prāktany ādhunikī cāsti yasya sad-bhakti-vāsanā |
eṣa bhakti-rasāsvādas tasyaiva hṛdi jāyate ||
(Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 2.1.6)
“The taste of bhakti-rasa arises only in the heart of one who has a prior and a present vāsanā (affinity) for pure bhakti [i.e., saṁskāras for bhakti that were formed in one’s previous life (or lives) and one’s present life].”
māyā manaḥ sṛjati karmamayaṁ balīyaḥ
kālena codita-guṇānumatena puṁsaḥ |
chandomayaṁ yad ajayārpita-ṣoḍaśāraṁ
saṁsāra-cakram aja ko’titaret tvad-anyaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.9.21)
“Māyā, with the permission of the Puruṣa, and with its guṇas impelled by time, emanates the mind (manas), which is constituted of karma, most powerful [i.e., very difficult to conquer], filled with fancy (chanda) [i.e., vāsanās], and infused with sixteen transformations by the unborn [i.e., by ignorance (avidyā)]. O Unborn One [i.e., O Bhagavān], who apart from you [i.e., who that has not received your grace and does not engage in your service] can surmount this wheel of saṁsāra [i.e., the mind]?”
man-māyā-mohita-dhiyaḥ puruṣāḥ puruṣarṣabha |
śreyo vadanty anekāntaṁ yathā-karma yatha-ruci ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.14.9)
[Kṛṣṇa to Uddhava:] “O best of human beings, human beings whose minds are bewildered by my māyā speak of good (śreyas) in many different ways according to [their own] karma and according to [their own] taste.”
śuddhiṁ śuddha-bhakti-vāsanā-rūpām |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 36)
“‘Purity’ (śuddhim) [as spoken of in SB 7.13.22] refers to inclination (vāsanā) for pure bhakti [to Bhagavān].”
yadākṣaiś caritān dhyāyan karmāṇy ācinute’sakṛt |
sati karmaṇy avidyāyāṁ bandhaḥ karmaṇy anātmanaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 4.29.78)
“[How is the mind the cause of saṁsāra?] When one repeatedly performs karmas thinking of objects attained [previously] by the senses, then, since karma [i.e., a karmic reaction] is present and thus [also] avidyā [i.e., the underlying basis of karma is also present], bondage to the karma of the non-ātmā occurs.”
yato niryāti viṣayo yasmiñ caiva pralīyate |
hṛdayaṁ tad vijānīyāt manasaḥ sthiti-kāraṇam ||
(Śabda-sāra)
“Know that from which a viṣaya (object) emerges [upon being identified and conveyed to the manas by the buddhi on the basis of one’s saṁskāras and vāsanās] and into which it disappears to be the hṛdaya (heart) [syn., citta], the cause of the manas’ (mind’s) condition.”
ātmānaṁ ced vijānīyāt paraṁ jñāna-dhutāśayaḥ |
kim icchan kasya vā hetor dehaṁ puṣṇāti lampaṭaḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.15.40; cited in Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.6.314)
“If one whose inclinations [i.e., vāsanās] have been cast away by knowledge can understand the ātmā [i.e., self] to be distinct [from the body], then desiring what, or, for what reason, does one [then] covetously nourish the body? [i.e., the only reason could be that a person’s vāsanās have not actually be cast away, and under their influence the person hankers to satisfy the tongue, genitals, and so on.]”
aprāpye’pi yathā kāme dharme cintā na kiṁ tathā |
alābhe’pi dvayor ekā bhayadā śivadāparā ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 2184)
“Why does one not think of dharma as much as even an unattainable desire? Even if neither are attained, one [i.e., thought of unattainable desires] causes stress and the other [i.e., thought of dharma] causes auspiciousness.”
saṅkalpo viditaḥ sādhvyo bhavatināṁ mad-arcanam |
mayānumoditaḥ so’sau satyo bhavitum arhati ||
na mayy āveśita-dhiyāṁ kāmaḥ kāmāya kalpate |
bharjitāḥ kvathitā dhānā prāyo bījāya neśate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.22.25–26)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa to the gopīs who worshipped Kātyāyanī to attain him as their husband:] O honorable girls, your resolve (saṅkalpa) in worshipping me is understood. It is approved by me and fit to become true. The desire of those whose minds are absorbed in me does not lead to desire [i.e., desire for anything else]. Do fried and boiled roasted grains likely act as seed?”
cittaṁ cittād upāgamya munir āsīta saṁyataḥ |
yac cittas tanmayo’vaśyaṁ guhyam etat sanātanam ||
(Mahābhārata: 14.51.27)
“Returning from the mind (citta) to the mind [i.e., focusing one’s awareness], a sage should sit restrained. As is the mind, so one inevitably becomes. This is the eternal secret.”
