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tad etat preyaḥ putrāt

tad etat preyaḥ putrāt, preyo vittāt, preyo’nyasmāt sarvasmād antarataraṁ yad ayam ātmā | sa yo’nyam ātmanaḥ priyaṁ bruvāṇaṁ brūyāt priya rotsyatītīśvaro ha tathaiva syāt, ātmānam eva priyam upāsīta | sa ya ātmānam eva priyam upāste, na hāsya priyaṁ pramāyukaṁ bhavati ||
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 1.4.8)

“This which is dearer than a son, dearer than wealth, dearer than others, and all else—this is the ātmā deeper within. One who says of someone who says something else is dearer than the ātmā, “He will lose that which he holds dear” is capable [i.e., fit to say so], and indeed that will come to be. One should regard only the ātmā as dear. Indeed that which is dear to one who regards only the ātmā as dear is never subject to destruction.”

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yathā nabhasi meghaugho

yathā nabhasi meghaugho reṇur vā pārthivo’nile |
evaṁ draṣṭari dṛśyatvam āropitam abuddhibhiḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.31)

“Like a mass of clouds to the sky or a particle of earth to the air, so the visible [i.e., the body] is attributed [i.e., taken to be] to the seer [i.e., the ātmā] by the unintelligent.”

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jīvera svabhāva kṛṣṇa-dāsa-abhimāna |

jīvera svabhāva—kṛṣṇa-dāsa-abhimāna |
dehe ātma-jñāne ācchādita sei jñāna ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.24.201)

“The identity of being a servant of Kṛṣṇa is the nature of the jīva. Such awareness is covered by identification with the body.”

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jīvera svarūpa haya kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa

jīvera svarūpa haya—kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa— |
kṛṣṇera taṭasthā-śakti—bhedābheda-prakāśa ||
sūryāṁśa-kiraṇa yaiche agni-jvālā-caya |
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.20.108–109)

“The jīva’s nature is [that of being] an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa’s intermediary potency (taṭasthā-śakti), and a manifestation [both] different and non-different [from Kṛṣṇa] like a particle-ray of the sun or sparks from a fire.”

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tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti

tvaṁ tu rājan mariṣyeti paśu-buddhim imāṁ jahi |
na jātaḥ prāg abhūto’dya deha-vat tvaṁ na naṅkṣyasi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.5.2)

[Śukadeva to Mahārāja Parīkṣit:] “O King, you should give up this animal mentality [of thinking], “I will die.” Like the body, you were not previously non-existent, are not [merely] presently manifest, and will not be destroyed [in the future].”

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ātmā na devo na naro

ātmā na devo na naro na tiryak sthāvaro na ca |
na deho nendriyaṁ naiva manaḥ prāṇo na nāpi dhīḥ ||
na jaḍo na vikārī ca jñāna-mātrātmako na ca |
svasmai svayaṁ-prakāśaḥ syād eka-rūpaḥ svarūpa-bhāk ||
cetano vyāpti-śīlaś ca cid-ānandātmakas tathā |
aham-arthaḥ prati-kṣetraṁ bhinno’ṇur nitya-nirmalaḥ ||
tathā jñātṛtva-kartṛtva-bhoktṛtva-nija-dharmakaḥ |
paramātmaika-śeṣatva-svabhāvaḥ sarvadā svataḥ ||
(Jāmātṛ Muni; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 19)

“The ātma is neither a deva, nor a human, nor an animal, nor a stationary being [i.e., plant, rock, etc.], nor the body, nor the senses, nor the mind, nor the prāṇa, nor the intellect, nor inert, nor transformable, nor of the nature of only awareness [i.e., nor lacking the capacity to know]. The ātma is self-luminous to its own self, of one form, situated in its own nature, conscious, pervasive [of the body], of the nature of consciousness (cit) and bliss (ānanda), the referent of ‘I’, distinct from every [other] field [i.e., entity], atomic, eternal, pure, endowed with its own knowership, doership, and perceivership, and always by its own nature a singular subsidiary of the Paramātmā.”

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jñānāśrayo jñāna-guṇaś

jñānāśrayo jñāna-guṇaś cetanaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ |
na jāto nirvikāraś ca eka-rūpaḥ svarūpa-bhāk ||
aṇur nityo vyāpti-śīlaś cid-ānandātmakas tathā |
aham artho’vyayaḥ kṣetrī bhinna-rūpaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
adāhyo’cchedya akledya aśoṣyo’kṣara eva ca |
evam ādi-guṇair yuktaḥ śeṣa-bhūtaḥ parasya vai ||
ma-kāreṇocyate jīvaḥ kṣetrajñaḥ paravān sadā |
dāsa-bhūto harer eva nānyasyaiva kadācana |
(Padma-purāṇa: Uttara-khaṇḍa, 226.34–37)

“The jīva is the bearer of awareness (jñāna), endowed with the quality of awareness, conscious, beyond material energy (prakṛti), unborn, untransformable, of one form, situated in its own nature, atomic, eternal, pervasive [of the body], of the nature of consciousness (cit) and bliss (ānanda), the referent of‘I’, undecaying, the bearer of the field [i.e., the body], of distinct form [i.e., an individual distinct from all others], never-ending, unburnable, indivisible, unmoistenable, undriable, imperishable, endowed with other attributes, by nature a subsidiary of the Paramātmā, referred to by the letter m [within Om], the knower of the field [i.e., the body] (kṣetrajñā), ever dependent, and a servant of Hari alone and never of anyone else.”

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ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha

ātmā nityo’vyayaḥ śuddha ekaḥ kṣetra-jña āśrayaḥ |
avikriyaḥ sva-dṛg hetur vyāpako’saṅgy anāvṛtaḥ ||
etair dvādaśabhir vidvān ātmano lakṣaṇaiḥ paraiḥ |
ahaṁ mamety asad-bhāvaṁ dehādau mohajaṁ tyajet ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 7.7.19–20; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 46)

“The ātmā is eternal [i.e. indestructible], undiminishing, pure, one [i.e., singular, not an aggregate like the body], the knower of the field [i.e., endowed with capacity for awareness], the shelter [i.e., the shelter of the senses and other faculties, such as the manas and buddhi], immutable, self-witnessing [i.e., self-luminous to its own self], the cause [i.e., the cause of the universe’s emanation], pervasive [i.e., pervasive of the body], unattached, and without any covering. By means of these twelve distinguishing characteristics of the ātmā, a learned person should give up the false notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ related to the body and so forth [i.e., the body’s paraphernalia], which are products of delusion.”

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rātrir gamiṣyati bhaviṣyati suprabhātaṁ

rātrir gamiṣyati bhaviṣyati suprabhātaṁ
bhāsvān udeṣyati hasiṣyati paṅkajaśrīḥ |
itthaṁ vicintayati koṣa-gate dvirephe
hā hanta hanta nalinīṁ gaja ujjahāra ||
(Unknown Source)

“The night shall pass, the fine dawn shall arrive, the bright sun shall rise, and the beautiful lotus shall bloom—as a bee remaining inside the whorl [of a lotus] is thinking thus, alas, alas, an elephant has uprooted the lotus.”

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samāsaktaṁ yadā cittaṁ

samāsaktaṁ yadā cittaṁ jantor viṣaya-gocare |
yady evaṁ brahmaṇi syāt tat ko na mucyeta bandhanāt ||
(Maitrāyaṇīya Upaniṣad: 6.34.5)

“When a living being’s citta is fully attached to the sphere of the sense objects, if it were to become such [i.e., if it were to become instead fully attached] to Brahman, then who would not become liberated from bondage?”

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