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వేదాంతార్థవిచారేణ జాయతే జ్ఞానముత్తమమ్ । తేనాత్యంతికసంసారదుఃఖనాశో భవత్యను ॥ 47 ॥
వేదాంత విచారేణ- ఉపనిషత్తుల అర్ధము విచారణ చేయుటచేత, ఉత్తమం = ఉత్తమమైన, జ్ఞానం - జ్ఞానము, జాయతే = లభించును, తేన - దానిచేత, అను- వెంటనే, ఆత్యంతిక సంసార దుఃఖనాశః = పూర్తిగ సంసార దుఃఖము యొక్క నాశము, భవతి = కలుగును.
వేదములయొక్క చివరిభాగములు వేదాన్తములు - అనగా ఉపనిషత్తులు. వాటియొక్క ఏ అర్థముకలదో - అనగా ఉపక్రమము, ఉపసంహారము మొదలగు తాత్పర్య నిర్ణయకములగు ఆరు లింగములచే ఉపనిషత్తులలో ప్రతిపాదితమును, సజాతీయ విజాతీయ స్వగతభేద రహితమును, నిత్య శుద్ద - బుద్ధ - ముక్త స్వభావమును అగు ఏ పర మాత్మ స్వరూపమున్నదో దానియొక్క, విచారేణ =దానియొక్క నిర్ణయమునకు అనుకూలమగు మానసవ్యాపారముచేత, ఉత్తమం జ్ఞానం=సంశయాదులతో మిశ్రముకాని జ్ఞానము, అనగా నిర్ణయము కలుగును.
తేన - ఆ నిర్ణయముచే, అత్యన్తిక సంసారదుఃఖనాశః= స్వసమానాధికరణదుఃఖ ప్రాగ భావానమానకాలికమగు దుఃఖనాశము - అనగా ఈ నిర్ణయము కలిగినవానియందు ఇక ఎన్నటికిని దుఃఖ ప్రాగభావము ఉండదు; అనగా మున్ముందు మరల దుఃఖములు కలుగుట ఉండదు; అట్టి దుఃఖనాశము, అను = అట్టి నిర్ణయము కలిగినవెంటనే, భవతి - కలుగును.
అవ. ఇపుడు, అట్టి నిర్ణయమునకు అసాధారణకారణమును చెప్పుచున్నాడు..
vēdāntārthavichārēṇa jāyatē jñānamuttamam । tēnātyantikasaṃsāraduḥkhanāśō bhavatyanu ॥ 47॥
The keyword to understand this sloka is vichaarena which ordinarily means to think, contemplate, analyze, cogitate, etc. Sankara is advising to do vichaarana on the upanishads. By this he means to disect and rip apart every mantra for a deeper understanding.
One could say, as one starts doing what Sankara is advising, invariably one has to deal with etymology, grammar, literary tools of Sanskrit which is a difficult language to master. A sadhaka might consider a mahavakya such as aham brahmasmi which simply translates to I am brahman. The conjunction asmi has several meanings. So the translations such as: I am same as brahman, I exist in brahman, and brahman exists in me are also valid.
For a beginner in sadhana Sanskrit is the biggest hurdle. In bhaja govinda hymn, Sankara says:
bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam müdhamate, samprápte sannihite kále na hi na hi rakshati dukrunkarane
Which means "Adore the Lord, adore the Lord, adore the Lord, O fool! when the appointed time (for departure) comes, the repetition of grammatical rules will not, indeed, save you"
So Sankara gives bhakti (devotion) the highest means to attain Lord rather than wasting time on literary pursuits. Also by writing several bhashyas and prakarana granthas, Sankara had very magnanimously undertook the tedious task of interpreting vedas and sruti, so mere mortals need not concern themselves with the original texts.
An example of vichaarana can be seen in Sankara's refutation of sunyavaada of Budhists who say all existence comes from void. That means the void itself either exists or does not exist. If void exists then sunyavada is merely concocting a fancy word for Brahman upon whom everything is superimposed as per vedanta. On the other hand, if void does not exist, then there is no way existence can spring out of non-existence. And non-existence must have a substratum like any other illusion. Thus, Sankara refuted Budhism with mindblowing vichaarana
Inspired by sunyavada physicists like Richard Feynman postulated that pairs of particles with opposite charge or spin could magically appear from empty space. Subsequent experiments revealed no such thing could be found. This was obvious for those aware of Sankara's refutation.
Boudhas also believe in kshanika vaada which says things, including atma, are perceived intermittently between thoughts, so don't have permanence. Sankara refutes it by saying "The witness within me when I was a child and the witness inside adult-me are the same". Similarly "The same witness exists in wakeful state and after waking up from deep sleep (sushupti) where nothing was perceived. By inference the same witness must have existed in deep sleep as well". That witness is nothing but atma.
The question is does vichaarana shine new light on existing knowledge or create new knowledge? A sadhaka could study veda out of curiosity, to become a vidvan, out of peer pressure or to keep family tradition alive. Many scientists who study vedas belong to the first category. Vedas might not have given the energy and mass equivalance formula, but they most certainly said every jiva is brahman, meaning if you think of brahman as mass or energy so is jiva. Therefore, the scientists' so-called inventions are actually discoveries of knowledge in vedas obtained with vichaarana.
