THE WORKS OF SANKARA

VIVEKA CHUDAMANI

SLOKAS 321 TO 330

 
p#madaE    b#hM¢n¾aya|    n    ktIÛy:    kdacn    ,
p#madaE    m¦Ïy¤¢rÏyah    Bgvan¯b#'N:    s¤t:    .   321   .  
p#madaE   careless
b#hM¢n¾aya|   in one's steadfastness to Brahman
n   ktIÛy:   one should be
kdacn   never
p#madaE   nebligent
m¦Ïy¤¢rÏyah   death itself
Bgvan¯b#'N:   Bhagavan Sanatkumara,who is
t:   Brahma's son.
 
321. Sanat kumara ( son of Brahma) has said  that even a moment's neglect of Brahman is death.

n    p#madadnTa©I{ÓyaE    åOa¢nn:    ÞvÞvãpt:    ,
ttaE    maEhÞttaE{h|D£ÞttaE    bÓDÞttaE    ÛyTa    .   322   .  
n   no
p#madadnTa©I{ÓyaE   greater danger than carelessness
åOa¢nn:   for the Jnanin
ÞvÞvãpt:   about his own real nature
ttaE   from this
maEhÞttaE{h|D£ÞttaE   comes delution,then egoism
bÓDÞttaE   this is followed by bondage
ÛyTa   and then comes misery.
 
322. Neglect   of   remaining  in  Brahman brings  delusion, ego and bondage. Such  neglect   is   the great   enemy   of   the   knower.  
¢vxya¢Bm¤K|    è¾qva    ¢v¹a|sm¢p    ¢vÞm¦¢t:       ,
¢vXEpy¢t    D£daExWya©Ixa    jar¢mv    ¢p#ym¯    .   323   .  
¢vxya¢Bm¤K|   even a wise man
è¾qva   finding
¢v¹a|sm¢p   hankering after the sense objects
¢vÞm¦¢t:   torments him
¢vXEpy¢t   disreguards the evil
D£daExWya©Ixa   propensities of Buddhi,as a woman
jar¢mv   does her, to illicit partner
¢p#ym¯   doting
 
323.  Delusion  will  distract  the   knower at once  and he  thinks of sense objects.  
yTapk]¾|    SWval|    XNmaæO|    n    ¢t¾¢t    ,
Aav¦NaE¢t    tTa    maya    p#aåO|    va¢p    praHqm¤Km¯    .   324   .  
yTapk]¾|   as, even if removed
SWval|   sedge
XNmaæO|   for a moment
n   ¢t¾¢t   does not stay away
Aav¦NaE¢t   covers
tTa   so
maya   Maya or nescience
p#aåO|   va¢p   even a wise man
praHqm¤Km¯   if he is averse to meditation on the Self

324. Even after removal from water, the moss returns again. So too does Maya cover the intellect of the knower  when he is not careful.|FÁÓÏ ÅÁÚÁI{GiFF0000G:|FÁÓÏ Þ£ÜW{®2:

lßyÅy¤t|    cEï¢d    ¢cäOm£xdq
b¢hm¤IK|    s¢°ptEt¯    ttÞtt:
p#madt:    p#Åy¤tkE¢lkÓѤk:
saEpanpHq³aW    p¢ttaE    yTa    tTa    .   325   .  
lßyÅy¤t|   from the Ideal (Brahman)
cEï¢d   strays
¢cäOm£xdq   if the mind ever so slightly
b¢hm¤IK|   and becomes outgoing
s¢°ptEt¯   then it goes down and down
ttÞtt:   just as a
p#madt:   by carelessness
p#Åy¤tkE¢lkÓѤk:    play-ball inadvertently
saEpanpHq³aW   on the staircase
p¢ttaE   dropped on
yTa   bounces down from
tTa   one step to another

325. The mind that is unmindful of its objective , wanders far and wide, uncontrolled, even as a ball   rolls  down  the staircase  and  stops  only at the  lowest step.
 
¢vxyEÝva¢vSÅcEt:    s|kÚpy¢t    tdqg¤Nan¯    ,
sØyÀs|kÚpnaÏkam:    kamaÏp¤|s:    p#vtInm¯    .   326   .  
¢vxyEÝva¢vSÅcEt:   the mind that is attached to the senseobjects
s|kÚpy¢t   reflects
tdqg¤Nan¯   on their qualities
sØyÀs|kÚpnaÏkam:   from mature reflection arises desire
kamaÏp¤|s:   and after desiring, a man
p#vtInm¯   sets about having that thing

326. Thought of sense objects leads to desires for them, and that to action to possess them, and these take you away from your real Self.

At:    p#mada°    praE{¢Þt    m¦Ïy¤ -
¢vIvE¢knaE    b#'¢vd:    smaDaW    ,
sma¢ht:    ¢s¢ÑGm¤pW¢t    sØykq
sma¢htaÏma    Bv    savDan:    .327   .  
At:   hence
p#mada°   carelessness
praE{¢Þt   there is no
m¦Ïy¤   worse death
¢vIvE¢knaE   clever
b#'¢vd:   and the knower of Brahman
smaDaW   in samadhi
sma¢ht:   with regard to concentration
¢s¢ÑGm¤pW¢t   attains complete success
sØykq   concentrated
sma¢htaÏma   your mind (on Brahman)
Bv   concentrate
savDan:   (therefore) carefully
 
327. The knower should therefore be always self-possessed and alert, for negligence is death. Meticulous care leads to attainment of Brahman soon, but care must be taken to remain in Brahman all the time.
 
tt:    Þvãp¢vB#|SaE    ¢vB#¾Þt¤    ptÏyD:    ,
p¢ttÞy    ¢vna    naS|    p¤nnaIraEh    iIßytE    .   328   .  
tt:   then
Þvãp¢vB#|SaE   a man deviates from his real nature
¢vB#¾Þt¤   and the man who has thus
ptÏyD:   deviated falls
p¢ttÞy   the fallen man
¢vna   naS|   comes to ruin
nnaIraEh   iIßytE   and is scacely seen to rise again
   
328. Once   you   fall   back   from   your   real   Self, you  fall  and  there  is  no  hope  for you.
Removal   of   Reflection
s|kÚp|    vjIyEäOÞmaÏsvaInTIÞy    karNm¯.
j£vtaE    yÞy    kWvÚy|    ¢vdEhE    s    c    kEvl:    ,
y¢Ïk¢·ÏpÜytaE    BEd|    By|    b#¥tE    yj¤:½¤¢t:    .   329   .  
s|kÚp|   reflecting on the senseobjects
vjIyEäOÞmaÏsvaInTIÞy   one should give up,which is the, of all mischief
karNm¯   root
j£vtaE   even while living
yÞy   he who is completely aloof
kWvÚy|   is alone aloof
¢vdEhE   after the dissolution of the body
s   c  kEvl:   he is the Muktha
y¢Ïk¢·ÏpÜytaE   for one who sees the least bit
BEd|   of distinction
By|   fear
b#¥tE   declares
yj¤:½¤¢t:   The Yajur Veda
 
329. He   who   is   free   even   in   this   body, can be  free even outside it.  How   can   he   be   free  outside it ,  when   he   is  not  free   even   inside it?
 
yda    kda    va¢p    ¢vp¢àdEx
b#'ÎynÓtE{ÔyN¤maæOBEdm¯    ,
pÜyÏyTam¤Ýy    By|    tdWv
y¹£¢Xt|    ¢B°tya    p#madat¯    .   330   .  
yda   kda  va¢p   whenever
¢vp¢àdEx   the wise man
b#'ÎynÓtE{ÔyN¤maæOBEdm¯    the least difference in the infinite Brahman
pÜyÏyTam¤Ýy   sees, then for him
By|   fear
tdWv   that alone
y¹£¢Xt|   that which he sees
¢B°tya   as different through mistake
p#madat¯   by carelessness
 
330. The knower who sees even a little deviation  from Brahman will experience fear, because all deviation comes from ignorance.
 
 

PROCEED TO SLOKAS 331 TO 340 -
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