Sarga 4¶

Mumukṣu Prakaraṇa · Freedom with and without a body; the power of effort (20 verses)

Sarga 4 at a glance

Vasiṣṭha answers Rāma's doubt, then opens the great theme of effort.

Freedom is the same with a body or without, like water still or in waves; Vyāsa and Śuka are equally free (2.4.1–2.4.7).
Everything in the world is won by rightly applied effort (पौरुष). "Fate", as an outside power, is imagined by the deluded (2.4.8–2.4.12).
Indra, Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva are spoken of as reaching their states by effort (2.4.13–2.4.16).
Effort is of two kinds, past and present; present effort overcomes past. Effort must be guided by scripture (2.4.17–2.4.20).

Verse 2.4.1¶

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
सौम्याम्बुत्वे तरङ्गत्वे सलिलस्याम्बुता यथा ।
समैवाब्धौ तथाऽदेहसदेहमुनिमुक्तता ॥ २.४.१ ॥

यथा (just as) सलिलस्य (of water) सौम्य-अम्बुत्वे तरङ्गत्वे [च] (whether as still water or as a wave) अम्बुता [समा] (the water-ness is the same), तथा (so) अब्धौ (in the ocean [of the Self]) अदेह-सदेह-मुनि-मुक्तता (the freedom of a sage without a body or with one) समा एव (is just the same).

Translation: Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: "Water is water whether it lies still or rises as a wave. So too, in the ocean of the Self, the freedom of a sage is the same whether he has a body or not."

Pointers for Reflection:

The answer to Rāma's doubt (2.3.3). Śuka without a body and Vyāsa with one are equally free. The body is a wave-form; the freedom is the water.
The Bṛhadāraṇyaka: अत्र ब्रह्म समश्नुते — here itself he attains Brahman (4.4.7). Freedom is not postponed until death.

Verse 2.4.2¶

सदेहा वास्त्वदेहा वा मुक्तता विषये न च ।
अनास्वादितभोगस्य कुतो भोज्यानुभूतयः ॥ २.४.२ ॥

मुक्तता (freedom) सदेहा वा अस्तु अदेहा वा (be it with body or without) विषये न च [भवति] (does not lie in [sense-]objects); अनास्वादित-भोगस्य (for one who does not taste enjoyment) भोज्य-अनुभूतयः कुतः (where are experiences of things to be enjoyed)?

Translation: "With a body or without, freedom does not lie in the world of objects. For one who no longer tastes enjoyment, where are the experiences of things to be enjoyed?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Why the body does not matter. The free one may have a body, but does not relate to the world through craving. So whether the body is present or absent makes no difference to his inner state.
The Gītā: विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः — objects fall away for the embodied one who does not feed on them (2.59).

Verse 2.4.3¶

जीवन्मुक्त मुनिश्रेष्ठं केवलं हि पदार्थवत् ।
पश्यामः पुरतो नास्य पुनर्विघ्नोऽन्तराशयम् ॥ २.४.३ ॥

[वयं] जीवन्मुक्तं मुनि-श्रेष्ठं (the best of sages, liberated while living) पुरतः (before us) केवलं पदार्थवत् पश्यामः (see only as an object); अस्य अन्तः-आशयं (into his inner being) पुनः विघ्नः न [प्रविशति] (no obstacle enters again).

Translation: "We see the liberated sage before us simply as a body, like any other object; but into his inner being no obstacle ever enters again."

Pointers for Reflection:

Seen from outside. We see Vyāsa's body and think he is bound like us. But the body is only what we see. His inner state is invisible to the eye.
Don't judge by appearance. The Gītā: अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् — the deluded disregard Me, seeing Me in a human body (9.11).

Verse 2.4.4¶

सदेहादेहमुक्तानां भेदः को बोधरूपिणाम् ।
यदेवाम्बुतरङ्गत्वे सौम्यत्वेऽपि तदेव तत् ॥ २.४.४ ॥

बोध-रूपिणां (for those whose form is awareness) सदेह-अदेह-मुक्तानां (between the freed with body and without) कः भेदः (what difference)? यत् एव अम्बु तरङ्गत्वे (that very water in the wave) सौम्यत्वे अपि (also in calm) तत् एव तत् (is just the same).

Translation: "For those whose very nature is awareness, what difference is there between the freed with a body and the freed without? The water in the wave and the water at rest are one and the same."

Pointers for Reflection:

Awareness is the substance. A liberated being is awareness, not a body that has awareness. The body's presence or absence changes nothing essential.

Verse 2.4.5¶

न मनागपि भेदोऽस्ति सदेहादेहमुक्तयोः ।
सस्पन्दोऽप्यथवाऽस्पन्दो वायुरेव यथानिलः ॥ २.४.५ ॥

सदेह-अदेह-मुक्तयोः (between the freed with body and without) मनाक् अपि भेदः न अस्ति (there is not the slightest difference), यथा (just as) स-स्पन्दः अथवा अ-स्पन्दः [अपि] (moving or still) अनिलः वायुः एव (air is just air).

Translation: "There is not the least difference between the freed with a body and the freed without, just as air is air, whether it moves or is still."

Pointers for Reflection:

Second image. Water and wave, then air and wind. Movement (स्पन्द) is a mode, not a change of substance. The free one's body moves; his being does not.

Verse 2.4.6¶

सदेहा वा विदेहा वा मुक्तता न प्रमास्पदम् ।
अस्माकमपि तस्यास्ति स्वैकतास्त्यविभागिनी ॥ २.४.६ ॥

मुक्तता सदेहा वा विदेहा वा (freedom, with or without body) प्रमा-आस्पदं न (is not an object of proof); अस्माकम् अपि (for us too) तस्याः स्व-एकता अविभागिनी अस्ति (its own oneness is undivided).

Translation: "Freedom, whether with a body or without, is not something to be proved by evidence. For us, as for him, it is one and undivided."

Pointers for Reflection:

Not provable from outside. One cannot establish another's freedom by observation. It is known only from within. Hence Vasiṣṭha speaks as one who shares it: "for us too".
Kena Upaniṣad: यद्वाचानभ्युदितं येन वागभ्युद्यते — that which speech cannot express, but by which speech is expressed (1.5).

Verse 2.4.7¶

तस्मात्प्रकृतमेवेदं शृणु श्रवणभूषणम् ।
मयोपदिश्यमानं त्वं ज्ञानमज्ञान्ध्यनाशनम् ॥ २.४.७ ॥

तस्मात् (therefore) श्रवण-भूषणं (an ornament for the ears) मया उपदिश्यमानं (being taught by me) अज्ञ-आन्ध्य-नाशनम् (destroying the blindness of ignorance) इदं प्रकृतं ज्ञानम् एव त्वं शृणु (listen to this knowledge at hand).

Translation: "So let us return to the subject. Listen to the knowledge I shall now teach — an ornament for the ears, destroying the blindness of ignorance."

Pointers for Reflection:

Back to the main road. Rāma's side question is settled; Vasiṣṭha resumes. The first great theme he takes up is surprising: not the Self, but effort.

Verse 2.4.8¶

सर्वमेवेह हि सदा संसारे रघुनन्दन ।
सम्यक्प्रयुक्तात्सर्वेण पौरुषात्समवाप्यते ॥ २.४.८ ॥

रघु-नन्दन (O joy of the Raghus), इह संसारे (in this world) सर्वम् एव (everything) सदा (always) सर्वेण (by everyone) सम्यक्-प्रयुक्तात् पौरुषात् (through rightly applied effort) समवाप्यते (is attained).

Translation: "Joy of the Raghus, in this world everything is always attained by everyone through rightly applied effort."

Pointers for Reflection:

The great theme: पौरुष. "Manliness", in the sense of human effort, self-exertion. Sargas 4–9 are the Yoga Vasiṣṭha's famous treatise on effort versus fate. Before the highest knowledge, Vasiṣṭha cures Rāma's passivity.
Why begin here? Rāma has said nothing in the world is worth doing (Book 1). The danger of dispassion is to slide into helplessness. The Gītā: मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि — let there be no attachment to inaction (2.47).
Śāntideva: वीर्ये बोधिर्यतः स्थिता — awakening rests on effort (Bodhicaryāvatāra 7.1).

Verse 2.4.9¶

इह हीन्दोरिवोदेति शीतलाह्लादनं हृदि ।
परिस्पन्दफलप्राप्तौ पौरुषादेव नान्यतः ॥ २.४.९ ॥

इह हि (indeed, here) हृदि (in the heart) इन्दोः इव (like the moon) शीतल-आह्लादनम् उदेति (a cool delight rises) परिस्पन्द-फल-प्राप्तौ (on gaining the fruit of one's exertion) — पौरुषात् एव न अन्यतः (from effort alone, not from anything else).

Translation: "The cool joy that rises in the heart like the moon, when one wins the fruit of one's exertion, comes from effort alone and from nothing else."

Pointers for Reflection:

The joy of earned fruit. There is a particular satisfaction in what one achieves by one's own work. Vasiṣṭha does not despise it; he uses it.

Verse 2.4.10¶

पौरुषं स्पन्दफलवद्दृष्टं प्रत्यक्षतो नयत् ।
कल्पितं मोहितैर्मन्दैर्दैवं किंचिन्न विद्यते ॥ २.४.१० ॥

पौरुषं (effort) स्पन्द-फलवत् (bearing the fruit of movement) प्रत्यक्षतः दृष्टं (is seen directly) नयत् (leading [to results]); मोहितैः मन्दैः कल्पितं (imagined by the deluded and dull) दैवं किंचित् न विद्यते (fate is nothing at all).

Translation: "Effort is seen with one's own eyes to move things and bear fruit. 'Fate', imagined by the deluded and slow-witted, is nothing at all."

Pointers for Reflection:

A provocative claim. Vasiṣṭha attacks fatalism head-on. He will refine it: "fate" is real only as one's own past action (2.6.1, 2.9.16). What he denies is fate as an outside force that makes effort pointless.
How to hold this with the Gītā. The Gītā lists दैव as one of five factors in action (18.14). Vasiṣṭha does not deny that past karma operates; he denies that it is anything other than one's own effort, and that it can excuse present idleness.
The Buddha too rejected fatalism (the view of Makkhali Gosāla that nothing one does matters) as the most harmful of views.

Verse 2.4.11¶

साधूपदिष्टमार्गेण यन्मनोङ्गविचेष्टितम् ।
तत्पौरुषं तत्सफलमन्यदुन्मत्तचेष्टितम् ॥ २.४.११ ॥

साधु-उपदिष्ट-मार्गेण (along the way taught by the good) यत् मनः-अङ्ग-विचेष्टितम् (whatever exertion of mind and body) — तत् पौरुषं (that is effort), तत् सफलम् (that bears fruit); अन्यत् उन्मत्त-चेष्टितम् (anything else is a madman's flailing).

Translation: "Exertion of mind and body along the path the good have shown — that is true effort, and that bears fruit. Anything else is the thrashing of a madman."

Pointers for Reflection:

Effort with direction. Pauruṣa is not mere busyness. It is effort guided by the wise and by scripture. Undirected effort is "a madman's thrashing" — much energy, no result.
The Gītā: यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः । न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति — one who abandons scripture and acts from desire does not reach perfection (16.23).

Verse 2.4.12¶

यो यमर्थं प्रार्थयते तदर्थं चेहते क्रमात् ।
अवश्यं स तमाप्नोति न चेदर्धान्निवर्तते ॥ २.४.१२ ॥

यः (whoever) यम् अर्थं प्रार्थयते (desires some aim) तत्-अर्थं च क्रमात् ईहते (and strives for it step by step), सः तम् अवश्यम् आप्नोति (he surely attains it), चेत् अर्धात् न निवर्तते (if he does not turn back halfway).

Translation: "Whoever wants a thing and works towards it step by step will surely reach it — provided he does not turn back halfway."

Pointers for Reflection:

The condition: don't stop. Most failures are not failures of ability but of persistence. The Kaṭha: उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत — arise, awake, and learn from the great (1.3.14).
Śāntideva lists the enemy of effort as discouragement: विषादात्मावमन्यना — despondency and self-contempt (Bodhicaryāvatāra 7.2).

Verse 2.4.13¶

पौरुषेण प्रयत्नेन त्रैलोक्यैश्वर्यसुन्दराम् ।
कश्चित्प्राणिविशेषो हि शक्रतां समुपागतः ॥ २.४.१३ ॥

पौरुषेण प्रयत्नेन (by human effort) कश्चित् प्राणि-विशेषः हि (indeed a certain being) त्रैलोक्य-ऐश्वर्य-सुन्दराम् (lovely with sovereignty over the three worlds) शक्रतां समुपागतः (attained the rank of Indra).

Translation: "It was by human effort that a certain being rose to the rank of Indra, splendid with lordship over the three worlds."

Pointers for Reflection:

Even the gods are made. "Indra" is a post, not a person: a being reaches it by merit and effort. The Purāṇas describe a succession of Indras. Effort lifts beings to the highest worldly positions.

Verse 2.4.14¶

पौरुषेणैव यत्नेन सहसाम्भोरुहास्पदम् ।
कश्चिदेव चिदुल्लासो ब्रह्मतामधितिष्ठति ॥ २.४.१४ ॥

कश्चित् एव चित्-उल्लासः (a certain stirring of consciousness) पौरुषेण एव यत्नेन (by effort alone) सहसा (in time) अम्भोरुह-आस्पदं ब्रह्मताम् अधितिष्ठति (attains the state of Brahmā, seated on the lotus).

Translation: "A certain stirring of consciousness, by effort alone, rises to become Brahmā, seated on the lotus."

Pointers for Reflection:

Brahmā too. Even the creator's office is reached by effort. Vasiṣṭha is building a ladder of examples: Indra, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva.

Verse 2.4.15¶

सारेण पुरुषार्थेन स्वेनैव गरुडध्वजः ।
कश्चिदेव पुमानेव पुरुषोत्तमतां गतः ॥ २.४.१५ ॥

कश्चित् एव पुमान् एव (a certain person) स्वेन सारेण पुरुषार्थेन (by his own essential effort) गरुड-ध्वजः (bearing Garuḍa on his banner) पुरुषोत्तमतां गतः (reached the state of the Supreme Person).

Translation: "A certain person, by his own essential effort, became the Supreme Person, Viṣṇu, whose banner bears Garuḍa."

Pointers for Reflection:

A bold image. Viṣṇu as one who "became" Puruṣottama by effort. Vasiṣṭha is not lowering God; he is saying that every exalted state, even divine, is described in terms of effort and attainment — so no human need despair of his own.
Read alongside devotion. Elsewhere the Yoga Vasiṣṭha speaks of Viṣṇu as the supreme Lord. Here the point is rhetorical: nothing great is reached by idleness.

Verse 2.4.16¶

पौरुषेणैव यत्नेन ललनावलिताकृतिः ।
शरीरी कश्चिदेवेह गतश्चन्द्रार्धचूडताम् ॥ २.४.१६ ॥

इह (here) कश्चित् शरीरी (a certain embodied being) ललना-अवलित-आकृतिः (whose form is joined with a woman's) पौरुषेण एव यत्नेन (by effort alone) चन्द्र-अर्ध-चूडतां गतः (became the one crowned with the half-moon).

Translation: "A certain embodied being, his form joined with that of a woman, became by effort alone the one who wears the crescent moon — Śiva."

Pointers for Reflection:

Ardhanārīśvara. Śiva joined with Pārvatī in one form. Śiva is the great ascetic: his greatness is linked with tapas, intense effort.
All four. Indra, Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva — every highest state is spoken of as reached by effort. The Mahābhārata says तपसा प्राप्यते सर्वम् — all is attained through tapas.

Verse 2.4.17¶

प्राक्तनं चैहिकं चेति द्विविधं विद्धि पौरुषम् ।
प्राक्तनोऽद्यतनेनाशु पुरुषार्थेन जीयते ॥ २.४.१७ ॥

पौरुषं (effort) प्राक्तनं च ऐहिकं च इति द्विविधं विद्धि (know to be twofold: of the past and of the present); प्राक्तनः (that of the past) अद्यतनेन पुरुषार्थेन (by present effort) आशु जीयते (is quickly overcome).

Translation: "Know that effort is of two kinds: past and present. Past effort is quickly overcome by present effort."

Pointers for Reflection:

The key distinction. What we call "fate" is simply past effort (2.6.1). It is not a power over us; it is our own earlier action. And present action can overcome it.
Not denial of karma, but its mastery. Karma is real; it is also ours. The Buddha: kammassakā, māṇava, sattā — beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions (Majjhima Nikāya 135). What one owns, one can change.

Verse 2.4.18¶

यत्नवद्भिर्दृढाभ्यासैः प्रज्ञोत्साहसमन्वितैः ।
मेरवोऽपि निगीर्यन्ते कैव प्राक्पौरुषे कथा ॥ २.४.१८ ॥

यत्नवद्भिः (by the diligent) दृढ-अभ्यासैः (of firm practice) प्रज्ञा-उत्साह-समन्वितैः (endowed with wisdom and zeal) मेरवः अपि निगीर्यन्ते (even Meru mountains are swallowed); प्राक्-पौरुषे का एव कथा (what talk is there of past effort)?

Translation: "The diligent — firm in practice, wise and full of zeal — can swallow even mountains like Meru. What then of past effort?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Three ingredients. Firm practice (अभ्यास), wisdom (प्रज्ञा), and zeal (उत्साह). Practice without wisdom is blind; wisdom without zeal is idle.
Śāntideva defines effort as कुशलोत्साहः — zeal for the good (Bodhicaryāvatāra 7.2): not mere exertion, but enthusiasm directed rightly.

Verse 2.4.19¶

शास्त्रनियन्त्रितपौरुषपरमा पुरुषस्य पुरुषता या स्यात् ।
अभिमतफलभरसिद्ध्यै भवति हि सैवान्यथा त्वनर्थाय ॥ २.४.१९ ॥

पुरुषस्य (of a person) या शास्त्र-नियन्त्रित-पौरुष-परमा पुरुषता स्यात् (the humanity that is supreme in effort guided by scripture), सा हि अभिमत-फल-भर-सिद्ध्यै भवति (that brings the full wealth of desired fruit); अन्यथा तु अनर्थाय (otherwise, it brings harm).

Translation: "A person's true humanity lies in effort governed by scripture; that brings the full fruit one hopes for. Effort without that guidance brings only harm."

Pointers for Reflection:

Effort needs a rudder. The same energy that builds can destroy. Scripture is the rudder. The Gītā: तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रमाणं ते कार्याकार्यव्यवस्थितौ — let scripture be your authority in deciding what to do and not to do (16.24).

Verse 2.4.20¶

कस्यांचित्स्वयमात्मदुःस्थितिवशात्पुंसो दशायां शनै रङ्गुल्यग्रनिपीडितैकचुलुकादावापबिन्दुर्बहुः ।
कस्यांचिज्जलराशिपर्वतपुरद्वीपान्तरालीकृता भर्तव्योचितसंविभागकरणे पृथ्वी न पृथ्वी भवेत् ॥ २.४.२० ॥

कस्यांचित् दशायां (in one condition) पुंसः आत्म-दुःस्थिति-वशात् (because of a person's own distress) अङ्गुलि-अग्र-निपीडित-एक-चुलुकात् (from a single handful squeezed by the fingertips) [आप्तः] बिन्दुः (a drop of water) शनैः बहुः [भवति] (seems much); कस्यांचित् [दशायाम्] (in another) जल-राशि-पर्वत-पुर-द्वीप-अन्तराली-कृता पृथ्वी (the earth with its oceans, mountains, cities and islands) भर्तव्य-उचित-संविभाग-करणे (for fair distribution among those to be supported) पृथ्वी न भवेत् (is not enough).

Translation: "In one condition, a person in great need finds a single drop, squeezed from the fingertips, to be plenty. In another, the whole earth with its oceans, mountains, cities and islands is not enough to share out among those he must support."

Pointers for Reflection:

Effort shapes even need. The same person, by his own choices, can live where a drop suffices or where the earth is too small. What we call our circumstances are largely made by our own direction of effort.
Contentment and its opposite. Vasiṣṭha will later praise contentment (2.15). Here he hints at its value: the one who needs little is rich.