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VIVEKACŪDĀMAŅI
16 मेधावी पुरुषो विद्वान् ऊहापोहविचक्षणः ।
अधिकार्यात्मविद्यायाम् उक्तलक्षणलक्षितः॥१६॥ medhāvī puruşo vidvān ühāpohavicakṣaṇaḥ i adhikāryātmavidyāyām uktalakşaņalakṣitaḥ
One who is characterised by the said qualities, who is a medhāvī* and vidvān* and who is skilled in uha* and apoha* is competent to embark on the pursuit of ātmavidyā. * (To be explained in the commentary)
By the expression medhāvī etc., Śri Bhagavatpāda speaks of the person qualified for ātmajñāna for especial fructification of such knowledge. The dictionary says dhīrdhāraṇāvati medhā, “the dhi or buddhi which has the capacity to properly retain the meaning of what has been heard is called medhä." One who has medhā is medhāvī. vidvān means one who has learnt the kävyas, the lexicon and grammar.
ūhāpohavicakṣaṇaḥ: (üha is positive reasoning, apoha is negative reasoning. Ūhāpoha is full discussion considering the pros and cons. One who is an expert in such discussion is called ūhāpohavicakṣaṇaḥ.) By this is understood possessing a mind which has been well trained in tarka and mīmāmsā. The idea is that it is only he who has a good grounding in vyākarana, mīmāmsā and tarka that can take up the study of Vedānta, i.e., one who has knowledge of words, sentences and canons of reasoning: padavākyapramāņajñaḥ.
uktalakṣanalakṣitaḥ: One characterised by the aforesaid qualities. The reference is to the qualities enumerated in conjunction and separately in the slokas 8 to 15. It means one who is endowed with the fourfold sādhanas (qualificational capacities) indicated above, namely, viveka, vairāgya, the six features of śama, etc., and mumuksutva.
Such a person is atmavidyāyām adhikari: he is competent to learn ātmavidyā.
17 विवेकिनो विरक्तस्य शमादिगुणशालिनः।
मुमुक्षोरेव हि ब्रह्मजिज्ञासायोग्यता मता ॥१७॥ vivekino viraktasya śamādigunaśālinaḥ 1 mumuksoreva hi brahmajijñāsāyogyată mată 11