नीरागाश्छिन्नसन्देहा गलितग्रन्थयोऽनघ । साधवो यदि विद्यन्ते किं तपस्तीर्थसंग्रहैः ॥ ११ ॥
nīrāgāśchinnasandēhā galitagranthayō’nagha | sādhavō yadi vidyantē kiṁ tapastīrthasaṁgrahaiḥ || 11 ||
Translation
If there are good people, free of passion, their doubts cut away, their knots undone, O sinless one, what need is there to gather austerities and holy places?
Word by word
- nīrāgāś
- (nīrāgāḥ) free of passion
- chinna
- cut away
- sandēhā
- (sandehāḥ) their doubts
- galita
- undone
- granthayō
- (granthayaḥ) their knots
- anagha
- O sinless one
- sādhavō
- (sādhavaḥ) good people
- yadi
- if
- vidyantē
- there are
- kiṁ
- what need
- tapas
- (tapaḥ) of austerities
- tīrtha
- and holy places
- saṁgrahaiḥ
- to gather
Meaning
The commentary explains the knots as the knot of the conscious and the unconscious, the bond by which the Self is taken to be one with the mind and the body. The phrase recalls the Upaniṣad: the knot of the heart is cut, all doubts are cut away. The three marks, no passion, no doubt, no knot, describe one who has known the Self, and such a person is himself the holy place.