
(Taittirīya Upaniṣad: 2.7.1)
‘He [i.e., Brahman] is indeed rasa, since upon attaining this rasa specifically [viz., Brahman], one becomes blissful.”
sauvīra-patir api sujana-samavagata-paramātma-satattva ātmany avidyādhyāropitāṁ ca dehātma-matiṁ visasarja | evaṁ hi nṛpa bhagavad-āśritāśritānubhāvaḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 5.13.25)
“The ruler of Suvīra [i.e., King Rahūgana], having fully understood from Sujana [i.e., Jaḍa Bharata] the Paramātmā in truth, forsook the notion superimposed by ignorance (avidyā) upon the ātmā [i.e., self] that the body is the self. Such, O King, is the result of taking shelter of one who has taken shelter of Bhagavān.”
nirviṇṇasya viraktasya puruṣasyokta-vedinaḥ |
manas tyajati daurātmyaṁ cintitasyānucintayā ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.20.23)
“The mind of a person who is disinterested, detached, cognizant of what has been said, and thoughtful, by means of contemplation gives up ill-naturedness.”
bhāro’vivekinaḥ śāstraṁ bhāro jñānaṁ ca rāgiṇaḥ |
aśāntasya mano bhāraḥ bhāro’nātmavido vapuḥ ||
(Yoga Vāsiṣṭa: 1.14.13; Mahopaniṣad: 2.16)
“The śāstra is a burden for the indiscriminate. Knowledge is a burden for the passionate. The mind is a burden for the disquieted, and the body is a burden for one devoid of knowledge of the self.”
