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Atmasiddhi
Chapter 14 Guru's Explanation of Liberation
(Fifth Fundamental) Every living being has desires, and undertakes some activity for satisfying the same. That activity is its pursuit, which is termed as Sädhanä. One who undertakes this pursuit is Sädhak, and the object of desire is Sädhya. These three aspects are present in every activity. That holds true even in the case of apparently insignificant activities of insects. If there is a sugar grain lying somewhere, an ant would smell it even from a distance and would want to get it. For that purpose it would come out of its hole, and carry away the grain. In this case, the ant is Sadhak, its coming out and carrying the sugar grain is Sädhanä, and the sugar grain is Sädhya. These three aspects are thus inherent in every type of pursuit, whether it be spiritual or worldly.
Here we are concerned with spiritual pursuit. In the present case, the pupil is the Sädhak. He wants to undertake the Sadhana for gaining liberation, which is his Sädhya. But he is still not sure about the feasibility of the Sädhya (liberation) and has therefore raised questions about its attainment.
He has taken into consideration the activities with good or bad inclination, but has not thought of retreating from both these modes and of staying neutral or indifferent. This is mainly due to the fact that the worldly soul undertakes every activity with a biased mind. There is a sense of attachment or resentment associated with every activity. That leads to wholesome or unwholesome bondage. Hardly any one conceives of a state where one does everything with a detached mind, and therefore does not acquire new bondage. Since old bondage is going to be stripped off in due course, one can reach the Karmaless state by resorting to detachment in every situation. The Guru now explains that state.
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