Devanagari
मुक्ताश्रयं यर्हि निर्विषयं विरक्तं
निर्वाणमृच्छति मन: सहसा यथार्चि: ।
आत्मानमत्र पुरुषोऽव्यवधानमेकम्
अन्वीक्षते प्रतिनिवृत्तगुणप्रवाह: ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
muktāśrayaṁ yarhi nirviṣayaṁ viraktaṁ
nirvāṇam ṛcchati manaḥ sahasā yathārciḥ
ātmānam atra puruṣo ’vyavadhānam ekam
anvīkṣate pratinivṛtta-guṇa-pravāhaḥ
Synonyms
mukta
—
āśrayam — situated in liberation
;
yarhi
—
at which time
;
nirviṣayam
—
detached from sense objects
;
viraktam
—
indifferent
;
nirvāṇam
—
extinction
;
ṛcchati
—
obtains
;
manaḥ
—
the mind
;
sahasā
—
immediately
;
yathā
—
like
;
arciḥ
—
the flame
;
ātmānam
—
the mind
;
atra
—
at this time
;
puruṣaḥ
—
a person
;
avyavadhānam
—
without separation
;
ekam
—
one
;
anvīkṣate
—
experiences
;
pratinivṛtta
—
freed
;
guṇa
—
pravāhaḥ — from the flow of material qualities .
Translation
When the mind is thus completely freed from all material contamination and detached from material objectives, it is just like the flame of a lamp. At that time the mind is actually dovetailed with that of the Supreme Lord and is experienced as one with Him because it is freed from the interactive flow of the material qualities.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When the mind of the foolish yogī, still under the shelter of the Lord, becomes devoid of material objects an d is detached from all material objects, that mind suddenly gets destroyed, just as a flame dies without oil and wick. The jīva, having destroyed misconceptions of his body, then sees his ātmā without coverings.
Having described the conduct of the inferior yogī, Kapila now describes the condition of the mind which gives up the form of the Lord. When the mind becomes devoid of objects, it still is under the shelter of the Lord (muktāśrayam),
since a meditator cannot exist without some relationship with the Lord. It will not meditate on material sounds or forms as previously, since it is completely detached from those things. Though the mind has experienced the highest bliss, the mind does not again make the form of bliss his object of meditation, since the mind has withdrawn from that. In the previous verse, the foolish yogī made repeated attempts to withdraw his mind (śanakaiḥ). The mind then achieves destruction (layam), just as a lamp deprived of oil and wick gets extinguished. In this state (atra) the jīva (puruṣaḥ), having destroyed his mind, sees the pure ātmā, pratyagātmā (ekam), without obstruction, since the covering of the subtle body has been destroyed. Then he no longer takes birth. His misconceptions of body etc. have been destroyed (pratinivṛtta-guṇa-prabvāhaḥ).
Purport
In the material world the activities of the mind are acceptance and rejection. As long as the mind is in material consciousness, it must be forcibly trained to accept meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when one is actually elevated to loving the Supreme Lord, the mind is automatically absorbed in thought of the Lord. In such a position a
yogī
has no other thought than to serve the Lord. This dovetailing of the mind with the desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called
nirvāṇa,
or making the mind one with the Supreme Lord.
The best example of
nirvāṇa
is cited in
Bhagavad-gītā.
In the beginning the mind of Arjuna deviated from Kṛṣṇa’s. Kṛṣṇa wanted Arjuna to fight, but Arjuna did not want to, so there was disagreement. But after hearing
Bhagavad-gītā
from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Arjuna dovetailed his mind with Kṛṣṇa’s desire. This is called oneness. This oneness, however, did not cause Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa to lose their individualities. The Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand this. They think that oneness necessitates loss of individuality. Actually, however, we find in
Bhagavad-gītā
that individuality is not lost. When the mind is completely purified in love of Godhead, the mind becomes the mind of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mind at that time does not act separately, nor does it act without inspiration to fulfill the desire of the Lord. The individual liberated soul has no other activity.
Pratinivṛtta-guṇa-pravāhaḥ.
In the conditioned state the mind is always engaged in activity impelled by the three modes of the material world, but in the transcendental stage, the material modes cannot disturb the mind of the devotee. The devotee has no other concern than to satisfy the desires of the Lord. That is the highest stage of perfection, called
nirvāṇa
or
nirvāṇa-mukti.
At this stage the mind becomes completely free from material desire.
Yathārciḥ.
Arciḥ
means “flame.” When a lamp is broken or the oil is finished, we see that the flame of the lamp goes out. But according to scientific understanding, the flame is not extinguished; it is conserved. This is conservation of energy. Similarly, when the mind stops functioning on the material platform, it is conserved in the activities of the Supreme Lord. The Māyāvādī philosophers’ conception of cessation of the functions of the mind is explained here: cessation of the mental functions means cessation of activities conducted under the influence of the three modes of material nature.