||om tat sat ||

Viveka Chudamani  276-277:

Slokas 271/272 state that the obstacles for realizing the Self are  three, namely, the habit of following the world,  the habit of pandering to the body, the habit of following literal words of scriptures leading to fruits. These are due to ingrained past impressions. To realize Self, Guru says these past impressions are to be destroyed.

Using the simile about a sandalwood piece covered with contaminated smells in association with water, where-in one can smell the celestial smells of that Sandalwood again, only when the contamination is fully rubbed off and it is free of that contamination, Guru drives home the point that in the case of a man caught in the web of the past impressions, and unable to experience the Self, one has to literally scrub the past impressions blocking the Self, to remove the obstructions for experiencing the Self.
 
In Slokas  276/277 Guru reinforces the same point in different ways.

Sloka 276:

अनात्मवासनाजालैः
तिरोभूतात्म वासना।
नित्यात्म निष्ठया तेषां
नाशे भाति स्वयं स्फुटा॥

अनात्मवासनाजालैः  -
in the web of Anatma Vasana's

Anatma Vasana means the Loka Vasanas, Deha Vasanas and Sastra Vasanas - which keep one from the true pursuit of Self.

What is the effect of the web of these past impressions. They keep one away from the true pursuit of Self .  

तिरोभूतात्म वासना -
the desire for Self is clouded

The desire for Self is clouded  or caught in the web of Anatma Vasanas. Is there no way out of the web of Antma Vasanas?  We heard for Krishna in Gita, " अभ्यासेनतु कौन्तेयवैराग्येणतु गृह्यते";  Here Guru uses another word , निष्ठ , strict commitment; which is very similar to , अभ्यासेन which is 'strict practice' .

नित्यात्म निष्ठया तेषां -
by constant strict commitment to Self ,

Though pushed by the Past impressions pushing you away from Self, by constant strict commitment to Self , Guru is implying that one can over come the past Vasanas. This implication is confirmed immediately in the next line.

तेषां नाशे भाति स्वयं स्फुटा
with their destruction, Self shines on its own

With constant commitment to self , the web of past impressions which block one form Self is destroyed ; with the destruction of that web of past impressions, the Self shines on its own.


Summary of Sloka 276:

The desire for Self, which was caught in the web of past impressions, which effectively hinder that desire for Self, shines on its own, when that web of past impressions is destroyed by constant commitment to Self.

The constant commitment to Self indicates as the commitment to Self becomes stronger and stronger the power of the past impressions gets weaker and weaker. When the power of the past impressions is fully destroyed without any remnants then all the obstructions for Self to shine are removed .

we will hear that in Sloka 277.

Sloka  277:

यथा यथा प्रत्यगवस्थितं मनः
तथातथा मुञ्चति बाह्यवासना।
निश्शेष मोक्षे सति वासनानाम्
आत्मानुभूतिः प्रतिबन्ध शून्या॥

यथा यथा प्रत्यगवस्थितं मनः -
as the mind gets steadily established in Self ;

तथातथा मुञ्चति बाह्य वासना-
to that extent the mind is free of desire for world of objects

The words, 'as the mind gets established ..to that extent .. the mind is free of desire for world of objects, reminds us of the Gita which talks of  "अभ्यास" and " वैराग्य"; The extent to mind gets established is related to the practice ("अभ्यास" ) - This facilitation of the mind can become faster with a bit of detachment (" वैराग्य")

निश्शेष मोक्षे सति वासनानाम्-
when it is free all those impressions, then

आत्मानुभूतिः प्रतिबन्ध शून्या -
all the obstructions are made to vanish for Realization of Self

When it is free all those impressions, then all the obstructions are made to vanish for Realization of Self. It starts with the growing steadiness of mind , which results in corresponding reduction in the power of past impressions, When the mind os free of all the past impressions, then all the obstructions for the realization are removed and the Self Shines on its own.

Summary of Sloka 277.

To the extent the mind gets established in Self, to that extent the mind is also free of the desire for external world of objects. When all such desires completely end then there is clear unobstructed realization of self :

When one reaches the stage of "Sthita pragnya", he is no longer affected by the external world of objects, and he has clear unobstructed realization of Self.
 

॥om tat sat||