SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
nirāśīr yata-cittātmā
tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ
śārīraṁ kevalaṁ karma
kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣam
‘Bereft of expectancy, restraining the anxiety (chitta)[1. Buddhi, ahaṅkāra and chitta are the vṛittis or functions of the mind. Buddhi is adhyavasāya (or determination), ahaṅkāra is abhimāna (attachment or longing), and chitta is chintā (anxiety or anxious thought). If mind is thought, then buddhi, ahaṅkārā, and chitta, are respectively the determinative, the longing, and the anxious, thoughts, which are certain classes into which thought in general is divided. Buddhi and ahaṅkāra of mind are not to he confused with the buddhi-tatva and ahaṅkāra-tatva of primordial matter. Read also page 10 of Vivekananda’s Vedanta (1897).] of mind, and forsaking all possessions (parigraha), whoso does work as if it were a mere bodily function, incurs no evil.’
Nirāśih=(bereft of expectancy) or one who is destitute of all longings for fruit. Yata-chitt[2. Buddhi, ahaṅkāra and chitta are the vṛittis or functions of the mind. Buddhi is adhyavasāya (or determination), ahaṅkāra is abhimāna (attachment or longing), and chitta is chintā (anxiety or anxious thought). If mind is thought, then buddhi, ahaṅkārā, and chitta, are respectively the determinative, the longing, and the anxious, thoughts, which are certain classes into which thought in general is divided. Buddhi and ahaṅkāra of mind are not to he confused with the buddhi-tatva and ahaṅkāra-tatva of primordial matter. Read also page 10 of Vivekananda’s Vedanta (1897).]-ātmā=[ātmā here is mind, chitta is one of its functions (mind being a general term)[3.Buddhi, ahaṅkāra and chitta are the vṛittis or functions of the mind. Buddhi is adhyavasāya (or determination), ahaṅkāra is abhimāna (attachment or longing), and chitta is chintā (anxiety or anxious thought). If mind is thought, then buddhi, ahaṅkārā, and chitta, are respectively the determinative, the longing, and the anxious, thoughts, which are certain classes into which thought in general
is divided. Buddhi and ahaṅkāra of mind are not to he confused with the buddhi-tatva and ahaṅkāra-tatva of primordial matter. Read also page 10 of Vivekananda’s Vedanta (1897).]. Hence] the expression means one who has restrained the anxieties of the mind (manas)[4. Buddhi, ahaṅkāra and chitta are the vṛittis or functions of the mind. Buddhi is adhyavasāya (or determination), ahaṅkāra is abhimāna (attachment or longing), and chitta is chintā (anxiety or anxious thought). If mind is thought, then buddhi, ahaṅkārā, and chitta, are respectively the determinative, the longing, and the anxious, thoughts, which are certain classes into which thought in general is divided. Buddhi and ahaṅkāra of mind are not to he confused with the buddhi-tatva and ahaṅkāra-tatva of primordial matter. Read also page 10 of Vivekananda’s Vedanta (1897). Manas is generally translated as mind, but mind in English Psychology is a general term denoting Intellect (or Thought), Will (or Volition) & Feelings (or Emotions); but in Indian Psychology, manas is substance, the 11th organ, the internal organ of perception and action. Manas, the mind that functions in the world is the instrument of objective consciousness; whereas buddhi may be considered as the subjective or spiritual consciousness. Manas or the worldly mind constitutes the personality of an entity conterminous with a single incarnation on the material plane; and constitutes also the individuality of the entity as well in its various transmigrations from incarnation to incarnation; the personality being distinguished in the sthūla or gross visible bodily manifestation, and the individuality being distinguished in the sūkshma, linga, or subtle invisible bodily manifestation, and experiences thereof in dream, Svarga, etc. Whereas buddhi is consciousness pure, exempt from all material conditions, and is an inseparable adjunct of the soul. It is spiritual consciousness which eternally adjectivally co-exists with soul (ātmā). In the Yudhishṭhira-Ajagara-Samvāda (vide, Mahābhārata, Aranya Parva, 181st Adhyaya) Ajagara (or the dragon) gives a short and clear definition of buddhi, and manas, worth quoting here:- ‘Buddher ātmānug-ātīva, utpāte na vidhīyate, Tadāśritā hi sā jñeyā, Buddhis tasya-ishiṇi bhavet (25)’. ‘Buddher utpadyate kāryān, manas t-ūtpannam eva hi. Buddher guṇa-vishir nāsti, manas tad-guṇavad bhavet (26)’. Meaning: Buddhi (or intelligence) is the ever indissoluble attribute of the soul (ātmā), and is to be known as dependent on the soul, and ministering to it. Buddhi is the evolvent of effects (or cause) whereas manas is the evolute (or effect). Buddhi is not circumscribed by the guṇas (or properties of matter, whereas manas changes according to the guṇas). Buddhi is generally translated as understanding, will and so on. Indian philosophy understands by it, the judging, discerning, ascertaining or deciding faculty of the mind. Vide, note 1, above, on ‘Manas‘. Restraint of chitta implies the restraint as well of the other functions of manas also, viz., adhyavasāya and abhimānā (Tātparya-chandrika). This is ‘the suppression of mind’s functions.’ See Pātanjala Yoga Sūtra 1-2.].
Tyakta-sarva-parigrahaḥ= one who has abdicated all property or belongings, i.e., to say, one who has given up selfish love for material objects (prakṛiti) and sense-cravings (prākṛita), (and centering all his interest in ātmā).
And, as long as life may last, doing work as if it were mechanically, as a mere function of the body, he incurs no evil.
Evil is samsāra[5. Lit: that which ‘runs or courses’; means the circuit or circle of wordly existence, mundane life, material existence, matter-tied or matter-consorting existence, conditioned secular career, or matter-soul existence, coursing through a transmigratory revolution of births and deaths alternating. In Indian terms, Purusha consorting with Prakriti (or spirit-matter combination).](physical existence). He will be free from this.
If Karma-Yoga be performed this-wise, that alone is sufficient to lead to ātma-vision, obviating the necessity for an intermediate (strict, i.e., without karma, or cessation of all work) jñāna-course.
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