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Withdrawal From Worldly Distractions

बाह्ये निरुद्धे मनस: प्रसन्नता
मन:प्रसादे परमात्मदर्शनम् ।
तस्मिन्सुदृष्टे भवबन्धनाशो
बहिर्निरोध: पदवी विमुक्ते: ॥
-विवेकचूडामणिः ३३५

bāhye niruddhe manasaḥ prasannatā
manaḥ-prasāde paramātma-darśanam ।
tasmin-sudṛṣṭe bhava-bandha-nāśo
bahir-nirodha: padavī vimukteḥ ।।
-Vivekacūḍāmaṇi: 335

Translation

When the worldliness is kept away, the mind becomes placid; and placidity of the mind leads to the vision of the Supreme Self. When ‘That’ is well realized, all worldly bondages fall off. Hence the withdrawal from worldliness is the footstep for liberation.

Points for Introspection

The Self reveals itself in a pure and calm mind. A seeker should thus continuously strive to make the mind pure and tranquil. The mind becomes impure by presence of desires. Desires arise in the mind whenever the mind dwells on the external objects (including the body-mind personality) and identifies itself with them. Indulgence in the worldly interactions no doubt leads to distractions in the mind.

The mind gets agitated first by the desire to possess something, then by the anxiety of not attaining what it desires, and at the end, by fear of losing what has been possessed.

Hence, in order to have a peaceful mind, a seeker must refrain from all such unnecessary thoughts about the perishable objects. If we look into ourselves, we will find that most of our time is spent in meaningless thoughts and discussions about useless matters, allowing the mind to get scattered from the core within.

When by practice, a seeker is able to withdraw from worldly distractions caused by desires, he attains a calm and tranquil mind. A calm and tranquil mind alone is full of delight. In that state of mind, one is able to realize one’s own self as one with the Univsersal Self or Brahman.

When a seeker realizes his own Self, he identifies himself as the real, eternal imperishable Soul. His mistaken identity with the body, mind, intelligence etc. gets completely dissolved. As long as he, out of ignorance, identifies himself with the body, mind etc., he suffers whenever body-mind-intelligence undergoes suffering. But then one is seated in the Self, he remains unaffected by any change that the body-mind complex undergoes. The seeker thus attains the state of freedom and liberation.

This śloka emphasizes that in order to attain liberation, a seeker must at the very first step, strive to refrain from getting disturbed by the external objective situations. In a placid and calm mind alone, the Self gets revealed.

Repeated chanting of this śloka transports the mind to a state of placidity and calmness. The mind also effortlessly gets inspired to strive to keep away from worldliness.

Word Meanings

बाह्ये निरुद्धे (bāhye niruddhe) = When withdrawn from the external worldly entanglement; मनस: (manasaḥ) = of the mind; प्रसन्नता (prasannatā) = placidity; मन:प्रसादे (manaḥ-prasāde) = on attaining placidity of the mind; परमात्मदर्शनम् (paramātma-darśanam) = the vision of the Supreme Self (Self-realization); तस्मिन् सुदृष्टे (tasmin-sudṛṣṭe) = when That is well realized; भवबन्धनाश: (bhava-bandha-nāśaḥ) = dissolution of worldly bondages; बहि: (bahiḥ) = external entanglement; निरोध: (nirodha:) = withdrawal; पदवी (padavī) = footstep; विमुक्ते: (vimukteḥ) = of liberation;

अन्वय:

बाह्ये निरुद्धे मनस: प्रसन्नता । मन:प्रसादे परमात्मदर्शनम् । तस्मिन् सुदृष्टे भवबन्धनाश: । बहि: निरोध: विमुक्ते: पदवी ॥

bāhye niruddhe manasaḥ prasannatā | manaḥ-prasāde paramātma-darśanam | tasmin sudṛṣṭe bhava-bandha-nāśaḥ | bahiḥ nirodha: vimukteḥ padavī |