tat karma yan na bandhāya sā vidyā yā vimuktaye |
āyāsāyāparaṁ karma vidyānyā śilpa-naipuṇam ||
(Viṣṇu Purāṇa: 1.19.41)
“[Prahlāda Mahārāja to Hiraṇyakaśipu:] Action is that which does not lead to bondage. Knowledge is that which leads to liberation [from bondage]. Action otherwise leads to hardship, and knowledge otherwise is [mere] proficiency in a craft.”
jñātibhir vibhajyate naiva coreṇāpi na nīyate |
dāne naiva kṣayaṁ yāti vidyā-ratnaṁ mahādhanam ||
(Unknown source)
“It is not dividable by relatives, it cannot be taken away even by a thief, and it is not depleted even by giving [it away]. The jewel of knowledge is the greatest wealth.”
alpa-mātraṁ kṛto dharmo bhavej jñānavatāṁ mahān |
mahān api kṛto dharmo hy ajñānān niṣphalo bhavet ||
(Mahābhārata: 13.227.28)
“Dharma performed even slightly shall be great for one possessed of knowledge. Dharma performed even greatly shall be fruitless as a result of ignorance.”
hutāśane hāṭaka-saṁparīkṣā vipatti-kāle gṛhiṇī-parīkṣā |
raṇa-sthale śastra-bhṛtāṁ parīkṣā vidyāvatāṁ bhāgavate parīkṣā ||
(Unknown source)
“The test of gold is in fire.
The test of a wife is at the time of adversity.
The test of warriors [lit., ‘weapon-bearers’] is at the battle ground.
And the test of the knowledgable is in the Bhāgavatam.”
jīva-māyā guṇa-māyeti dvy-ātmikāṁ māyākhya-śaktiṁ vidyāt | … nimittāṁśo jīva-māyā | upādānāṁśo guṇa-māyeti … | avidyā-vidyākhya-nimitta-śakti-vṛttikatvāj jīva-viṣayakatvena jīva-māyātvam | … svīya-tat-tad-guṇa-maya-mahad-ādy-upādāna-śakti-vṛttikatvād guṇa-māyātvam |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 18)
“Know the śakti [of Bhagavān] known as māyā to be of two aspects, viz., jīva-māyā and guṇa-māyā. … The instrumental aspect is [called] jīva-māyā, and the constituent aspect is [called] guṇa-māyā. … Jīva-māyā is such because it relates to the jīva on account of being a function of the potency of [māyā’s] instrumentality known as avidyā and vidyā; guṇa-māyā is such because of its being a function of the potency of [māyā‘s] constitution in the form of the mahat and so forth [i.e., in the form of all the subtle and gross aspects of the material universe’s constitution], which are constituted of its own respective guṇas [i.e., the three guṇas of sattva, rajas, and tamas].”
bhagavad-bhakti-hīnasya jātiḥ śāstraṁ japas tapaḥ |
aprāṇasyaiva dehasya maṇḍanaṁ loka-rañjanam ||
śuciḥ sad-bhakti-dīptāgni-dagdha-durjāti-kalmaṣaḥ |
śvapāko’pi budhaiḥ ślāghyo na veda-jño’pi nāstikaḥ ||
(Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya: 3.11–12; cited in Mādhurya-kādambinī: 1.10; alluded to in Prārthanā: 21.2)
“The nobility, [knowledge of] śāstra, japa, and austerity of someone devoid of bhakti to Bhagavān are [like] decorations on a lifeless body [which are merely] pleasing to the world [i.e., to the public in general, but not to Bhagavān himself]. Even a purified dog-eater [i.e., an outcaste, however], the contamination of whose low-birth has been burned away by the blazing fire of pure bhakti, is praiseworthy by the wise; [whereas] even an unbelieving knower of the Veda is not [i.e., regardless of the level of one’s knowledge and the like (nobility, austerity, etc.), anyone devoid of bhakti is unworthy of praise from the wise, since their character and conduct are of no real significance to Bhagavān].”
nāvirato duścaritān nāśānto nāsamāhitaḥ |
nāśānta-mānaso vāpi prajñānenainam āpnuyāt ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 1.2.24; cited in the Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 3.3.54; Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 9.31)
“Neither one who has not desisted from misbehavior, nor one who is devoid of peace [i.e., devoid of control of the senses], nor one who is not steadfast [alt., concentrated], nor one whose mind is devoid of peace, can attain this [i.e., the Ātmā] through knowledge.”
pradīpaḥ sarva-vidyānām upāyaḥ sarva-karmaṇām |
āśrayaḥ sarva-dharmānāṁ vidyoddeśe prakīrtitā ||
(Vātsyāyana’s Nyāya-bhāṣya on Gautama’s Nyāya-sūtra: 1.1.1)
“Ānvīkṣikī [i.e., logic (nyāya)] is stated in the enumeration of sciences [i.e., fields of knowledge] to be the lamp of all sciences (vidyās), the means for [accomplishing] all karmas, and the basis of all dharmas.”
prathame hi vidvāṁso vaiyākaraṇāḥ vyākaraṇa-mūlatvāt sarva-vidyānām |
(Dhvanyāloka of Ānanda-vardhana)
“From the very first, the learned are vaiyākaraṇas (grammarians), since vyākaraṇa (grammar) is the basis of all knowledges.”
tad dvāram apavargasya vāṅ-malānāṁ cikitsitam |
pavitraṁ sarva-vidyānām adhividyaṁ prakāśate ||
(Bhartṛhari’s Vākya-padīya: 1.14)
“This [i.e., vyākaraṇa] door to liberation, treatment for the impurities of speech, and purifier of all knowledges shines over [i.e., casts light on, all types of] knowledge.”
