ये तु विज्ञातविज्ञेया विश्रान्ता वितते पदे । भावाभावसमाश्वासमायुस्तेषां सुखायते ॥ ३ ॥
yē tu vijñātavijñēyā viśrāntā vitatē padē | bhāvābhāvasamāśvāsamāyustēṣāṁ sukhāyatē || 3 ||
Translation
But for those who have known what is to be known, who rest in the boundless state, and who keep the same composure in having and not having, life is happiness.
Word by word
- yē
- those who
- tu
- but
- vijñāta
- have known
- vijñēyā
- what is to be known
- viśrāntā
- who rest
- vitatē
- in the boundless
- padē
- state
- bhāva
- in having
- abhāva
- and not having
- samāśvāsam
- with the same composure
- āyus
- (āyuḥ) life
- tēṣāṁ
- for them
- sukhāyatē
- is happiness
Meaning
This is the other kind of life, and it is the goal of the whole work. Three marks are given. They "have known what is to be known" (vijñāta-vijñeya): the one thing which, once known, leaves nothing further to seek. They "rest in the boundless state" (vitate pade), which the commentary calls the infinite Brahman. And they have samāśvāsa, equal ease, in bhāva and abhāva: gain and loss, pleasure and pain, presence and absence. For them the same short life is "happiness" (sukhāyate). Nothing in their circumstances has to change; what changes is where they rest. The verse holds out a real hope inside the lament: the fault is not in life, and the way out is not death but knowledge.