6. Chapter 6

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । इमं विश्वपरिस्पन्दं करोमीत्यस्तवासनम् । प्रवर्तते यः कार्येषु स मुक्त इति मे मतिः ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | imaṃ viśvaparispandaṃ karomītyastavāsanam | pravartate yaḥ kāryeṣu sa mukta iti me matiḥ || 1 ||

Vasishtha continued:—In my opinion, a man is liberated who does his works from a sense of his duty, and without any desire of his own or sense of his own agency in it.

पौरुषीं तनुमाश्रित्य केचिदेतत्क्रियारताः । स्वर्गान्नरकमायान्ति स्वर्गं च नरकात्पुनः ॥ २ ॥

pauruṣīṃ tanumāśritya kecidetatkriyāratāḥ | svargānnarakamāyānti svargaṃ ca narakātpunaḥ || 2 ||

Who so having obtained a human form, is engaged in acts out of his own choice and with a sense of his own agency, he is subjected to his ascension and descension to heaven and hell by turns.

केचित्त्वकर्मणि रता विरता अपि कर्मणः । नरकान्नरकं यान्ति दुःखाद्दुःखं भयाद्भयम् ॥ ३ ॥

kecittvakarmaṇi ratā viratā api karmaṇaḥ | narakānnarakaṃ yānti duḥkhādduḥkhaṃ bhayādbhayam || 3 ||

Some persons who are inclined to unduteous (or illegal) acts, by neglecting the performance of their destined (or legal) duties, are doomed to descend to deeper hells, and to fall into greater fears and torments from their former states.

केचित्स्ववासनातन्तुबद्धाः कर्मफलोदिताः । तिर्यक्त्वात्स्थावरतनुं यान्ति तिर्यक्तनुं ततः ॥ ४ ॥

kecitsvavāsanātantubaddhāḥ karmaphaloditāḥ | tiryaktvātsthāvaratanuṃ yānti tiryaktanuṃ tataḥ || 4 ||

Some men who are fast bound to the chain of their desires, and have to feel the consequences of their acts, are made to descend to the state of vegetables from their brutal life, or to rise from it to animal life again.

केचिदात्मविदो धन्या विचारितमनोदृशः । विच्छिन्नतृष्णानिगडा यान्ति निष्केवलं पदम् ॥ ५ ॥

kecidātmavido dhanyā vicāritamanodṛśaḥ | vicchinnatṛṣṇānigaḍā yānti niṣkevalaṃ padam || 5 ||

Some who are blessed with the knowledge of the Spirit, from their investigation of abstruse philosophy, rise to the state of monism (Kaivalya); by breaking through the fetters of desire.

पुरा कतिपयान्येव भुक्त्वा जन्मानि राघव । अस्मिञ्जन्मनि यो मुक्तस्तस्माद्राजससात्त्विकः ॥ ६ ॥

purā katipayānyeva bhuktvā janmāni rāghava | asmiñjanmani yo muktastasmādrājasasāttvikaḥ || 6 ||

There are some men, who after ascending gradually in the scale of their creation in former births, have obtained their liberation in the present life of rajas-satvika or active goodness.

जातोऽसौ वृद्धिमभ्येति पार्वणश्चन्द्रमा इव । कुटजं प्रावृषीवैनं सौभाग्यमनुगच्छति ॥ ७ ॥

jāto'sau vṛddhimabhyeti pārvaṇaścandramā iva | kuṭajaṃ prāvṛṣīvainaṃ saubhāgyamanugacchati || 7 ||

Such men being born again on earth, assume their bright qualities like the crescent moon, and are united with all prosperity, like the Kurchi plant which is covered with blossoms in its flowering time of the rainy season.

यस्येदं जन्म पाश्चात्यं तमाश्वेव महामते । विशन्ति विद्या विमला मुक्ता वेणुमिवोत्तमम् ॥ ८ ॥

yasyedaṃ janma pāścātyaṃ tamāśveva mahāmate | viśanti vidyā vimalā muktā veṇumivottamam || 8 ||

The merit of prior acts follows one in his next state, and the learning of past life meets a man in his next birth, as a pearl is born in a reed.

आर्यता हृद्यता मैत्री सौम्यता करुणा ज्ञता । समाश्रयन्ति तं नित्यमन्तःपुरमिवाङ्गनाः ॥ ९ ॥

āryatā hṛdyatā maitrī saumyatā karuṇā jñatā | samāśrayanti taṃ nityamantaḥpuramivāṅganāḥ || 9 ||

The qualities of respectability and amiableness, of affability and friendliness, and of compassion and intelligence, attend upon these people like their attendants at home.

यः कुर्वन्सर्वकार्याणि पुण्ये नष्टेऽथ तत्फले । समः सन्सर्वकार्येषु न तुष्यति न शोचति ॥ १० ॥

yaḥ kurvansarvakāryāṇi puṇye naṣṭe'tha tatphale | samaḥ sansarvakāryeṣu na tuṣyati na śocati || 10 ||

Happy is the man who is steady in the discharge of his duties, and is neither overjoyed nor depressed at the fruition or failure of their results.

तमांसीव दिवा यान्ति तत्र द्वन्द्वानि संक्षयम् । शरदीव घनास्तत्र गुणा गच्छन्ति शुद्धताम् ॥ ११ ॥

tamāṃsīva divā yānti tatra dvandvāni saṃkṣayam | śaradīva ghanāstatra guṇā gacchanti śuddhatām || 11 ||

The defects of the dutiful and their pain and pleasure, in the performance of duties, are all lost under the sense of their duteousness; as the darkness of night, is dispelled by the light of the day, and the clouds of the rainy season, are dispersed in autumn.

पेशलाचारमधुरं सर्वे वाञ्छन्ति तं जनाः । वेणुं मधुरनिध्वानं वने वनमृगा इव ॥ १२ ॥

peśalācāramadhuraṃ sarve vāñchanti taṃ janāḥ | veṇuṃ madhuranidhvānaṃ vane vanamṛgā iva || 12 ||

The man of a submissive and sweet disposition, is liked by every body; as the sweet music of reeds in the forest, attracts the ears of wild antelopes.

नरं पाश्चात्यजन्मानमेवंप्राया गुणश्रियः । जातमेवानुधावन्ति बलाका इव वारिदम् ॥ १३ ॥

naraṃ pāścātyajanmānamevaṃprāyā guṇaśriyaḥ | jātamevānudhāvanti balākā iva vāridam || 13 ||

The qualities of the past life, accompany a man in his next birth; as the swallows of the rainy weather, attend on a dark cloud in the air.

ततोऽसौ गुणसंपूर्णो गुरुमेवानुगच्छति । स तमेवं विवेके वै नियोजयति पावने ॥ १४ ॥

tato'sau guṇasaṃpūrṇo gurumevānugacchati | sa tamevaṃ viveke vai niyojayati pāvane || 14 ||

Being thus qualified by his prior virtues, the good man has recourse to an instructor for the development of his understanding, who thereupon puts him in the way to truth.

विचारवैराग्यवता चेतसा गुणशालिना । देवं पश्यत्यथात्मानमेकरूपमनामयम् ॥ १५ ॥

vicāravairāgyavatā cetasā guṇaśālinā | devaṃ paśyatyathātmānamekarūpamanāmayam || 15 ||

The man with the qualities of reason and resignation of his mind, beholds the Lord as one, and of the same form as the imperishable soul within himself.

तनोत्ययं विचारेण चारुणा शान्तचेतसा । प्रबोधनाय प्रथमं मनोमननमान्तरम् ॥ १६ ॥

tanotyayaṃ vicāreṇa cāruṇā śāntacetasā | prabodhanāya prathamaṃ manomananamāntaram || 16 ||

It is the spiritual guide, who awakens the dull and sleeping mind by his right reasoning;and then instils into it the words of truth, with a placid countenance and mind.

ये हि पाश्चात्यजन्मानस्ते हि सुप्तं मनोमृगम् । प्रबोधयन्ति प्रथमं गुणहीनं महागुणाः ॥ १७ ॥

ye hi pāścātyajanmānaste hi suptaṃ manomṛgam | prabodhayanti prathamaṃ guṇahīnaṃ mahāguṇāḥ || 17 ||

They are the best qualified in their subsequent births, who learn first to awaken their worthless and dormant minds, as they rouse the sleeping stags in the forest.

प्रथितगुणान्सुगुरून्निषेव्य यत्नादमलधिया प्रविचार्य चित्तरत्नम् । गतिममलामुपयान्ति मानवास्ते परमवलोक्य चिरं प्रकाशमन्तः ॥ १८ ॥

prathitaguṇānsugurūnniṣevya yatnādamaladhiyā pravicārya cittaratnam | gatimamalāmupayānti mānavāste paramavalokya ciraṃ prakāśamantaḥ || 18 ||

It is first by diligent attendance on good and meritorious guides (or gurus), and then by cleansing the gem of their minds by the help of reasoning that the pure hearted men come to the light of truth, and perceive the divine light shining in their souls.