Viveka Sloka 54 Tel Eng

మస్తకన్యస్తభారాదేర్దుఃఖమన్యైర్నివార్యతే ।
క్షుధాదికృతదుఃఖం తు వినా స్వేన న కేనచిత్ ॥ 54 ॥

మస్తకన్యస్త భారదేః - శిరస్సు పై నున్న భారము మొదలగు దానివలన కలుగు, దుఃఖం - దుః.ఖము, అన్యైః - ఇతరులచేత, నివార్యతే - నివారించబడును, తు - కాని, క్షుధాదికృత దుఃఖం- ఆకలి మొదలగువాటిచే కలుగు దుఃఖము, స్వేన వినా - తాను తప్ప, కేన చిత్ = ఎవ్వనిచేతను, న - నివారింపబడదు .

భారాదేః, అనుచోట 'అది' పదముచే సంకెళ్ళు మొదలగు వాటిచే బంధింపబడిన కరచరణాదికము గ్రహింపబడును.

వాటివలన కలుగు దుఃఖము ఆ భారమును క్రిందికి దింపుటచేత గాని, సంకెళ్లు మొదలగు వాటిని విడిపించుటచే గాని, అన్యులచే నివారింపబడ వచ్చును. ఆకలి మొదలగు వాటిచే కలుగు దుఃఖమును మాత్రము తాను తప్ప ఎవ్వరును తొలగింపజాలరు. పుత్రాదు లెవ్వరైన భుజించి నను, నీరు త్రాగినను తండ్రియొక్క ఆకలిదప్పులు తీరుట కనబడుట లేదుకదా?

అవ. మరియొక దృష్టాంతమును చెప్పుచున్నాడు.

mastakanyastabhārādērduḥkhamanyairnivāryatē ।
kṣudhādikṛtaduḥkhaṃ tu vinā svēna na kēnachit ॥ 54॥

This is the second of the triplets where Sankara's keen intellect in illustrating complex philosophical thoughts shines. In the olden days, for people carrying loads on their heads, there used to be pillars along roads to place the loads for relief. Even otherwise, a person took the help from another to put the load on the ground for rest. Similarly a person shackled with chains or ropes could be freed by another.

But a person's hunger can't be removed by anyone if he doesn't eat!

When Gandhiji used to do hunger strikes, he could not be convinced to eat even a little as he was on a mission. Of course, these days the hunger strike can be broken by force-feeding under medical supervision. So Sankara's illustration is relative to his time and place.

In other words, Sankara posits free-will in his illustration. In Gita (15.14), the Lord says he is the one who digests the food in our bodies -- "I am the fire of digestion in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, outgoing and incoming, to digest the four kinds of foodstuff." Whereas, he doesn't say that he makes a person ingest the food directly via mouth. So we can infer that free will exists, at least, in the case of ingesting food among other activities.

In Lalita Sahasranamas, there is a reference to 3 saktis(powers): iccha (desire), gnana (knowledge), and kriya (action). When we set out to do something in the physical world, we need these 3 sakti's to act in our favor to attain success. If there is no desire, no matter how much the other sakti's operate, we can't take up an activity. The goddess is prayed to provide iccha or desire to perform good karma.

If one believes in astrology, or the world-is-a-simulation theory, there is only destiny--the planets and physical laws pertaining to their motion and gravity, make us act in a particular manner and nothing else. Some believers acquire pseudo vairagya because they come to the conclusion that there is nothing else they could do in their lives to change their destiny.

Also, vedantins believe that even before a desire sprouts in the mind, there will be a vritti or a tendency based on genetics or past behavior. For those believing that all of their thoughts and decisions are pre-determined and subject to the limitations of their lineage, destiny is a painful yet inevitable truth.

Obviously Sankara is opposed to destiny even though he did expect his disciples to freely choose liberation as the ultimate goal. If someone came to a Guru and said "It is my destiny to serve you and attain liberation", what should the Guru say? This leads to a conundrum.

Swami Sundara Chaitanyananda once met a follower who said "I want to take sannyasa and be your disciple if my company goes bankrupt". The Swami said "You are better off running your company and following wherever it takes you." His rationale: sannyasa is not a back up career option. One has to be fixated on liberation and nothing else.

The same can be said about any goal-oriented thinking. Once a person sets a goal--for example "I want to be very rich in ten years" or "I want to be very powerful" -- he will be curtailing free will as all of his actions must be directed toward the fulfillment of the goal. This may do well for a machine or a robot, but not spiritual beings who want to exercise their will.