Talk On Vivek Chudamani

Author(s): Chinmayanand Swami
Publisher: Chinmay Publications Trust

Page 35

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adhikāriņamāśaste phalasiddhirviseșatah upāyā deśakālādhyāh santyasminsahakāriņah
14.
अधिकारिणम् - Upon the qualifications of the seeker, अशास्ते - depends, YAIT: - ultimate success (the fruit of endeavours ), विशेषतः • essentially, उपायाः - means, देशकालाद्याः - such as place, time, etc., सन्ति - are, अस्मिन् - in this, सहकारिणः - auxiliary conveniences.
Ultimate success in spiritual endeavours depends entirely upon the degree of the fundamental qualifications in the seeker. Auxiliary conveniences such as time, place, etc., have all a place, indeed, but they are essentially secondary.
Here Sankara is trying to give a very sane suggestion to seekers who generally get disappointed at the very outset at some obstacles in their early sādhana. When a team of students are working under the instructions of the same master, it is always observed that some of them progress faster than others. Those who lack progress soon reach a state of despair and they complain the hollowness of the Sāstrās. Such students are advised to attribute their lack of development to some intrinsic, subjective mal-adjustments in their psychological and intellectual make-up.
But this word 'Adhikāri' has been thoroughly misunderstood and the persecutions made with this word have a great responsibility in the decadence of Vedanta in this Land of the Rishis. The hasty Pundit used to reject the sincere seekers on the claim that they have not got all the necessary qualifications for Vedantic Sädhana This is absurd. No living man can finally judge another especially upon these points. The qualifications necessary for a successful spiritual pilgrimage have been enumerated here by the great Acharya only for self-checking up by the individual seekers themselves.
Sankara says here that if the success in the spiritual path has been slow or unsatisfactory, the seeker is to thank none but himself. It is invariably because of some cloggings