śreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṁ viśiṣyate |
dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāc chāntir anantaram ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.12)
“Contemplation is indeed better than repeated concentration, and meditation is superior to contemplation. From meditation comes relinquishment of the results of action, and thereafter, from relinquishment, peace.”
mayy eva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya |
nivasiṣyasi mayy eva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ ||
atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram |
abhyāsa-yogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya ||
abhyāse’py asamartho’si mat-karma-paramo bhava |
mad-artham api karmāṇi kurvan siddhim avāpsyasi ||
athaitad apy aśakto’si kartuṁ mad-yogam āśritaḥ |
sarva-karma-phala-tyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.8–11)
“Fix the mind only on me. Absorb the intellect in me. Thereafter, you will dwell in me alone. There is no doubt. If you are unable to fully fix the mind on me steadily, O Dhanañjaya, then try to attain me by means of the practice of repeated concentration. If you are incapable of repeated concentration as well, then be one for whom actions related to me are paramount. By performing actions just for my sake, you will attain success (siddhi). If you are unable to do even this, then, taking shelter in connection with me and being possessed of self-regulation, relinquish the results of all your actions.”
ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate |
śraddadhānā mat-paramā bhaktās te’tīva me priyāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.20)
“But those bhaktas who take shelter in this dharma—[this] nectar—as [thus] described [by me], being endowed with faith (śraddhā) and devoted to me, are exceedingly dear to me.”
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ |
śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅga-vivarjitaḥ ||
tulya-nindā-stutir maunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit |
aniketaḥ sthira-matir bhaktimān me priyo naraḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.18–19)
“A person possessed of bhakti [who is] equal towards an enemy and a friend and honor and dishonor, equal towards cold and heat, happiness and suffering, free from attachment, equal towards defamation and praise, silent, satisfied with whatever comes, non-attached to house, and of steady mind is dear to me.”
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati |
śubhāśubha-parityāgī bhaktimān yaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.17)
“One who does not become elated, does not become hostile, does not lament, and does not hanker, and who is a relinquisher of the auspicious and inauspicious is dear to me.”
yasmān nodvijate loko lokān nodvijate ca yaḥ |
harṣāmarṣa-bhayodvegair mukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.15)
“One because of whom any person is not disturbed, who is not disturbed because of any person, and who is free from elation, jealousy, fear, and anxiety is dear to me.”
adveṣṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca |
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣamī ||
santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛḍha-niścayaḥ |
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.13–14)
“My bhakta—one who is non-inimical, friendly, and indeed compassionate towards all beings, free from possessiveness, free from egotism, equal towards suffering and happiness, forbearing, ever satisfied, a yogī, self-restrained, of firm conviction, and of mind and intellect offered to me—is dear to me.”
adhiṣṭhānaṁ tathā kartā karaṇaṁ ca pṛthag-vidham |
vividhāś ca pṛthak-ceṣṭā daivaṁ caivātra pañcamam ||
śarīra-vāṅ-manobhir yat karma prārabhate naraḥ |
nyāyyaṁ vā viparītaṁ vā pañcaite tasya hetavaḥ ||
tatraivaṁ sati kartāram ātmānaṁ kevalaṁ tu yaḥ |
paśyaty akṛta-buddhitvān na sa paśyati durmatiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 18.14–6)
“(1) The locus [i.e,, the body], (2) the doer [i.e., the jīva], (3) the different types of instruments [i.e., the senses], (4) the various different functions [e.g., those of the prāṇas], and (5) herein the fifth, the Divine [i.e., the Inner Regulator (Antaryāmī), Paramātmā]—whatever action a person undertakes with the body, speech, or mind, be it right or wrong [i.e., dharmic or adharmic, śāstric or non-śāstric], its causes are these five. This being so, one who sees only oneself as the doer in this regard is ignorant because of having an unrefined understanding and does not [actually] see.”
na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi lokasya sṛjati prabhuḥ |
na karma-phala-saṁyogaṁ svabhāvas tu pravartate ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 5.14)
“The Lord creates neither the doership, nor the actions, nor the connection with the results of actions of a person. Rather, the disposition (svabhāva) [of a person] prompts [these].”
ye’nye’ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas
tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ |
āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ
patanty adho’nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.2.42; cited in Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.7.14; Bhakti Sandarbha: 111, 121; Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.22.30, 2.24.131, 141, 2.25.32)
“[The devas address Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the womb of Mother Devakī:] O Lotus-eyed One, others, who consider themselves fully liberated yet are of not fully purified intellect because of having forsaken bhāva for you, ascend with hardship to the highest position but fall down from there because of their having disregarded your feet.”
