Viveka Sloka 7 Tel Eng

అమృతత్త్వస్య నాశాస్తి విత్తేనేత్యేవ హి శ్రుతిః ।
బ్రవీతి కర్మణో ముక్తేరహేతుత్వం స్ఫుటం యతః ॥ 7॥

యతః = ఎందువలన అనగా, విత్తేన = ధనముచేత, అమృ తత్త్వస్య - = మోక్షమునకు, ఆశా - అశ, నాస్తి - లేదు, ఇత్యేవ= అని, శ్రుతిః = శ్రుతి, కర్మణః = కర్మ,, ముక్తేః = ముక్తికి, అహేతుత్వం - హేతువుకాదు అను విషయమును, స్ఫుటం - స్పష్టముగా, బ్రవీతి హి - చెప్పుచున్నదికదా?

amṛtattvasya nāśāsti vittēnētyēva hi śrutiḥ ।
bravīti karmaṇō muktērahētutvaṃ sphuṭaṃ yataḥ ॥ 7॥

The sloka begins with amritattva which means immortality or moksha. Only the humblest person among us wants to lead a life like birds that don't leave their footprints in the air. Many crave for a lasting impression like Shakespeare or even Sankara. It doesn't matter whether they deserve such an acclaim based on their feeble efforts in areas other than wealth accumulation. They can buy any honor or award with their wealth. They can buy almost anything but not liberation.

Since time immemorial money has been used as the medium to carry out transactions. The king is the richest in his kingdom by minting gold coins that the subjects can use to transact in lieu of barter where one gives an object in exchange for a service. In modern democracies the party with the most cash is likely to win in the elections. In capitalistic societies the rich go about their way of amassing wealth for hundreds of generations to come in their lineage.

Wealth traditionally is measured with gold, precious metals, precious stones and so on. For a scientist these are different arrangements of protons, electrons and neutrons. There is a need for them in real life but they have no more importance than iron, sand or rare earth minerals. Sankara had this perspective, the same temperament as a scientist, in this sloka. No matter how much wealth one amasses, liberation is not possible just by being rich. In other words, liberation is not for sale. The richest man can transport himself to a different planet like Mars or even to a distant galaxy without getting an inch closer to liberation.

We are trained from childhood to study physics, chemistry, biology and so on without verifying every word uttered by the lecturers or in printed form. Whereas when it comes to the scripture, we would like proof. It is not enough that thousands of generations preceded the industrial revolution and did just fine by performing vedic rituals. The air and water were pure. The population was in check. For the most part the society based on the four varnas functioned efficiently.

With wealth comes desire for sense gratification. After the senses quieten, sometimes at an early age, the man is motivated to study vedanta. Someone like Budha might want to give up his riches and seek enlightenment. Sankara didn't belong to any of these categories. He was born in a humble family. So one may question, since he was a pauper, wasn't he dragging everyone down to his economic level? Why should the rich or a graduate of science follow Sankara's advice who had nothing to lose? One might say in all honesty, "My family invested millions in my education and now you want me to renounce all for an elusive liberation".

All of these are valid criticism. Sankara is of the lineage that didn't covet wealth for they viewed knowledge as the most precious of all. (In Vishnu Sahasram it was said "saravagno gnaana muttamam".) When everyone ran after the wealth, Sankara's forefathers ran after knowledge. It was said with gold you can transact anywhere in the world. But gold can be stolen, lost or melted away. Knowledge, on the other hand, can be carried to anywhere and used to turn a profit. Just the other day, there was this news that Indians working overseas contribute billions of dollars every year to India's central bank by sending some of their earnings to their families. How could they do it without knowledge? One might be tempted to say they do physical labor that doesn't require much knowledge. The reality is many of them seek academic or skill training before they are transitioned to their particular overseas jobs. Among them engineers and scientists predominate. So in their case knowledge is the primary progenitor for wealth creation.

If you have more stamina, you can argue that the knowledge used to generate wealth is not vedic. So the scripture had nothing to do with the modern success stories. When you look at the climate change since the dawn of industrial revolution, you can see that the education imparted in the modern universities is a cause for concern. Man with his ever indulgent ways is committing hara-kiri by polluting nature. When our rishis performed fire rituals, they used to offer herbs in the fire to cleanse the air. Where there were no rains, the fire rituals performed provided the reprieve. There is no modern technology that can limit the rainfall in a region and avoid flood damage that includes even loss of life. We are prisoners, by choice and blindly following science and technology, like spiders spinning the web and falling prey to their own making. Of course, the uber rich would like to leave the earth in disrepair behind and fly away to a different planet.

So whatever our rishis did, they had done it for the sake of the world (loka kalyana). They strived to pass on to future generations a better world than they inherited, including the truths their ancestors held that have stood the test of time. Scripture is the final authority because it is a cumulative wisdom of thousands of generations of ascetics who are neither gullible nor ignorant. There is no inflationary expectation here other than we want to experience heaven on earth. Whatever our scripture glorifies as heaven, vaikuntha or kailasa is possible now and here. For the modern men who want instant gratification this should sit well. Like salt to food, adding a modicum of vedanta to one's life will make the whole experience of life on earth infinitely gratifying (poornam).

Impatience, in many a time, is the root cause of suffering. Men are impatient to be wealthy and successful. They want to achieve fame and liberation before they have completed the due diligence. As mangoes are being ripened with chemicals rather than on the trees, men are subjecting themselves to toxic stress in the name of ambition. Scientists want to roll out new inventions and discoveries faster by making extraordinary claims for fifteen minutes of fame in the media.

The population explosion we see is the direct consequence of ignoring scripture. Marthya loka is a home for more humans than ever before since the earliest population census. Man with his innate desire for longevity advanced medicine that extended the lifespan. As more people lived longer and over-stayed their sojourn in marthya loka, naturally the population would increase with fewer people exiting and more people arriving. How did the ancient rishis handle this? According to the law of karma, the lifespan is preordianed by the prarabda karma. When herculean efforts are made to treat terminal illnesses such as cancer, that are a consequence of prarabda to begin with, people's quality of life suffers and they lead a vegetative life. Further, the lifespan of the next birth will be limited by the ubiquitous law of karma (this explains why some noble people die early). Sankara attained nirvana at an early age and accomplished a great deal which modern men find hard to match. Many men living for a hundred years have stopped being productive half way in their lives. The social security, such as pension, offered in various societies, is stretched beyond limits as more and more older people vie for limited resource. Hence younger people are asked to pay more in taxes to buttress social security fund.

The rishis of the yore didn't go to the populace and shove the scripture down its throats. They stayed in their high perches and generously offered their advice to whoever sought it. In other words, there were no copyrights on their works and royalties to be collected. In their magnanimity they advised rulers and ordinary men alike without expecting anything in return. The ascetic Dadeechi was known to have made the ultimate sacrifice by offering his body to craft the weapon Vajra wielded by Indra to kill demons.

Another viewpoint held by the sages is that life on earth is a play directed by the paramatma and enacted by all life forms. It is to please Him that we must perform karma. As Bhagavad Gita says we only have the right to perform karma but not expect its fruits. In Kali yuga as people kill one another, we are supposed to think of it as a consequence of their karma. Accordingly sorrow or happiness is because of one's karma in past lives. The ascetics had forecast that Kalki avatar would arrive on earth at the end of Kali yuga to destroy the evil forces. On the other hand, the evil people, who had enacted malicious deeds based on their prarabda karma, dying in the hands of Kalki, also will merge with Him alongside the noble people during pralaya when cosmic waters cover the entire world.

As the jagat guru, Sankara was chiding those who think wealth automatically engenders salvation. He is, unlike a socialist, asking his disciples to practice vedanta no matter what profession they are in. Of course, as all good consumer products advertise, the user must follow directions for best results. We will see them when studying the master's teaching to follow.