Yoga Vāsiṣṭha 1.14.2

Translation

For those whose minds are worn to shreds by clinging to the serpents of the senses' objects, and whose discrimination of the Self is unripe, life is a cause of toil.

Word by word

viṣaya

of the senses' objects

āśīviṣa

to the serpents

āsaṅga

by clinging

parijarjara

worn to shreds

cētasām

for those whose minds are

aprauḍha

unripe

ātma

of the Self

vivēkānām

whose discrimination is

āyur

(āyuḥ) life

āyāsa

of toil

kāraṇam

a cause

Meaning

Now Rāma makes a distinction that runs through the whole sarga. Life is not bad in itself; what it is depends on who lives it. For one whose mind clings to the objects of sense, which bite like poisonous snakes (āśīviṣa), the mind is "worn to shreds" (parijarjara), and life is āyāsa, labour and weariness. The second condition is more searching: their discrimination of the Self (ātmaviveka) is "unripe" (aprauḍha). They may have heard that the Self is not the body, but the knowledge has not grown to bear fruit. The reader is invited to ask which kind of life they are living, and the answer is not given by what they believe but by how tired they are.