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VIVEKACŪDAMANI पीयूषवत्तोष-दयाक्षमाव
प्रशान्तिदान्तीर्भज नित्यमावरात् ॥ ८४ ॥ mokşasya kāňkşā yadi vai tavāsti
tyajātidürād vişayān vişam yathā 1 piyüşavattoșa dayākşamärjava
praśāntidāntirbhaja nityamādarāt 11
If you ever desire liberation, fling away' all desires as if they were poison. Drink daily with great eagerness the nectar of contentment, compassion, forbearance, truth, straightforwardness, calmness and self-control (control of the mind and the external senses).
First what has to be discarded is referred to.
yadi vai tavāsti: The 'vai' here is for exclusive emphasis. It means: your desire must be only for mokşa.
kānksă: desire.
The visayas, sense-objects must be abandoned absolutely as if they were hālāhala vişam, dreadful poison, atidūrāt tyaja means do not think of them even with the mind. The Sūtasamhitā says: akurvannapi vidhyuktam nişiddham parivarjayet nişiddha parihāreņa vihite labhate matim 11 which means: Even if a man does not do what is prescribed, let him desist from what is prohibited. By thus desisting, his mind will get inclined to do what is prescribed. The idea of desisting from the prohibited is that the man, having nothing to do, will engage himself in prescribed actions.
Then what are to be acquired are given. toşa is the joy of contentment; dayā is compassion; kşamā is titikşā; ability to bear the opposites; ārjavam is an uncrooked mind, i.e., straightforwardness; praśāntiḥ is supreme calmness; dāntiḥ is restraint of external senses.
Here, in praśānti, the preposition pra is prefixed to śānti to show that as the virtues of toşă etc. are qualities of the antahkarana, and as, in accordance with the Gitā dictum-aśāntasya kutassukham: “how can peace and happiness accrue to one who has no śānti", and as in the absence of sama there can be no toņā, so everything is dependent on sama.
nityam: everyday and always. piyūṣavat: like amsta, the heavenly nectar. ādarāt: with supreme faith. bhaja: Sevasva i.e., adopt.
