Verse 9.44 - Definition of vīcāra (shifting)

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Tattvartha sūtra 9.44:

वीचारोऽर्थव्यञ्जनयोगसङ्क्रान्तिः ॥ ९.४४ ॥

vīcāro'rthavyañjanayogasaṅkrāntiḥ || 9.44 ||

‘Vīcāra’ is shifting (saṃkrānti) with regard to object (artha), word (vyañjana) and, activity (yoga). (44)

Hindi Anvayarth:

अन्वयार्थ: [अर्थव्यञ्जनयोगसङ्क्रान्तिः] अर्थ, व्यञ्जन और योग का बदलना सो [वीचारः] वीचार है।

Anvayartha: [arthavyanjanayogasankrantih] artha, vyanjana aura yoga ka badalana so [vicarah] vicara hai |

Explanation in English from Ācārya Pūjyapāda’s Sarvārthasiddhi:

What is ‘vīcāra’?

The subject of meditation–dhyeya–is the object (artha). It is either the substance (dravya) or the mode (paryāya). ‘Vyañjana’ is word (śabda, vacana). ‘Yoga’ is the activity of the body, the mind or the speech-organ. ‘Saṃkrānti’ is shifting from one thing to another. Shifting (saṃkrānti) with regard to the object (artha) is passing from the substance (dravya) to the mode (paryāya) or from the mode to the substance. Shifting (saṃkrānti) with regard to the word (vyañjana) is passing from one scriptural term to another and from that to another. Shifting (saṃkrānti) with regard to the activity (yoga) is changing from bodily activity to some other activity and from that activity to bodily activity. This kind of change is called ‘vīcāra’. When there is alternation, how can it be called meditation? The reply is that even thought-stream is meditation.

The virtuous (dharmya) and the pure (śukla) meditation, each of which is of four kinds, have been described generally and particularly. These are worthy to be meditated upon by the ascetic who has practised several observances such as control (gupti), and so on, to purify the mind and to free himself from transmigration. The ascetic meditates on the material (objective atom) or thought (subjective atom) and with his knowledge of the Scripture shifts to objects or verbal symbols or to activities of the body or the speech-organ. He shifts his thought severally from one to another. And just as a person of poor strength and enthusiasm, and with an unsteady hand and a dull axe, is able to cut a tree in a long time so also the ascetic tries to suppress or destroy the deluding karmas, and embrace the first types of pure meditation, namely, the pṛthaktvavitarka with shifting (vīcāra). Again the saint intends to root out the deluding karmas. He embraces infinitefold pure activity and obstructs the bondage of karmas which assist knowledge-covering karmas. He lessens their duration and destroys these. He is actuated by the exertion of scriptural knowledge. He is free from shifting of object (artha), word (vyañjana) and activity (yoga). His mind does not waver. He is passionless and is stainless like the pure crystal. He meditates and never falls back. Hence it is called the unique (single) scriptural meditation–ekatvavitarka. Thus the four destructive (ghāti) karmas are burnt by the soul with the fire of the unique, scriptural, pure concentration, and omniscience sparkles like a multitude of rays. The pure soul shines like the sun coming out of the clouds. And the soul–of the Tīrthaṅkara or other Omniscient (kevalī)–is worthy to be venerated and worshipped by the lords of the world. And he moves from place to place preaching the Truth to the world up to a maximum period of a little less than pūrvakoṭi years.

When the duration of his life-determining (āyuḥ [āyus]) karma is within one muhūrta, and the feeling-producing (vedanīya), the body-making (nāma) and the status-determining (gotra) karmas are of the same duration, he gives up entirely the activities of the speech, the mind and the gross body. Taking help from slight bodily activity, he embraces the third type of pure meditation of subtle activity–sūkṣmakriyāpratipāti. In case the duration of his life-determining (āyuḥ) karma is within one muhūrta, but the duration of the feeling-producing (vedanīya), the body-making (nāma) and the status-determining (gotra) karmas is more, with remarkable exertion, he makes the duration of these three karmas same as the life-determining (āyuḥ) karma. He is endowed with the wonderful capacity by which stupendous stoppage is affected. He performs expansion of the soul which is capable of ripening the karmas very quickly and destroying or reducing these; this is called kevali-samudghāta^[1]. Here he practises comprehensive pervasion in the form of a stick (daṇḍa), a door (kapāṭa), an oblong (pratara), and filling up the universe (lokapūraṇa), in four instants and contracting to his former size immediately in another four instants. He thus makes the duration of all the four karmas equal, and through subtle bodily activity embraces the meditation of subtle activity–sūkṣmakriyāpratipāti. And after that he commences the meditation of complete destruction of activity–vyuparatakriyānivarti, also called samucchinnakriyānivarti. This entails complete destruction of activity as there is disappearance of respiration and movement and vibration of the spatial units of the soul, arising from activities (yoga) of the body, the mind and the speech-organ. In this stage of meditation there is complete annihilation of influx (āsrava) of all kinds of bondage (of karmas).

And in the Omniscient-without-activity–ayogakevalī, endowed with the capacity of annihilating all karmas, there arise perfect conduct–yathākhyāta cāritra, knowledge (jñāna), and faith (darśana), which are capable of destroying all kinds of cobwebs of worldly suffering, and which constitute the immediate cause of complete emancipation or final liberation. Thus, the saint in the fourteenth stage burns all karmas with the powerful fire of concentration, becomes purified like 24-carat gold, freed from dirt and other alloys, and attains eternal bliss. Thus these two kinds of pure meditation block the influx (āsrava) of new karmas and cause complete stoppage (saṃvara) and also dissociation (nirjarā) of old karmas.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See explanation to sūtra 3-35, p. 140.