श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । शास्त्रावबोधामलया धिया परमपूतया । कर्तव्यः कारणज्ञेन विचारोऽनिशमात्मनः ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | śāstrāvabōdhāmalayā dhiyā paramapūtayā | kartavyaḥ kāraṇajñēna vicārō’niśamātmanaḥ || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: With an understanding made spotless by grasping the scriptures, and wholly pure, one who knows the causes should inquire into the Self without pause.
Word by word
- śrīvasiṣṭha
- Śrī Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- śāstra
- of the scriptures
- avabōdha
- by grasping
- amalayā
- made spotless
- dhiyā
- with an understanding
- parama
- wholly
- pūtayā
- pure
- kartavyaḥ
- should be made
- kāraṇa
- the causes
- jñēna
- by one who knows
- vicārō
- (vicāraḥ) inquiry
- aniśam
- without pause
- ātmanaḥ
- into the Self
Meaning
Peace was the first gatekeeper, and here the second is introduced: vicāra, inquiry. The commentary counts five kinds of it. The first examines how a natural pull towards objects leads to harm, while the conduct taught in scripture and dispassion lead to the human goal. The second sees that one's own body and those one is attached to are impure in nature, in origin and in their end, and that every pleasure, up to the world of Brahmā, is passing and mixed with sorrow. These two give rise to dispassion and to the longing for freedom. The third asks whether liberation comes by works, by worship, by both together, or by knowledge alone. The fourth asks whether the knowledge meant is that of the philosophical schools or that of the śruti, and what the śruti intends: duality or non-duality, a Self with attributes or without. This the commentary calls śravaṇa, hearing. The fifth tests, as a gem is tested, whether the Brahman the śruti teaches can truly be one's own Self, until this is settled through the teacher, fellow students and the clearing of the ideas of the individual, the Lord and the world. The first three may come of themselves by good fortune, it says, but should be confirmed through teacher and scripture; the last two come only from them. That is why the verse asks for an understanding made clear by scripture. 'One who knows the causes' is glossed as one who can tell apart the steps of a reasoned inquiry: the subject, the doubt, the opposing view, the conclusion and its purpose.