4 VIVEKACHUDAMANI
Translation
7. There is no hope of Immortality by means of riches — such indeed is the declaration of the Vedas. Hence it is clear that works cannot be the cause of Liberation.
[The reference is to Yajnavalkya's words to his wife Maitreyi, Brihadaranyaka II.iv. 2. Cf. the Vedic dictum, (न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः-): 'Neither by rituals, nor progeny, nor by riches, but by renunciation alone some attained immortality.]
Sloka #8
- अतो विमुक्त्यै प्रयतेत विद्वान्
- संन्यस्तबाह्यार्थसुखस्पृहः सन् ।
- सन्तं महान्तं समुपेत्य देशिकं
- तेनोपदिष्टार्थसमाहितात्मा ॥८॥
Translation
8. Therefore the man of learning should strive his best for Liberation, having renounced his desire for pleasures from external objects, duly approaching a good and generous preceptor, and fixing his mind on the truth inculcated by him.
[Duly approaching a good and generous preceptor — i.e. according to the prescribed mode. (Vide Mundaka I. ii. 12). The characteristics of a qualified Guru are given later on in sloka 33.]
Sloka #9
- उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं मग्नं संसारवारिधौ ।
- योगारूढत्वमासाद्य सम्यग्दर्शननिष्टया ॥९॥
Translation
9. Having attained the Yogarudha state, one should recover oneself, immersed in the sea of birth and death, by means of devotion to right discrimination.
