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VIVEKACŪDAMAŅI
understand the qualities of the guru, of the śişya and what has to be asked etc.
45 The compassionate guru, wishing to quickly dispel the fear of the śişya who exclaims : "How shall I cross this ocean?”, says:
मा भैष्ट विद्वंस्तव नास्त्यपायः संसारसिन्धोस्तरणेऽस्त्युपायः।
येनैव याता यतयोऽस्य पारं तमेव मागं तव निदिशामि ॥४५॥ mā bhaista vidvamstava nästyapāyaḥ
samsārasindhostarane'styupāyaḥ 1. yenaiva yātā yatayo'sya pāram
tameva märgar tava nirdiśāmi !!
Fear not, O! learned One! There is no danger to you. There is a means to cross the ocean of saṁsāra. I shall show to you the way by which those who have striven in the past have reached the other shore.
By saying 'vidvan, do not fear', freedom from fear has been vouchsafed immediately. By calling him 'vidvan', learned one, the guru means that, having acquired viveka etc., he has learnt that sorrow cannot be surmounted without the grace of the guru. Therefore, it is indicated that having taken refuge in him, the sişya will learn what is to be learnt. “For you, who have done thus there is no danger.' For the Gītā says: na hi kalyāņakyt kaścit durgatim tāta gacchati-"For, dear one, none who does good verily comes by an evil fate.” Therefore, do not be afraid saying: 'How shall I cross this ocean? What is to be my fate,' etc. Having thus comforted and assured him that he need not fear, that there is no adverse fate for the one who does good, the guru in answer to the sişya's query: what is the means?, says that there is a means to cross the ocean of sarsāra. To create confidence in the mind of śişya, he conveys the means supported by what will produce belief. He says: I shall teach you that way itself by which those who have striven before, namely the samnyāsins, have reached the other shore.
yatayaḥ: prayatnaśīlāḥ: those who are given to effort; samnyäsins.
46
To bring about intense eagerness in listening to that method, the guru speaks of it again in general terms.
