अत्यन्तासंभवो यावद् बुद्धो दृश्यस्य न क्षयः । तावद् द्रष्टरि दृश्यत्वं न संभवति मोक्षधीः ॥ २३ ॥
atyantāsaṁbhavō yāvad buddhō dṛśyasya na kṣayaḥ | tāvad draṣṭari dṛśyatvaṁ na saṁbhavati mōkṣadhīḥ || 23 ||
Translation
As long as the utter impossibility of the seen has not been understood, not its destruction, so long the seer is subject to the seen, and the thought of release is impossible.
Word by word
- atyanta
- utter
- asaṁbhavō
- (asaṃbhavaḥ) impossibility
- yāvad
- (yāvat) as long as
- buddhō
- (buddhaḥ) understood
- dṛśyasya
- of the seen
- na
- not
- kṣayaḥ
- destruction
- tāvad
- (tāvat) so long
- draṣṭari
- in the seer
- dṛśyatvaṁ
- subjection to the seen
- saṁbhavati
- is possible
- mōkṣa
- of release
- dhīḥ
- the thought
Meaning
The commentary asks why release is impossible, and answers: until one knows the utter end of the seen, its complete uprooting, through the destruction of the root ignorance, the seen will remain in the seer, and so there can be no release. Another commentary: so long as the destruction of the seen in the form of its utter impossibility is not known, release is not possible. The word is chosen with care: not that the seen is destroyed, but that it is understood to be utterly impossible, atyanta-asaṃbhava. Destruction would leave a seen that once was; impossibility leaves none.