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The Qualities of a Pure Being

विशुद्धसत्त्वस्य गुणाः प्रसादः
स्वात्मानुभूतिः परमा प्रशान्तिः ।
तृप्तिः प्रहर्षः परमात्मनिष्ठा
यया सदानन्दरसं समृच्छति ।।
– विवेकचूडामणिः ११९

viśuddha-sattvasya guṇāḥ prasādaḥ
svātmānubhūtiḥ paramā praśāntiḥ |
tṛptiḥ praharṣaḥ paramātma-niṣṭhā
yayā sadānanda-rasaṁ samṛcchati ||
– Vivekacūḍāmaṇiḥ 119

Translation:

The characteristics of pure being are placidity of the mind, experience of the Self, supreme peace, contentment, cheerfulness, and the wholesome abidance in the supreme Self, by virtue of which is begotten the taste of bliss continuously.

Points for Introspection:

Everybody wants to have joy and peace. Man takes to activity after activity only to achieve happiness. But why is it that our happiness does not last forever? Where lies the obstacle?

Our mind is always full of agitations born out of desires. These desires create a veil in the mind, covering the Self that is ever joyful.

At any time, the mind is an admixture of three qualities (gunas): Sattva (the pure enlightening aspect), rajas (the activity oriented aspect), and tamas (the inertial and ignorance aspect).

Viśuddha-sattva (pure sattva) is the state where the mind transcends the hold of all the three gunas. Truly speaking, this state dawns only when the mind is free of all desires. Desires give rise to agitations. Absence of desires makes the mind calm and blissful. In this state, one experiences the Self – the supreme peace, placidity, contentment, and bliss of the Self.

For attaining everlasting peace and contentment, one must try to attain the Viśuddha-sattva state by cleansing the mind of all its desires. By chanting the shloka again and again, our focus remains on the qualities of this state, and we feel a loving compulsion to acquire these qualities. More and more identification with these qualities leads to Self-realization.

Word Meaning:

विशुद्धसत्त्वस्य (viśuddha-sattvasya) = of pure being; गुणाः (guṇāḥ) = qualities, characteristics; प्रसादः (prasādaḥ) = placidity of mind; स्वात्मानुभूतिः (svātmānubhūtiḥ) = experience of the Self; परमा (paramā) = supreme प्रशान्तिः (praśāntiḥ) = peace; तृप्तिः (tṛptiḥ) = contentment; प्रहर्षः (praharṣaḥ) = real joy, delight; परमात्मनिष्ठा (paramātma-niṣṭhā) = the wholesome abidance in the supreme Self; यया (yayā) = by which; सदा (sadā) = always; आनन्दरसं (ānanda-rasaṁ) = taste of bliss; समृच्छति (samṛcchati) = go to, attain;

अन्वयः

विशुद्धसत्त्वस्य गुणाः प्रसादः, स्वात्मानुभूतिः, परमा प्रशान्तिः, तृप्तिः प्रहर्षः, परमात्मनिष्ठा, यया सदा आनन्दरसं समृच्छति ।
viśuddha-sattvasya guṇāḥ prasādaḥ, svātmānubhūtiḥ, paramā praśāntiḥ, tṛptiḥ praharṣaḥ, paramātma-niṣṭhā, yayā sadā ānanda-rasaṁ samṛcchati.