Bhashya
एव तर्हि आश्रमान्तरानुपपत्ति , कर्मनिमित्तत्वाद्विद्योत्प-त्ते ।गृहस्थस्यैव विहितानि कर्माणीत्यैकाश्रम्यमेव ।अतश्चयावज्जीवादिश्रुतय अनुकूलतरा स्यु ।न , कर्मनेकत्वा-त् ।न ह्यग्निहोत्रादीन्येव कर्माणि , ब्रह्मचर्य तप सत्यवचनशम दम अहिंसा इत्येवमादीन्यपि कर्माणि इतराश्रमप्रसि-द्धानि विद्योत्पत्तौ साधकतमान्यसंकीर्णानि विद्यन्ते ध्यानधा-रणादिलक्षणानि च ।वक्ष्यति च—'तपसा ब्रह्म विजि-ज्ञासस्व' इति ।जन्मान्तरकृतकर्मभ्यश्च प्रागपि गार्हस्थ्या-द्विद्योत्पत्तिसम्भवात्, कर्मार्थत्वाच्च गार्हस्थ्यप्रतिपत्ते, कर्मसाध्याया च विद्याया सत्या गार्हस्थ्यप्रतिपत्तिरनर्थिकैव ।लोकार्थत्वाच्च पुत्रादीनाम् ।पुत्रादिसाध्येभ्यश्च अय लोकपितृलोको देवलोक इत्येतेभ्यो व्यावृत्तकामस्य, नित्यसिद्धा-त्मदर्शिन, कर्मणि प्रयोजनमपश्यत, कथ प्रवृत्तिरुपपद्यते ?प्रतिपन्नगार्हस्थ्यस्यापि विद्योत्पत्तौ विद्यापरिपाकाद्विरक्तस्यकर्मसु प्रयोजनमपश्यत कमभ्यो निवृत्तिरेव स्यात्, 'प्रव्र-जिष्यन्वा अरेऽहमस्मात्स्थानादस्मि' इत्यवमादिश्रुतिलिङ्गदर्श-नात् ।कर्म प्रति श्रुतेर्यत्नाधिक्यदर्शनादयुक्तमिति चेत्,—अग्निहोत्रादिकम प्रति श्रुतेरधिको यत्न महाश्च कर्मण्या-यास, अनकसाधनसाध्यत्वादग्निहोत्रादीनाम्, तपोब्रह्मच-यादीना च इतरश्रमकर्मणा गार्हस्थ्यऽपि समानत्वात्तपसाधनापक्षत्वाच्चेतरषा न युक्तस्तुल्यवद्विकल्प आश्रमिभिस्तस्य इति चेत्, न, जन्मान्तरकृतानुग्रहात् ।यदुक्तकर्मणि श्रुतेरधिको यत्न इत्यादि, नासौ दोष, यतो जन्मा-न्तरकृतमप्यग्निहोत्रादिलक्षण कम ब्रह्मचर्यादिलक्षण चानु-
In plain words
An objector might say: 'In that case, the other stages of life are invalid, because ritual action is the sole cause for the arising of self-knowledge. Since these rituals are prescribed only for the householder, householdership is the only valid stage of life. This is why lifelong scriptural commands are so supportive of this view.' But this is not so, because spiritual practices are of many kinds. Rituals like the fire-offering are not the only forms of action. Celibacy, austerity, truthfulness, mental calmness, sensory restraint, and non-injury—these too are actions, well-established in the other stages of life. They exist as the most direct, unmixed means for the dawning of knowledge, characterized by meditation and deep concentration. Indeed, the scripture itself will declare later: 'Seek to know Brahman through austerity.' Furthermore, since self-knowledge can dawn even before entering householdership due to the momentum of practices performed in past lives, and since entering householdership is meant solely for performing rituals, entering it becomes entirely redundant once that knowledge is already present. Moreover, having children and wealth is only for attaining worldly realms. For a seeker who has turned away from desire for these realms—whether this human world, the ancestral world, or the celestial world—who directly perceives the ever-established Self and sees no purpose in ritual action, how could there be any inclination to perform them? Even for one who has already entered householdership, once self-knowledge dawns and matures into complete detachment, seeing no further purpose in rituals, there will inevitably be a cessation of all active duties. This is confirmed by scriptural passages such as: 'My dear, I am now departing from this station of life.' You may object: 'But this cannot be right, because we see the scriptures placing far greater emphasis on ritual action. The Vedas demand immense effort and physical exertion for the fire-sacrifice and other rituals because they require so many external materials. On the other hand, virtues like austerity and celibacy are common to the householder stage as well. Since the other stages depend entirely on austerity, it is incorrect to treat all stages as equal options.' To this we reply: No, because of the spiritual momentum carried over from past lives. Your objection that scripture places greater emphasis on ritual action is not a flaw. For even the rituals like the fire-sacrifice and the disciplines like celibacy performed in previous lifetimes, along with...
Close to the Sanskrit
If it is said: Then, other stages of life are untenable, because action is the cause of the arising of knowledge. Since actions are enjoined only for the householder, there is only one stage of life. And therefore, scriptural texts like 'throughout life' would be more favorable. We reply: No, because actions are of many kinds. Indeed, Agnihotra and others are not the only actions; celibacy, austerity, speaking truth, calmness, restraint, non-injury—such as these also are actions, well-known in other stages of life, which exist as the most effective, unmixed means for the arising of knowledge, characterized by meditation, concentration, and so forth. And the scripture will say: 'Seek to know Brahman through austerity.' And because of the possibility of the arising of knowledge even before householdership due to actions performed in other births, and because entering householdership is for the sake of action, when knowledge—which is the goal of action—is already present, entering householdership is indeed useless. And because sons and others are for the sake of attaining worlds. For one who has turned away from desire for these worlds—this world, the world of ancestors, and the world of gods—which are achieved by sons and others, who sees the eternally established Self, and who sees no purpose in action, how can there be any inclination to act? Even for one who has entered householdership, upon the arising of knowledge, for one who is dispassionate due to the maturity of knowledge and sees no purpose in actions, there would indeed be cessation from actions, as seen in scriptural indications such as: 'O Maitreyi, I am indeed about to depart from this place.' If it is argued: Since we see a greater effort in scripture regarding action, this is improper. For there is greater effort by scripture and great exertion in action regarding Agnihotra and other rituals, because Agnihotra and others are accomplished by many means, whereas austerity, celibacy, and other duties of other stages are common even to householdership, and because others depend on austerity as their means, an equal option among the stages of life is not proper for the members of the stages. If this is argued, we say: No, because of the grace of actions performed in other births. As for what was said that there is greater effort in scripture regarding action, etc., that is not a defect, because even the action characterized by Agnihotra, etc., and characterized by celibacy, etc., performed in another birth, along with...