दृष्टं श्रुतमसद्बुद्ध्वा नानुध्यायेन्न सन्दिशेत् ।
संसृतिं चात्मनाशं च तत्र विद्वान् स आत्मदृक् ॥
dṛṣṭaṁ śrutam asad buddhvā nānudhyāyen na saṁviśet |
saṁsṛtiṁ cātma-nāśaṁ ca tatra vidvān sa ātma-dṛk ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 9.19.20)
“Having understood the seen and the heard to be asat, one who shall not meditate repeatedly [on] and shall not enjoy [them], knowing that saṁsāra and loss of the self ensue from them, is a seer of the Ātmā.”
Commentary
nanu tṛṣṇā-tyāgasyāti-duṣkaratvāt kathaṁ brahmaṇi manasa ādhānaṁ syāt tatrāha—dṛṣṭam iti | yo nānudhyāyen na saṁviśen na copabhuñjīta | tatra dṛṣṭa-śrutayor anudhyānādau | sa ātma-dṛk bhavati |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“[Devayānī asks Mahārāja Yayāti:] ‘Well, because of giving up desire being very difficult to do, how shall [your] fixing of the mind upon Brahman come about?’ To this, he speaks this verse (dṛṣṭaṁ … ). One who shall not meditate repeatedly on (anudhyāyet) and shall not enjoy (saṁviśet) [the seen and the heard, and who knows that saṁsāra and loss of the self ensue] ‘from them’ (tatra), that is, because of repeated meditation and so forth on the the seen and the heard, is a seer of the Ātmā.”
Śrī Vaṁśīdhara in his Bhāvārtha-dīpikā-prakāśa glosses “loss of the self” (ātma-nāśam) as the loss of awareness of one’s true nature (svarūpa-jñāna-nāśam).”
tattva-vicāreṇāpi viṣaya-dhyānaṁ tyaktuṁ bhagavad-dhyāna-paripāke saty eva śaknuyād ity āha—dṛṣṭam iti | ya ātma-dṛk dhyānenātmānaṁ bhagavantaṁ paśyati sa evaṁ dṛṣṭaṁ śrutaṁ ca viṣaya-sukham asad asādhutvād arocakaṁ buddhyā na punaḥ punar dhyāyed na copabhuñjīta | kiṁ ca, tatra dṛṣṭa-śruta-dhyāne eva saṁsṛtim ātma-nāśam ātma-ghātaṁ ca vidvān jānan |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“One shall be able to give up meditation on objects of the senses even by means of deliberation on [their] nature (tattva) only when maturity in meditation on Bhagavān comes about. Thus, he [i.e., Mahārāja Yayāti] speaks this verse (dṛṣṭam …). One who is a seer of the Ātmā, that is, [who] sees the Ātmā, [viz.,] Bhagavān, through meditation, shall not meditate again and again and shall not enjoy ‘the seen’ (dṛṣṭam) and ‘the heard’ (śrutam), that is, the pleasure produced by objects of the senses, knowing saṁsāra (saṁsṛtiṁ) and ‘loss of the self’ (ātma-nāśam), that is, self-destruction, to ensue ‘from them’ (tatra), that is, because of meditation on the seen and the heard.”
dṛṣṭam aihikaṁ viṣaya-jātaṁ śrutaṁ pāralaukikam asad asādhu anityatva-sātiśayatvādi-doṣa-grastaṁ buddhvā yo nānudhyāyet saṁviśen nopabhūñjita tatra dṛṣṭa-śrutayor anudhyānādau saṁsṛtim ātmano nāśaṁ vismṛtiṁ ca yo vidvān sa ātma-dṛk |
(Siddhānta-pradīpa-ṭīkā)
“Having understood ‘the seen’ (dṛṣṭam), that is, the worldly (aihikam), meaning, that which is produced by the objects of the senses (viṣaya), and ‘the heard’ (śrutam), that is, the otherworldly (pāralaukika) [i.e., that which is experienced in one’s subsequent birth somewhere else in saṁsāra] to be asat, that is, distasteful (asādhu), meaning, affected by the faults of impermanence, inferiority, and so forth, one who shall not meditate repeatedly on (anudhyāyet) and shall not enjoy (saṁviśet) [them], and who knows (vidvān) that saṁsāra (saṁsṛti) and loss (nāśam), that is, forgetfulness, of the self (ātma), ensue from meditating repeatedly and so forth on ‘the seen’ (dṛṣṭam) and ‘the heard’ (śrutam)—he is a seer of the self (ātma).”
nanu tṛṣṇāyā dustyajatvasyaoktatvāt tyāga eva kathaṁ yena brahma-niṣṭhā syāt tatrāha—dṛṣṭam iti | dṛṣṭam aihika-viṣaya-jātaṁ śrutam āmuṣmikaṁ viṣaya-jātaṁ tad-ubhayam apy asat tuccham apuruṣārtha-rūpaṁ buddhvā tathā tatra viṣaya-dhyānādau sati janma-maraṇādi-rūpāṁ saṁsṛtim ātmanaḥ svarūpasya puruṣārtha-bhūtasya nāśaṁ tirodhānaṁ ca vidvān jānan yaḥ pumān dṛṣṭa-śruta-viṣayaṁ nānudhyāyet na saṁviśet na copabhūñjīta, sa eva tṛṣṇāṁ hitvā ātma-dṛg bhavati | ātma-paramātma-tattva-jñaḥ san paramātma-niṣṭho bhavatīty arthaḥ | anena ‘yadā na kurute bhāvam’ ity ayaṁ ślokaḥ spaṣṭī-kṛtaḥ |
(Bāla-prabodhinī-ṭīkā)
“[Devayānī asks Mahārāja Yayāti:] ‘Well, on account of desire’s difficultness to give up having been mentioned, how shall that giving up [of desire] come about by which fixity in Brahman occurs?’ To this, he speaks this verse (dṛṣṭam … ). Having understood even them both—‘the seen’ (dṛṣṭam), that is, that which is produced by worldly (aihikam) objects of the senses (viṣaya), and ‘the heard’ (śrutam), that is, that which is produced by otherworldly (āmuṣmika) objects of the senses (viṣaya) [i.e., those experienced in one’s subsequent birth somewhere in saṁsāra]—to be asat, that is, insignificant (tuccha) and non-puruṣārthas [i.e., objects unworthy of pursuit], and knowing (vidvān) saṁsāra (saṁsṛti), that is, [perpetual] birth, death, and so forth, and loss (nāśam), that is, disappearance [alt., covering] of the self (ātmā), that is, of one’s true nature, one’s puruṣārtha, to ensue ‘from them’ (tatra), that is, from meditation and so forth on objects of the senses, a person who shall not meditate repeatedly on (anudhyāyet) and shall not enjoy (saṁviśet) ‘the seen’ (dṛṣṭam) and ‘the heard’ (śrutam) objects of the senses—only he gives up desire and becomes a seer of the self (ātmā). Being a knower of the nature of the self (ātmā) and Supreme Self (Paramātmā), he becomes fixed in the Paramātmā. This is the meaning. The [meaning of the] verse yadā na kurute bhāvaṁ [i.e., SB 9.19.15] is clarified by this [verse, viz., SB 9.19.20].”