Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 581

संसाराध्वनि तापभानुकिरणप्रोद्भूतदाहव्यथा

खिन्नानां जलकाङ्क्षया मरुभुवि भ्रान्त्या परिभ्राम्यताम् ।

अत्यासन्नसुधाम्बुधिं सुखकरं ब्रह्माद्वयं दर्शयत्य्

एषा शंकरभारती विजयते निर्वाणसंदायिनी ॥

saṃsārādhvani tāpabhānukiraṇaprodbhūtadāhavyathā

khinnānāṃ jalakāṅkṣayā marubhuvi bhrāntyā paribhrāmyatām |

atyāsannasudhāmbudhiṃ sukhakaraṃ brahmādvayaṃ darśayaty 

eṣā śaṃkarabhāratī vijayate nirvāṇasaṃdāyinī ||

(Sankaracarya's Vivekachudamani 581)

For those who are afflicted in this samsara by the burning pains caused by the scorching sun rays of the three-fold sorrows (adhyatmika, adhidaivika, and adhibhautika), and those who, in delusion, roam in a desert in search of water, for them this is the glorious message of Sankara pointing out the Ocean of Nectar, the non-dual Brahman, within easy reach, in order to lead them to liberation. Om Tat Sat.

The threefold miseries are called adhyātmika, adhibhautika, and adhidaivika. The word adhyātmika refers to those miseries caused by the mind and body. Sometimes the living entity suffers bodily, and sometimes he is distressed mentally. Both are adhyātmika miseries. We experience these miseries even in the womb of our mother. As we well know, there are many types of miseries that take advantage of the delicate human body and give us pain. Miseries inflicted by other living entities are called adhibhautika. These living entities need not even be large, for there are many—such as bugs—that can make us miserable even while we are sleeping in bed. There are many insignificant living entities, like cockroaches, that sometimes give us pain, and there are also other living entities who are born on different kinds of planets and who give us miseries. As far as the adhidaivika miseries are concerned, these are natural disasters that originate with the devas of the higher planets. For instance, we sometimes suffer from severe cold or hot weather, from a thunderbolt, or from earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts and many natural disasters. In any case, we are always suffering from either one or a combination of these three kinds of miseries.

Ultimately, the plant takes shelter under the lotus feet of Lord Sri Govinda(Brahman) and rests there. Gradually, as a plant grows fruits and flowers, that plant of devotional service also produces fruits, and the watering process in the form of chanting and hearing goes on. This plant of devotional service is fully described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā, Chapter Nineteen). It is explained there that when the complete plant takes shelter under the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, one becomes fully absorbed in love of God; then he cannot live even for a moment without being in contact with the Supreme Lord, just as a fish cannot live without water. In such a state, the devotee actually attains the transcendental qualities in contact with the Supreme Lord.

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