Vivekachudamani - Post 23

  Verse 17    

विवेकिनो विरक्तस्य शमादिगुणशालिनः ।
मुमुक्षोरेव हि ब्रह्मजिज्ञासायोग्यता मता ॥ १७ ॥

 

vivekino viraktasya śamādiguṇaśālinaḥ |
mumukṣoreva hi brahmajijñāsāyogyatā matā || 17 ||

 

(He alone is considered qualified to enquire after the supreme Reality, who has discrimination, detachment, qualities of calmness and so on, and a burning desire for Liberation.) 

 

If the former verse gives us the broad characteristic of those who are fit receptacles for Knowledge, here we have more clearly etched specifications. 

 

These terms have often been found to frighten away the students since their orthodox interpretations have been rather severe and relentless. But on a closer analysis, they are found to be very healthy instincts present in every bosom. Only a very few of us, however, are conscious of them and even fewer consciously develop these qualities in themselves. 

 

vivekino viraktasya samadigunasalinah mumuksor. 

 

The student must be viveki; he must have discrimination. viraktasya, he must have dispassion; samadiguṇasalinah, he must have six-fold inner wealth, or inner virtues, mumuksor- with the earlier 3 qualifications, the seeker naturally develops intense craving for liberation.

 

Viveka is the capacity to discriminate between the Real and the unreal, between the true and the false, between the permanent and the impermanent. It is a faculty which we employ in almost all our day-to-day decisions but when it is brought to play into the inner constitution of the individual it is called 'viveka'. 

 

Vairagya is commonly translated as detachment. For many, it holds an uncanny fear, for it seems to point more to a condition of a living death than to a state of a better and fuller living. 

 

The 'vairagya' of Vedanta is only a fulfilment of viveka. Having discriminated between the Real and the unreal, it should not at all be agonising to pluck ourselves away from the false (unreal). 

 

When, through discrimination, we are intellectually convinced of the fallacy of our way of thinking, detachment is the fructification of that discrimination. Accordingly, it manifests to the degree to which we have been convinced that my shadow is not really me, it does not take an iota of my energy to rid myself of the sorrows of my shadow. 

 

Even if ten thousand elephants pass over it, I shall still smile and be happy for I know that no matter how much my shadow is trampled upon, it cannot bring me any pain. 

 

'Sama' means calmness. This and associated qualities will be taken up by Sankara in the coming verses and we shall be going into them at length there. For the time being, suffice it to understand that these are the mental values in life, which should be cultivated by a healthy man with an evolutionary urge. 

 

Success in any creative thinking will be directly proportional to the amount of these qualities in an individual. Even in the material world, an individual's success can be increased if only he develops these qualities in himself. 

 

Last but not the least of four qualifications mentioned here is 'mumuksutva' means a burning desire for Liberation. This, in its old drapery, may have the ugly look of an impracticable idea. 

One must have desire for inner freedom and that too intense desire. Because intense desire will be implemented. Casual desires, luke worm desires will not be implemented. 

 

So, tivrah mumukshu alone gets translated externally; therefore mumukshu means the one who has intense desire for inner freedom. That has become a top priority of life. 

 

And for such a person who has DISCRIMINATION, DISPASSION, for inner wealth, we can use the expression DISCIPLINE, and for mumukshatva, we can say DESIRE. 4 Ds. and for such a person alone Yogyata matha; there is yogyata, eligibility; he alone has got fitness; for what? Brahma jijnasa or Brahman enquiry, Athaatho brahma jijnasa, the first verse with which Brahma Sutra starts.

This verse is just an introductory verse on Sadhana Chatushtaya. In the upcoming verses, we would be going through the 4 qualifications in detail.

In the experience of author, there would be atleast some 10 spiritual aspitants who stayed through the intiial abosrbing sessions but left after Sadhana chatusthaya session.

Without qualifying 100% in all these 4 requirements, no seeker can hope to sustain his sadhana and to ultimately get glimpse of “SELF”.

Discriminate between real (SELF) and unreal (world with all its objects), develop dispassion towards all that is unreal, strive to get  all virtuous qualities and then with all the virtuous qualities attained, develop/feel the  intense craving to attain the one reality, your own true nature divine.

 

Love.