Summary:

Vivekachudamani, Verse 4: Moksha (freedom from smallness) cannot come through studying external disciplines, rituals, or altruistic actions because the problem is centered on “I” while solutions are sought elsewhere, and limited actions by a limited entity yield only limited results. All pursuits fall under artha (security), kama (pleasure), and dharma (ethics and self-refinement) – none remove the fundamental sense of lack, though dharma prepares the mind. To accomplish moksha is to recognize the Self (ātman) as the ever-present witness (alupta-dṛk); teaching cancels ignorance rather than creating something new, leaving direct recognition (aparokṣa-jñāna) where seeking simply stops.

ACTION AND KNOWLEDGE

Vivekachudamani – Verse 4: Need for Knowledge on this Path

वदन्तु शास्त्राणि यजन्तु देवान्
कुर्वन्तु कर्माणि भजन्तु देवताः
आत्म ऐक्य बोधेन विना विमुक्तिः
न सिद्ध्यति ब्रह्म शत अन्तरे अपि (६)
vadantu śāstrāṇi yajantu devān
kurvantu karmāṇi bhajantu devatāḥ
ātma aikya bodhena vinā vimuktiḥ
na siddhyati brahma śata antare api (6)

Let people study various disciplines of knowledge; let them propitiate the devas through Vedic rituals; let them do altruistic activities; let them worship the gods. Without the knowledge of the oneness of the self, even after a period of the rule of hundreds of Brahmajis, mokṣa is not accomplished.

Intro:

This verse shows what will give you moksha and what won’t.

What is moksha? Root √muc (to free, to release, to let go). Meaning, everyone is searching for freedom from smallness, suffering, insignificance. Another way to put it, your entire pursuit is letting go what doesn't belong to you, the Self.

Next question is: What are you doing to attain this freedom? Thus you need to figure out what’s the connection between freedom and what you’re currently doing to get it.

“Let people study various disciplines of knowledge…” (paṭhantu śāstrāṇi)

Studying various disciplines of knowledge like science, social studies, cosmology, etc, fails because…

1. 1. Problem of incompleteness is centered on “I”, while solution is being looked other then “I”. The dissatisfied “I” is looking into disciplines (apara-vidya) of study into everything other then “I”.
   2. The 5 sense organs are limited to 5 types of external data. They don’t have access to “I”, the source of all contentment.

“Propitiating various Gods through puja (bhajantu devatāḥ), and Vedic rituals via Karma, altruistic activities (kurvantu karmāṇi) like digging wells or building temples, etc…”

Fails to give moksha because…

First portion (artha, kama, dharma) of Veda, or any action, can’t give you permanent freedom, because they’re all done by a limited entity, with a limited action, with limited time. Thus the result is always limited.

What is limited, will always be limited. You can’t convert limited to limitless, because “limitless” means it was never limited to begin with.

However first three goals speak to the natural conclusion people make about themselves, “I’m a doer, and need methods to improve my life”.

The 3 Pursuits or Goals Under Which Every Possible Action Falls Under (Whether Yoga, Donations, Rituals, etc):

1) Artha:

You’re not looking for security, but freedom from insecurity. Shows you how to removing obstacles in pursuit of Artha.

2) Kama:

Even though I have power and money, I want to feel good. Additionally marketers create new sources of pleasure, to gain more Artha (in form of money security) which they too are pursuing. 

3) Dharma:

Two ways to relate to word “dharma”…

a) Samanya-Dharma: Unspoken Ethical Values You/Others Depend on to Progress:

Definition: They aren’t of religious or social constructs or external impositions. According to Vedas, every human is born with ethical values (what I want from others, and what others want from me).

If it’s inbuilt, why is it violated? For instance, “I know I should be loving, but end up being jealous”. Because pain of smallness overrides proper conduct.

When violate Samanya-dharma, you’re the loser. Because every unethical action has 2 fold feedback (seen/unseen).

1. 1. 1. 1. Seen: Immediate in form of pleasure or pain.
         2. Unseen: Even if guilt of wrongdoing lasts 5 minutes, self-esteem lowers degrading quality of life, fear of being found, and capacity to enjoy life decreases. And start to distrust others as they too can transgress dharma, which blocks forming healthy relationships. Then nature of actions degrade.

Dharma in Vedanta vs. Religion: Vedanta shows you what you gain by following the ethical values, and what is your loss. Unlike Religion which tends to give mandates without explaining.

Ahimsa is the only ethical value need to understand which involves minimizing hurt of yourself and others, taking into account what's fair for both sides. Those closest to us, we tend to hurt the most.

Opposite of ahimsa is himsa (carelessness, lack of consideration).

1. 1. 1. 1. EG of himsa towards yourself: Staying compassionate in relationship to give other chance to improve, while not setting boundaries for yourself. Or judging yourself that you’re not good enough and you don’t deserve.
         2. EG of himsa towards others: Illustrated in video via false coupon story. Shows how himsa passes on throughout people if kept unchecked, and how many people it affects.

b) Dharma an Active Process:

Dharma is also an active process, which involves realigning your thinking processes so they’re keeping with empirical harmony. Examples include engaging in Self-growth material, and actively correcting black-white perceptions.

Otherwise, if a person listening to Vedanta isn't already actively reframing their stories that's keeping them in a one-sided perspective, then that same mind will distort Vedantic inputs also. A teacher sees this consistently. Such individuals starts of overly excited with high expectations. They're the first one's to stop showing up in class.

Example how maturity shows up as result of your active pursuit of dharma: You’re able to be happy when another is happy. The opposite is when someone’s success reminds you of your smallness, leading to jealously, then putting them down, carving them out of the unity you share with them.

Conclusion: 3 Pursuits won’t give moksha after endless time (brahma śata antare api). Dharma too won’t remove the sense of lack, though it’s important to ready the mind.

Through these 3 pursuits, “Mokṣa is not accomplished”.

What does it mean to “accomplish moksha” or “attain enlightenment”?

It’s to recognize self (ātman) is already self-evident; it is the ever-present consciousness. In Sanskrit, it's also called the alupta-dṛk – the uninterrupted, unbroken, unceasing witness.

The teaching does not create the alupta-drk, but cancels ignorance that makes you genuinely take Self (alupta-drk) as the body-mind complex currently assigned to you. Once this cancellation occurs, the knowledge-vṛtti (called akhanda-akara-vrtti) that removed the ignorance, itself subsides, just as a thorn is used to remove another thorn, then you discard the helping-thorn.

What remains is cessation of desire to further know who and what you are.  This is aparokṣa-jñāna (immediate knowledge), or aparokṣa-anubhūti (immediate experience). The term “experience” here does not refer to a sensation, vision, or trance – but to direct recognition of an ever-true fact, similar to:

1. 1. Recognizing an object in plain sight: If you are looking for your glasses everywhere, and someone points out they are on your head, the “experience” is not a new sensation. It is the immediate recognition of what was already present and evident. The seeking stops.
   2. Recognizing your own face: You do not “experience” your face as an object you acquire. You are your face. When you look in a mirror, you don't meet someone new; you immediately recognize you too have a face where you thought you didn't. Once you've seen you've got a face, any doubt whether you have a face collapses. This recognition is aparokṣa-anubhūti.

NEXT VERSE: Then what is purpose of action and karma-kanda of Vedas…

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Recorded 8 Jan, 2026