Verse 6.49

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

अध्यात्मरतिरासीनो निरपेक्षो निरामिषः ।
आत्मनैव सहायेन सुखार्थी विचरेदिह ॥ ४९ ॥

adhyātmaratirāsīno nirapekṣo nirāmiṣaḥ |
ātmanaiva sahāyena sukhārthī vicarediha || 49 ||

Centered in spirituality, disinterested, free from longings, with himself as his sole companion, he shall wander forth in the world, seeking bliss.—(49).

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Spirituality’— disposition to concentrate one’s attention upon the quest for the true nature of the self;—‘centered’— always thinking of it, he shall remain.

‘Disintrested;’—this re-iterates what has been already said before regarding his not caring for the due fulfilment of Dharma and other things.

‘Nirāmiṣaḥ’—free from longings. Flesh is ‘āmiṣa’, which indicates (figuratively) longing, by reason of the fact that living beings have a great liking for flesh; and this longing is forbidden.

All the rest has already been explained before.—(49).

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 954);—and in Parāśaramādhava (Āchāra, p. 569).

 

Comparative notes by various authors

Mahābhārata (12.330.30).—(Same as Manu, the last foot being read as ‘yaścaret sa sukhī bhavet.’)

Āpastamba (2.21.13).—‘Abandoning truth and falsehood, pleasure and pain, the Vedas, this world and the next, he shall seek the Ātman.’

Vaśiṣṭha (10.17, 20).—‘Freedom from future births is certain for him who constantly dwells in the forest, who has subdued his organs of sensation and action, who has renounced all sensual gratification, whose mind is fixed in meditation on the Supreme Spirit, and who is indifferent (to all things).’