!! Viveka Chudamani of Shankaracharya !!
Slokas 417-420 with meanings in English
Sloka 417
ప్రారబ్ధసూత్రాగ్రథితమ్ శరీరం
ప్రయాతు వా తిష్ఠతు గోరివ స్రక్।
న తత్ పునః పశ్యతి తత్త్వవేత్తా
నన్దాత్మనా బ్రహ్మణి లీనవృత్తిః॥
1 ప్రారబ్ధసూత్రాగ్రథితమ్ శరీరం -
this body woven from the fabric of Prarabdha Karma
That the Jiva born with this body, only to experience the fruits of past life the known dictum of Hindu philosophy. Guru already stated that to avoid being trapped in the ocean of Samsara, in that process getting locked in the body again, one should develop a detachment to body. Not just detachment, one may go to the extent of developing disgust with body as though it is a corpse. Here Guru come up with another simile for the body , which is there to experience the fruits of past life.
2 ప్రయాతు వా తిష్ఠతు గోః స్రక్ ఇవ-
like the cow's garland whether it is there or not;
During festivities, devotees adorn the cow with a garland , and show their respect to the cow and conduct preyers in various forms. For the cow the garland whether it is there or not makes no difference. Just as cow is indifferent to the garland around its neck, the wiseman too is indifferent to the Body which is like a thread carrying the Prarabdha Karma around its neck.
Now the similarity is clear. The wise man who has realized Brahman is indifferent to the "Body" like the cow is indifferent to the garland around its neck. Like the garland around the neck of a Cow , For the wiseman it does not matter if the body is there or not.
4 నన్దాత్మనా బ్రహ్మణి లీనవృత్తిః -
with mental activity merged in Brahman of Supreme Bliss ;
3 న తత్ పునః పశ్యతి తత్త్వవేత్తా -
the learned one does not look at that again (body);
For the one whose mental activity is merged in Brahman of Supreme Bliss, one who has realized Brahman in himself, the body no longer matters. He does not look at it as he used to before experiencing Brahman,
Sloka summary 417 :
"With mental activity merged in Brahman of Supreme Bliss, the learned one does consider the body, which is like the cow's garland and does not look at it whether it is there or not";||417||
Having realized the Supreme Bliss, the learned one does not care for the body whether it is there or not.
Sloka 418:
అఖణ్దానన్దమాత్మానం విజ్ఞాయ స్వస్వరూపతః।
కిమిచ్ఛన్ కస్య వా హేతోః దేహం పుష్ణాతి తత్త్వవిత్॥
2 విజ్ఞాయ స్వస్వరూపతః -
realizing his own real nature as;
1 అఖణ్దానన్దమాత్మానం -
blissful infinite Self;
3 కిమిచ్ఛన్ కస్య వా హేతోః -
for what purpose or for whom
4 దేహం పుష్ణాతి తత్త్వవిత్ -
the wiseman would cherish this body?
Sloka summary 418 :
"Realizing his own real nature as blissful infinite Self, for what purpose or for whom the wiseman would cherish this body?" ||418||
The gist is that the learned one having realized his own nature as Blissful infinite Self, does not need to concern himself with his body.
Sloka 419
సంసిద్ధస్య ఫలం ఏతత్ జీవన్ముక్తస్య యోగినః।
బహిః అన్తః సదానన్ద రసాస్వాదనం ఆత్మని॥
1 జీవన్ముక్తస్య యోగినః -
the yogi who realized Self in this life;
2 సంసిద్ధస్య ఫలం ఏతత్ -
the fruit of attaining perfection is this;
What is the fruit of attaining perfection for a Yogi who realized Self ( attained perfection) in this life here itself, is the question. Guru Has the answer.
The answer , based on all the learning in Viveka Chudamani is straight forward. It is the realization of Blissful infinite Self reaching a state of Absolute peace (పరమ శాంతి); We will hear that in the next line
3 బహిః అన్తః -
inside and out;
4 సదానన్ద రసాస్వాదనం ఆత్మని -
always enjoying the blissful infinite self;
Sloka summary 419 :
"The perfected Yogi who is liberated while being alive, gets the result of always enjoying the blissful infinite self, both inside and out".||419||
For the one who realized Self, or who attained Brahmatva, or Moksha in the more colloquial language, the result of being freed from all attachments ( bonds), is Supreme Peace with detachment seeing himself in the Role of a witness. Enjoying that Supreme Peace is the fruit of Liberation.
The hall mark of one who attained liberation is the peace that permeates his countenance and all his actions. The heart full smile and the kindness in the look tell the story.
Gurus effectively saying the same thing.
Here Talking about the fruit, Guru tells us about fruit of Detachment, fruit of Supreme knowledge, fruit of withdrawal of sense from sense objects, and the resultant Supreme peace, in the next Sloka.
Sloka 420:
వైరాగ్యస్య ఫలం బోధః
బోధస్య ఉపరతిః ఫలం।
స్వానన్దానుభవాత్ శాన్తిః
ఏషైవోపరతిః ఫలమ్॥
1 వైరాగ్యస్య ఫలం బోధః -
Fruit of detachment is Knowledge;
2 బోధస్య ఉపరతిః ఫలం -
Fruit of Supreme knowledge is withdrawal of senses from sense objects (Uparati);
ఉపరతి means withdrawal of senses from sense objects; Supreme Knowledge is the realization that what is seen as the world is not real, and the senses focussed on out side miss the reality of Brahman. This leads to search beyond the five sheaths for the Self residing in the heart as it were. So wise one turns focus of senses inward withdrawing from outside world. So the fruit of Supreme Knowledge is withdrawal of senses from sense objects (Uparati);
The withdrawal of senses from the sense objects, has the benefit of breaking bonds holding self from the bondage of external world. That in turn generates Supreme peace,
3 స్వానన్దానుభవాత్ శాన్తిః -
Supreme Peace తనలోనే ఆనందము వలన శాంతి
4 ఏషై ఏవ ఉపరతిః ఫలమ్ -
that is the result of withdrawal of Senses from Sense objects;
Sloka summary 420:
"The fruit of detachment is knowledge. Fruit of knowledge is the withdrawal of senses from the sense objects. Fruit of withdrawal of senses from sense objects is the experience of Supreme Bliss of Self leading to Supreme Peace."||420||
॥ఓం తత్ సత్॥
||om tat sat||