नित्यं सज्जनसंपर्काद् विवेक उपजायते । विवेकपादपस्यैव भोगमोक्षौ फले स्मृतौ ॥ ५८ ॥
nityaṁ sajjanasaṁparkād vivēka upajāyatē | vivēkapādapasyaiva bhōgamōkṣau phalē smṛtau || 58 ||
Translation
Discernment arises from constant contact with the good, and enjoyment and liberation are held to be the two fruits of the tree of discernment.
Word by word
- nityaṁ
- constant
- sajjana
- with the good
- saṁparkād
- (saṁparkāt) from contact
- vivēka
- (vivekaḥ) discernment
- upajāyatē
- arises
- pādapasya
- of the tree
- ēva
- alone
- bhōga
- enjoyment
- mōkṣau
- and liberation
- phalē
- the two fruits
- smṛtau
- are held to be
Meaning
Bhoga and mokṣa, enjoyment and liberation, are often taken as opposites. Here they hang from one tree. Discernment gives both: a right ordering of life in the world, and freedom from it. So the discerning person has not renounced happiness. The verse also fixes a dependency: discernment, it says, comes from company. It is not manufactured alone by mere thinking, though the rest of this work will say a good deal about thinking.