uddiṣṭasya tattva-vyavacchedako dharmo lakṣaṇam |
(Vātsyāyana’s Nyāya-bhāṣya on Nyāya-sūtra: 1.1.3)
“A characteristic distinguishing of the nature of a stated object [from the nature of all other objects] is [called] a lakṣaṇa.”
svarūpa-lakṣaṇa āra taṭastha-lakṣaṇa |
ei dui lakṣaṇera vastu jāne muni-gaṇa ||
ākṛti prakṛti ei—svarūpa-lakṣaṇa |
kārya-dvārāya jñāna ei—taṭastha-lakṣaṇa ||
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.353–354)
“Intrinsic characteristics and extrinsic characteristics—the sages understand an object by means of these two [types of] characteristics. Figure and nature—these are intrinsic characteristics (svarūpa-lakṣaṇas). That which is known through an effect [of the object to be defined]—this is an extrinsic characteristic (taṭastha-lakṣaṇa).”
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].”
mata-bhede śiṣṭa-prayoga eva pramāṇam |
(Amṛta-ṭīkā on Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: 955)
“In the case of a difference of opinion, the usage of the learned is the pramāṇa [i.e., the means of determining propriety].”
prayoga eva pramāṇa-śiromaṇiḥ,
ataś ca tad-anusāri vyākaraṇam |
(Amṛta-tīkā on Hari-nāmāmṛta-vyākaraṇa: 1244)
“Usage is the crest jewel of pramāṇas [in grammar], and thus vyākaraṇa [i.e., grammatical correctness] follows that [i.e., is determined to reflect established usage].”
yogād rūḍhir balīyasī |
(Unknown source)
“The conventional [meaning of a word] (ruḍḥi) is stronger than the etymological [meaning of that word] (yoga).”
athāṅga-rājād avatārya cakṣur yāhīti janyām avadat kumārī |
nāsau na kāmyo na ca veda samyag-draṣṭuṁ na sā bhinna-rucir hi lokaḥ ||
(Raghu-vaṁśa: 6.30)
“Then, lowering her eyes from King Aṅga, the girl said to her mother’s friend, ‘Please go.’ It was not that he was not desirable, and it was not that she did not know how to see properly; people are just of varied taste.”
anya-sukha-duḥkha-nairapekṣyeṇaiva śuddhatvaṁ bhaktānām iti siddham |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 47)
“The purity of bhaktas is established only by indifference to other happiness and suffering.”
na yasya cittaṁ bahir-artha-vibhramaṁ
tamo-guhāyāṁ ca viśuddham āviśat |
yad-bhakti-yogānugṛhītam añjasā
munir vicaṣṭe nanu tatra te gatim ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.24.59; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 7)
“A sage whose heart, pure by virtue of being favored by bhakti-yoga, is not agitated by external objects and does not enter the cave of darkness, rightly and certainly sees your state therein.”
praṇata-dehināṁ pāpa-karṣaṇaṁ
tṛṇa-carānugaṁ śrī-niketanam |
phaṇi-phaṇārpitaṁ te padāmbujaṁ
kṛṇu kuceṣu naḥ kṛndhi hṛc-chayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.31.7)
“Please put upon our breasts
Your lotus feet,
Which remove the sins of the embodied who have taken shelter,
Which follow the animals [of Vraja],
Which are the abode of śrī [i.e., beauty, or, Lakṣmī],
And which were placed on the hoods of the serpent [i.e., Kālīya].
Please cut away our lust [lit., ‘that which lies in the heart’].”
