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VIVEKACŪDĀMAŅI
87
Uncompromising detachment from all transient things from the body to Brahma is said to be the first means to liberation. That is because it is only the mind devoid of all desires which will render it unsteady that can acquire the qualities of sama etc., in respect of its objective.
tataśśamasca: the nature of sama has been explained already. ca in 'tatassamasca' indicates conjunction which has been explained already. All the preliminary qualifications of detachment and the rest are necessary and essential even at the time of the acquisition of jñāna as internal sādhanas. Though they are stated in an order of earlier and later, the last alone, like the potter's father, is not to be taken as the means, but all of them collectively are the means. This is expressed by the words ca, and api also. [The cause of a pot is the potter. The cause of the potter is his father. The cause of that father is his father and so on ad infinitum. To avoid this infinite regress, it is usual to confine the cause of a thing to its immediate and necessary antecedent (anyathāsiddhaniyatāpūrvavrtti). Here the cause of the pot is said to be the potter alone, and not his father. Even so, it may be argued that in the series of causes for jñāna which effect liberation, namely vairāgya, sama, dama etc., all these do not go into the cause; but on the analogy of the potter's father, the last of the series may be called the only necessary means. His Holiness points out that it is not so, but that all the items enumerated in the series collectively constitute the means of jñāna. By the words ca and api collectively is indicated.21
e said to bhat in the cama, da ne potte
In the same way, dama, titikṣā and all other karmas are prescribed by the rules of varnas and asramas. They should be observed till the dawn of vairāgya. When once tivravairāgya has arisen, they must all be totally given up. Previously, it was said that, for attaining vairāgya which is synonymous with purity of mind, karmas should be observed in a spirit of dedication to God without thought of desire for their fruits. Now that the purpose of the karmas (cittasuddhi, purity of mindand vairāgya, detachment) has been attained, they (the karmas) are to be completely abandoned. nyāsa means giving up the karmas even in their performance (which is different from doing them without desire for their fruits. It is a total karma-samnyāsa, not merely karmaphala-samnyāsa).
21a A similar example is: The cause of butter is curd. the cause of curd is milk and the cause of milk is the grass that the cow eats. According to the anyathasiddha rule, all these, the curd, milk and grass are not the cause of the butter, but only the curd. His Holiness says: Not so here. Vairāgya, sama, dama etc., all together are causes of jñāna.
