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VIVEKACUDAMAŅI
407 विद्याफलं स्यादसतो निवृत्तिः
प्रवृत्तिरज्ञानफलं यदीक्षितम् । तज्ज्ञाज्ञयोर्यन्मगतष्णिकादौ
नोचेद् विदो दृष्टफलं किमस्मात् ॥४२३ ॥ yatkrtam bhrāntivelāyām nānākarma jugupsitam, paścānnaro vivekena tat katham kartum arhati 11 vidyāphalam syādasato nivșttiḥ
pravịttirajñānaphalam yadākṣitami tajjñājñayor yanmrgatrşņikādau
noced vido drstaphalam kimasmät 11
How can a man who did various loathsome deeds during a state of delusion do them later after the dawn of viveka?
The result of knowledge will be withdrawal from what is unreal. Action is the result of ajñāna. This distinction between jñānin and ajñānin is seen in the case of the mirage etc. Else, how will the direct fruit of one who knows be withdrawal from this?
Even as a man of discrimination will withdraw later from the loathsome actions which he did earlier due to delusion before the dawn of viveka, so too arises the state of complete cessation from all actions on the part of the man of knowledge as there is nothing for him to obtain and as he is ever established in Brahman. That this is a matter of general experience is conveyed in the next śloka.
mrgatrsnikādau: in the mirage etc. Etc. is intended to include the case of the shell-silver. The wise man does not go in quest of water knowing it to be a mirage. The ignorant man who does not know that a hot place appears with water due to the rays of the sun, goes there for water, but does not get it; his effort becomes fruitless.
It is shown that the fruit of knowledge is turning back from the unreal and the fruit of ajñāna is going towards it. This is clear. Otherwise, what is the fruit of a jñānin who knows it thus? What else is the perceived effect of withdrawal from the unreal?
asmāt: asannivṛttirūpāt: from the withdrawal from the un
real.
In this context, in the matter of Brahmavidyā, by the word asat, the anātman is understood, i.e., everything that is not Brahman. Previously in the state of ajñāna there was action towards
