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and remove all obstacles that meet with on his way till he reaches the goal of his seeking—the treasure trove. At last, when he comes to the very rich vaults he must be levelheaded and calm enough not to lose his balance so that he is in a position to gather the treasure and make use of it.
In the same fashion, the Infinitely rich treasure of Perfection that lies unseen beneath the outer crude layers of matter-envelopments in the bosom of man is to be discovered as his own Self. The' seeker must have the assiduity, industry, hope and patience to dig in the right place, in the right fashion, constantly and continuously with unabated enthusiasm, in the face of even the greatest obstacles, until at last he comes not only to see the treasure but to gather it, to possess it, and to enjoy it, as its sole proprietor! Here also he should not try to "dig” anywhere, but must start his endeavour in the right direction as advised by those who know the Truth (Apta-Vākyam) in the Scriptures.
In the spiritual treasure-hunting, the endeavour of digging is with the pickaxe of thought and the spade of discrimination. With these we remove our earth-earthly attachments with the body, mind and intellect, which are but the effects of our ignorance of the Self. Avidya creates in us various misunderstandings and it is these agitations of the mind (Vikṣepa), and negative thought-veilings in the intellect (Āvarana) that conceals the Treasure Divine—the Self. These can be removed by reflection and meditation.
Manana and Dhyāna, Reflection and Meditation, prepare the seeker's mind to a single-pointedness, when his inner personality becomes the least agitated. This is the condition of a mind and intellect that is fit for Vicar, which is the highest Spiritual Sadhana known to man, and this is exhaustively indicated only in Vedanta.
Faithful to his arguments, honest to his convictions, obedient to his own experiences, Acārya Sankara had to cry out his assertion that the above-described is the only path for complete and permanent liberation from the chaotic confusions created by our own ignorance of the underlying di
