Verse 2.506-507

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

मार्त्याद्भोगाद्विरक्तस्य ह्युत्तराह्लादकामिनः ।
सहस्रदशभागेन मानुषाद् गुणितो भवेत् ॥ ५०६ ॥
इत्येतस्य प्रसिद्ध्यर्थमादावग्रहणं कृतम् ।
अकामहत इत्यस्य हेतोरानन्दवृद्धये ॥ ५०७ ॥

mārtyādbhogādviraktasya hyuttarāhlādakāminaḥ |
sahasradaśabhāgena mānuṣād guṇito bhavet || 506 ||
ityetasya prasiddhyarthamādāvagrahaṇaṃ kṛtam |
akāmahata ityasya hetorānandavṛddhaye || 507 ||

English translation of verse 2.506-507:

Such a person who is detached from human happiness, but who has desire for the happiness of the next higher stage, attains the bliss which is a hundred times superior to (one unit of) human happiness. And with a view to convey this idea, akāmahata is not mentioned in the beginning in respect of attaining more happiness.

Notes:

In the first stage, śruti speaks about the highest human happiness which accrues to one who is young, good, etc., and who commands the entire wealth available in the world. But here there is no reference to the Vedic scholar who is free from desire (akāmahata), whereas in each of the subsequent stages arranged in an ascending order there is reference to the Vedic scholar who is free from desire. That is to say, after stating sa eko mānuṣa ānandaḥ, śruti does not use the expression śrotriyasya cākāmahatasya, whereas after sa eko manuṣyagandharvāṇāmānandaḥ, sa eko devagandharvāṇāmānandaḥ, etc., it uses the expression śrotriyasya cākāmahatasya. What is the reason for the omission of this expression in the first stage (prathama-paryāya)? Śruti conveys the idea that a Vedic scholar who is detached from the enjoyment of human happiness, but who nevertheless longs for the happiness of a human fairy attains it here itself, by virtue of the mental tranquillity which he has. He attains here itself the happiness which is equal to that of a human fairy.

If the expression śrotriyasya cākāmahatasya were used in the first stage itself which speaks about the highest happiness of one who has all. the personal accomplishments and who rules over the entire earth, it would mean that the happiness attained by the Vedic scholar, who is free from desire, is equal to the highest human happiness. Such a. position is inconsistent. The Vedic scholar who is free from desire is detached from human happiness. It would be inconsistent to say that a person who is averse to human happiness attains the very same thing. It is with a view to avoid this absurdity that the expression śrotriyasya cākāmahatasya is not mentioned in the first stage.