श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । बहुकालमियं रूढा मिथ्याज्ञानविषूचिका । नूनं विचारमन्त्रेण निर्मूलमुपशाम्यति ॥ ३९ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | bahukālamiyaṁ rūḍhā mithyājñānaviṣūcikā | nūnaṁ vicāramantrēṇa nirmūlamupaśāmyati || 39 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: This cholera of false knowledge has grown deep-rooted over a long time; surely it is stilled, root and all, by the mantra of inquiry.
Word by word
- bahu
- a long
- kālam
- time
- iyaṁ
- this
- rūḍhā
- has grown deep-rooted
- mithyā
- false
- jñāna
- of knowledge
- viṣūcikā
- cholera
- nūnaṁ
- surely
- vicāra
- of inquiry
- mantrēṇa
- by the mantra
- nirmūlam
- root and all
- upaśāmyati
- is stilled
Meaning
The verse repeats 3.8.2 and changes its remedy. There the disease was said to yield only to knowledge; here the knowledge is given a name, the mantra of inquiry (vicāra). The commentary: this cholera of ignorance, rooted for ages, is destroyed root and all by the mantra of inquiry; of this there is no doubt. A mantra is repeated: inquiry too has to be returned to again and again before it works, as the next verse says.