कश्चिन्मां प्रेरयत्येवमित्यनर्थकुकल्पने । यः स्थितो दृष्टमुत्सृज्य त्याज्योऽसौ दूरतोऽधमः ॥ २९ ॥
kaścinmāṁ prērayatyēvamityanarthakukalpanē | yaḥ sthitō dṛṣṭamutsṛjya tyājyō’sau dūratō’dhamaḥ || 29 ||
Translation
He who, setting aside what is seen, stays in the mischievous fancy "someone moves me this way" is to be left far behind: he is the lowest of men.
Word by word
- kaścin
- (kaścit) someone
- māṁ
- me
- prērayaty
- (prerayati) moves
- ēvam
- this way
- ity
- (iti) thus
- anartha
- mischievous
- kukalpanē
- in the fancy
- yaḥ
- he who
- sthitō
- (sthitaḥ) stays
- dṛṣṭam
- what is seen
- utsṛjya
- setting aside
- tyājyō
- (tyājyaḥ) is to be left
- asau
- he
- dūratō
- (dūrataḥ) far behind
- adhamaḥ
- the lowest of men
Meaning
The strongest words of the sarga, and the commentary stops here for a long discussion. Its objection is a serious one, for scripture itself says that the Lord causes good action in the one he would raise up (eṣa hy eva sādhu karma kārayati), that the inner ruler dwells in the self and governs it, and that "the Lord dwells in the heart of all beings" (īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe). How can God's rule be denied? The answer brings other scriptures: "as one acts, as one behaves, so one becomes" (yathākārī yathācārī tathā bhavati), and "the Lord creates neither agency nor actions for the world" (na kartṛtvaṁ na karmāṇi). Without a free doer, all commands and prohibitions would be idle, and a God who forced men to sin and then sent them to hell would be partial and cruel. So each teaching has its standpoint. For the one who has not awakened, who is the very person being taught here, the freedom of the self is what holds, and the Lord governs according to one's actions, without partiality. Beyond that, for discernment, all is the Lord. And in the highest truth neither stands, as when a wooden elephant is seen running in a dream or a mirror: looked at as an elephant, the elephant runs; looked at as wood, the wood runs; in truth there is neither, and no running, only the unchanging person, or the mirror. Vasiṣṭha's teaching, the commentary says, is for those still in ignorance, and is rightly given. Note what is condemned: not faith, but a fancy (ku-kalpanā) used to leave aside what is seen (dṛṣṭam utsṛjya), our plain experience that we can choose. A person may hold every belief about providence and still has to get up in the morning and act.