bhāgyodayena bahu-janma-samarjitena sat-saṅgamaṁ ca labhate puruṣo yadā vai |
ajñāna-hetu-kṛta-moha-madāndhakāra-nāśanaṁ vidhāya hi tadodayate vivekaḥ ||
(Padma Purāṇa: Bhāgavata-māhātmya: 2.76)
“When a person attains association with a sādhu as a result of good fortune acquired over the course of many lives, then discernment (viveka) arises and dispels the darkness of bewilderment and pride caused by ignorance.”
aham ity anyathā-buddhiḥ pramattasya yathā hṛdi |
utsarpati rajo ghoraṁ tato vaikārikaṁ manaḥ ||
rajo-yuktasya manasaḥ saṅkalpaḥ sa-vikalpakaḥ |
tataḥ kāmo guṇa-dhyānād duḥsahaḥ syād dhi durmateḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.13.9–10)
[In response to Uddhava’s inquiry as to why human beings engage in sensual enjoyment even though they generally know it ultimately results only in suffering, Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa says:] “When a false notion of ‘I’ [i.e., identification with the material body and mind] surges in the heart of a bewildered person [i.e., someone devoid of proper discrimination], then frightful rajas surges in the sāttvika mind [i.e., even though the mind is sāttvika by nature]. Resolve along with fancy arise in a mind possessed by rajas, and then irresistible desire arises because of the deluded person’s [consequent] meditation on qualities [i.e., mental absorption in the qualities of the object of the mind’s resolve and fancy].”
śreyaś ca preyaś ca manuṣyam etas
tau samparītya vivinakti dhīraḥ |
śreyo hi dhīro’bhipreyaso vṛṇīte
preyo mando yoga-kṣemān vṛṇīte ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 1.2.2)
“Śreyas and preyas present themselves to human beings, and the wise fully assess and discriminate between them. The wise choose śreyas exclusively over preyas, but the foolish choose preyas to gain [what they lack] and preserve [what they have, in the worldly sense].”
anyac chreyo’nyad utaiva preyas
te ubhe nānārthe puruṣaṁ sinītaḥ |
tayoḥ śreya ādadānasya sādhu
bhavati hīyate’rthād ya u preyo vṛṇīte ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 1.2.1)
“Śreyas and preyas are distinct from one another, though with various goals, they both bind the living being. One who between them chooses śreyas reaches the true goal, and one who chooses preyas falls from it.”
citta dṛḍha hañā lāge mahimā-jñāna haite ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 1.2.118)
“The mind becomes firmly attached because of knowledge of greatness [i.e., the mind becomes firmly attached to an object when it the greatness of the object is known].”
syāc ced īśa-didṛkṣā nāmni śraddhāṁ dṛḍhāṁ sadā kuruta |
satyāsatya-vivekaṁ nityaṁ cānena tattva-vijñānam ||
(Sūkti-muktāvalī)
“One who desires to see the Lord should always have firm śraddhā in the name [of the Lord] and always discriminate between truth and falsity. By this realization of the reality manifests.”
pāpaṁ kurvan pāpakīrtiḥ pāpam evāśnute phalam |
puṇyaṁ kurvan puṇyakīrtiḥ puṇyam evāśnute phalam ||
pāpaṁ prajñāṁ nāśayati kriyamāṇaṁ punaḥ punaḥ |
naṣṭa-prajñaḥ pāpam eva nityam ārabhate naraḥ ||
puṇyaṁ prajñāṁ vardhayati kriyamāṇaṁ punaḥ punaḥ |
vṛddha-prajñaḥ puṇyam eva nityam ārabhate naraḥ ||
asūyako dandaśūko niṣṭhuro vairakṛn naraḥ |
sa kṛcchraṁ mahad āpnoto nacirāt pāpam ācaran ||
anasūyaḥ kṛta-prajñaḥ śobhanāny ācaran sadā |
akṛcchrāt sukham āpnoti sarvatra ca virājate ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.35.51−6)
“By committing sin, a sinful person certainly receives the results of sin. By practicing piety, a pious person certainly receives the results of piety. Sin committed again and again destroys one’s intellect, and a person whose intellect is destroyed begins to commit sin continuously. Piety practiced again and again enhances one’s intellect, and a person of enhanced intellect starts to practice piety continuously. A persons who is envious, mordacious, cruel, and inimical, by committing sins, soon undergoes great difficulty. One who is non-envious and endowed with intellect, by always performing auspicious acts, attains happiness without difficulty and shines everywhere.”
yadu-pateḥ kva gatā mathurā-purī
raghu-pateḥ kva gatottara-kośalā |
iti vicintya kurusva manaḥ sthiraṁ
na sad idaṁ jagad ity avadhāraya ||
(Unknown source; said to be alluded to by Rūpa Gosvāmī)
”Where has the Mathurā-purī of Yadupati gone? Where has the Northern Kośalā of Raghupati gone? Reflecting on this, steady the mind. This world is not eternal. Be certain of this.’”
mṛga-tṛṣṇāṁ yathā bālā manyanta udakāśayam |
evaṁ vaikārikīṁ māyām ayuktā vastu cakṣate ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.73.11)
“As the childish [i.e, the unintelligent] consider a mirage to be a reservoir of water, so the inattentive [i.e., the undiscerning] see transformed māyā [i.e., māyā in its state of being transformed into the manifest elements of sound, touch, sight, and so on] to be a reality.”
na svalpam apy adhyavasāya-bhīroḥ
karoti vijñāna-vidhir guṇaṁ hi |
andhasya kiṁ hasta-tala-sthito’pi
prakāśayaty artham iha pradīpaḥ ||
(Hitopadeśa: 1.165)
“Application of knowledge [alt., of the faculty of discrimination] does not do even a little good for one who is afraid of determined action [i.e., putting one’s knowledge and conclusions into practice in the face of obstacles]. What object in this world does even a lamp present in the palm of the hand illuminate for a blind person?”
