अर्थेन्द्रियार्थाभिध्यानं सर्वार्थापह्नवो नृणाम् ।
भ्रंशितो ज्ञानविज्ञानाद्येनाविशति मुख्यताम् ॥
न कुर्यात्कर्हिचित्सङ्गं तमस्तीव्रं तितीरिषु: ।
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाणां यदत्यन्तविघातकम् ॥
तत्रापि मोक्ष एवार्थ आत्यन्तिकतयेष्यते ।
त्रैवर्ग्योऽर्थो यतो नित्यं कृतान्तभयसंयुत: ॥
arthendriyārthābhidhyānaṁ sarvārthāpahnavo nṛṇām |
bhraṁśito jñāna-vijñānād yenāviśati mukhyatām ||
na kuryāt karhicit saṅgaṁ tamas tīvraṁ titīriṣuḥ |
dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣāṇāṁ yad atyanta-vighātakam ||
tatrāpi mokṣa evārtha ātyantikatayeṣyate |
traivargyo’rtho yato nityaṁ kṛtānta-bhaya-saṁyutaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgatavatam: 4.22.33–35; cited in Prīti Sandarbha: 1)
“For human beings, continuous thought [alt., coveting] of wealth and objects of the senses, because of which one becomes diverted from [one’s] knowledge [of śāstra] and realization [of śāstra’s object] and enters primitivity [i.e., inanimate life forms], is destructive of all arthas [i.e., detrimental to the attainment of all the puruṣārthas]. One who desires to cross over the fearsome darkness [i.e., saṁsāra] should never foster attachment (saṅga) to that which is perpetually [alt., exceedingly] destructive of dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa. Even therein [i.e., among the four puruṣārthas], mokṣa alone is regarded as being the ultimate artha, since an artha belonging to the tri-varga [i.e., the three puruṣārthas of dharma, artha, and kāma] is forever fraught with fear of death [alt., time, i.e., is perpetually subject to inevitable loss and thus incapable of ever producing true fulfillment].”
Commentary
anātma-rater anartha-hetutvam uktaṁ saṅgasyāpy āha—neti | yad vastu dharmādīnāṁ vighātakaṁ tasmin saṅgam | tamaḥ saṁsāram |
(Excerpt from the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“Having described affinity (rati) for the non-self (anātmā) as being a cause of detriment (anartha), he speaks of attachment’s (saṅga’s) also [being a cause of detriment] in this verse (na kuryāt …). Attachment (saṅga) to an object which is destructive of dharma and so forth [should not be fostered]. ‘Darkness’ (tamaḥ) refers to saṁsāra.”
saṅgaṁ dharma-śāstra-niṣiddham eva, na tu viṣayāsakti-mātraṁ niṣiddhetara-viṣayāsaktimatām eva trivarge’dhikārād iti kecid āhuḥ | saṅgaṁ viṣayāsakti-mātram eva dharmādayo’py atra mokṣasyānukūlā eva grāhyāḥ |
(Excerpt from the Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Some say, ‘“Attachment” (saṅga) refers only to [attachment to] that which is prohibited in dharma-śāstra, and not, rather, to just attachment to objects of the senses [in general] because of the eligibility (adhikāra) for tri-varga [i.e., dharma, artha, and kāma] of those possessed of attachment to objects other than those prohibited [in dharma-śāstra].’ [An alternate view is as follows:] ‘Attachment’ (saṅga) indeed refers to attachment to objects of the senses in general, and in this regard even dharma and so forth are to be accepted only when they are favorable for [attaining] mokṣa.”