पुरुषार्थैकसाध्येन वासनैकार्थकर्मणा । केवलं तन्मनोमात्रजयेनाऽऽसाद्यते पदम् ॥ ४० ॥
puruṣārthaikasādhyēna vāsanaikārthakarmaṇā | kēvalaṁ tanmanōmātrajayēnā’’sādyatē padam || 40 ||
Translation
The state is reached by the conquest of the mind alone, which is won only by one's own effort, by the work whose one object is tendency.
Word by word
- puruṣārtha
- by one's own effort
- ēka
- only
- sādhyēna
- which is won
- vāsanā
- tendency
- artha
- whose object
- karmaṇā
- by the work
- kēvalaṁ
- alone
- tan
- (tat) that
- manō
- (manaḥ) of the mind
- mātra
- only
- jayēna
- by the conquest
- āsādyatē
- is reached
- padam
- the state
Meaning
Now the positive statement. Vāsanaikārtha-karmaṇā is a compressed phrase, and the commentary unpacks it: a firm tendency towards Brahman, which opposes the tendency towards duality. So tendency is not abolished by something else. It is met by a tendency of the opposite kind, built up by hearing, reflection and contemplation. Mano-mātra-jaya, conquest of the mind alone, is explained as the uprooting of a duality that is only the mind. The whole battle is located, and it is nearby.