सपूर्वापरवाक्यार्थविचारविषयाहतम् । मनः समरसं कृत्वा सानुसन्धानमात्मनि ॥ ६ ॥
sapūrvāparavākyārthavicāraviṣayāhatam | manaḥ samarasaṁ kṛtvā sānusandhānamātmani || 6 ||
Translation
with the mind made even, undisturbed by objects, weighing the sense of each sentence by what comes before and after it, and attentive to the Self;
Word by word
- sa
- with
- pūrva
- what comes before
- apara
- and after
- vākya
- of each sentence
- artha
- the sense
- vicāra
- weighing
- viṣaya
- by objects
- ahatam
- undisturbed
- manaḥ
- the mind
- samarasaṁ
- even, of one taste
- kṛtvā
- having made
- sānusandhānam
- attentive
- ātmani
- to the Self
Meaning
This is the second requirement, and it is a surprisingly practical piece of advice on reading. Sapūrvāpara-vākyārtha-vicāra: inquiry into a sentence's meaning together with what stands before and after it. Single lines of this work, lifted out, can be made to say almost anything. Vasiṣṭha asks to be read whole. Viṣaya-ahatam: the mind not struck by objects, for a listener whose thoughts run to their affairs has not actually arrived. Sama-rasam: of one even taste. And sānusandhānam ātmani: with attention kept on the Self, so that the words are not only followed but applied, each one turned back on the one who is hearing it.