oṁ saha nāv avatu |
saha nau bhunaktu |
saha vīryaṁ karavāvahai |
tejasvi nāv adhītam astu mā vidviṣāvahai |
oṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||
(Taittirīya Upaniṣad: Brahmānanda-vallī, 1)
“Om. May we together be protected,
May we together be nourished.
May we work together with vigor.
May our study be illuminating.
May we not be inimical.
Om. Peace. Peace. Peace.”
śravaṇāyāpi bahubhir yo na labhyaḥ
śṛṇvanto’pi bahavo yaṁ na vidyuḥ |
āścaryo’sya vaktā kuśalo’sya labdhā
āścaryo jñātā kuśalānuśiṣṭaḥ ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 1.2.7)
“He whom many are not even able to hear about and whom even many who hear about do not understand—rare is the qualified teacher of him, and rare is the qualified disciple who comes to know and realize him.”
tasmai sa vidvān upasannāya samyak
praśānta-cittāya śamānvitāya |
yenākṣaraṁ puruṣaṁ veda satyaṁ
provāca tāṁ tattvato brahma-vidyām ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.13)
“To him of tranquil mind endowed with repose who has approached properly, that knower [of Brahman, i.e., the guru] should teach exactly that knowledge of Brahman by which the true imperishable Puruṣa is known.”
parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo
nirvedam āyān nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena |
tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet
samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 1.2.12)
“Having examined the planes attained by karma, a brāhmaṇa reaches disinterest [based on the conclusion], ‘That which is unmade [Brahman] is not attained by that which is made [karma].’ To know in depth that [which is unmade, Brahman], he, with firewood in hand, should only [rather than seeking knowledge of it independently] approach a guru who is learned [in the śāstra] and fixed [exclusively] in Brahman.”
tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā |
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 4.34)
“Learn that [knowledge] through obeisance, inquiry, and service. Knowers and seers of the reality will teach [that] knowledge to you.”
yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye’sya hrdi sthitāḥ |
atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty atra brahma samaśnute ||
(Bṛhad-ārayaṇka Upaniṣad: 4.4.7; Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.14; cited in Bhāvārtha-dīpikā and Sārātha-darśinī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.2.32, Bhāvārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.10.9, the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 2.55; Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 4.2.7)
“When all the desires present in one’s heart are dispelled, then a mortal becomes immortal and here experiences Brahman.”
cittam eva hi saṁsāras tat prayatnena śodhayet |
yac cittas tanmayo bhāti guhyam etat sanātanam ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.3; Śāṭyāyanīya Upaniṣad: 3)
“The citta (mind) itself is saṁsāra [i.e., the condition of one’s citta is the cause of the perpetuation of one’s bondage in saṁsāra]. Purify it with exertion. As is the citta, so one becomes [i.e., one becomes absorbed in, constituted of, and/or identical to the content in one’s citta]. This is the eternal secret.”
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.”
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.”
