Verse 8

8)
ato vimuktyai prayatet vidvaan.h
sa.nnyastabaahyaarthasukhaspR^ihaH san.h .
santaM mahaantaM samupetya deshikaM
tenopadishhTaarthasamaahitaatmaa

Therefore let a wise man strive earnestly for liberation giving up all desire for pleasures coming from external objects. He must humbly approach a Guru who, by his realsisation, is to be equated with the sat and possesses superlative virtues and concentrate his mind on the significance of his teaching.

By the word vidvAn in the sloka is indicated the wise man who knows to discriminate between the eternal and the transient. the Gita says:

'ye hi samsparsajA bhogA duhkhayonya eva te | Adyantavantah kaunteya na tesu ramae budhah: ||' 

"the joys that come from sense contact make for sorrow only. They have a beginning and an end. A wise man does not delight in them. By this the GitA clearly indicates the meaning of the word vidvAn by the use of the word budhah. The expression 'bAhyArtha' (springing) from an external source) points to the transience of pleasures springing from the objects of sense. Things are in the external world; they come and go; they are not permanent. So the pleasures arising from them are also impermanent. Hence Sri BhagavatpAda first detailed the method of striving for liberation by saying that the wise man of determination and daring should give up such desire for external pleasures. By the use of the word 'san' (after sukhasprha in the first line), Sri BhagavatpAda shows that in respect of a fool who is engrossed in sense objects, it is difficult to predicate that he even exists as a man. The sruti says: AcAryavAn puruso veda, one attains knowledge by instruction by a guru; AcAryAddhaiva vidyA viditA sAdhistham prApat: (Ch.) "knowledge obtained from a teacher has the greatest efficiency". So the lone residual reality of the Atman which is super sensous cannot be understood except through a Guru. hence the need as stated before to approach a mahApurusa, a great realised soul. That (or he) which (or who) exists for ever is spoken of as 'san'. That (or he) is referred to a santam in the expression santam mahAntam. asti brahmeti cedveda santamenam tato viduh: (Ch.) "If a person knows that Brahman exists (i.e has realsed the existence of Brahman), he is called 'san'. From the other sruti texts, it becomes clear: " Existence alone was in the beginning (Ch.) and "What is superlatively big is immortal, what is otherwise is mortal (Taitt.) and Brahman is of the form of or nature of Satyam, jn~anam and anantam (Taitt.). The sruti also declares 'brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati: (Prasna), "the knower of Brahman is Brahman itself, i.e the knower of Brahman (brahmavit) is non different from brahman". Thus the teacher of Brahman (desika) is himself non-different from brahman. Like brahman, the brahmavit is also spoken of as sat. BhagavatpAda speaks of approaching such a brahmavit. Thereby is indicated the condition of the mind firmly established in Brahman, completely withdrawn from whatever is non-Atman and non-sat (asat).

Thus the teacher of Brahman (desika) is himself non-different from brahman. Like brahman, the brahmavit is also spoken of as sat. BhagavatpAda speaks of approaching such a brahmavit. Thereby is indicated the condition of the mind firmly established in Brahman, completely withdrawn from whatever is non-Atman and non-sat (asat). With reference to the prescription to seek a guru for BrahmavidyA, the sruti declares: tadvijn~AnArtham sa gurumevAbhigacchet samitpAnih srotriyam brahmanistham: (Katha). "For knowing it (Brahman), with due humility with the sacrificial twig in one hand, one should approach a Guru who is well versed in Sruti and who has realsied Brahman". "ananyaprokte gatiratra nAsti anIyAn hyatarkyam anupramAnAt: (Katha). "As the ultimate Reality is infinitely subtle, not to be known by argument, and of infinitesimal dimension, when it is declared by one who had realised that there is nought beside it, then all ajn~ana will vanish; he has nothing else to know and the flow of samsara will stop." Even if one tries to discover it unaided, doubt about it has to be dispelled only by reference to another who knows it already. In this matter, we have the authority of the dialogue between Suka and Janaka. In the Yoga Vasistha, it is said that even though Suka had gained knowledge of whatever was to be known as a result of the merit accrued to him by many good deeds in the many past births, and though he was well taught by his own father, VyAsa, his mind got firmly anchored in Brahman only after he listened to the words of the Videha king Janaka who was a supremely realised soul. As the guru is sat, he is spoken of in the next word as mahAn. mahAn here means not divided or confined wihin limits as a result of discrimination of the five sheaths. The guru has realised that he (i.e his Atman) is beyond limitations of the five sheaths of which he is constituted. So he is aparicchinna, undelimited, and beyond any limitations, and thus a mahAn.

tam sampetya: approaching him (such a guru) according to rule.

tenopadishhTaarthasamaahitaatmaa: with a mind whihc has well understood the nature of Brahman signified by the upadesa of the Guru and also the means of realising it.

vimuktyai prayateta: let him strive for liberation. As the endeavour for liberation will not arise without yearning for it, by this is implied mumuksutva, the desire for mukti.

Sri BhagavatpAda says: upadishhTaarthasamaahitaatmaa whihc means one whose mind is deeply concentrated in the meaning of the upadesa. Such a nature of mind cannot arise without renouncing every kind of karma. Therefore the purport of this sloka is that a wise man who has renounced all pleasures and desire for them should, after giving up all karmas, meekly approach a guru who is firmly established in Brahman and reflect on Brahman without intermission. All this leads to the proposition that only a samnyAsin who has renounced every thing and is a mumukshu, is competent for Brahmavichara.