Great sages have spoken of four qualifications for attainment which, when present, succeed in the realization of Brahman and in the absence of which the goal is not attained.
(While enumerating the qualifications), first we count the ability to discriminate between the Real and the unreal; next comes a spirit of detachment from the enjoyment of the fruits of actions here and hereafter; after that is the groups of six virtues beginning with calmness; and the last is undoubtedly an intense desire for liberation.
A firm conviction that Brahman alone is Real and the phenomenal world is unreal is known as discrimination between the Real and the unreal.
The desire to give up all transient enjoyments gained through seeing, hearing, etc., and also experiences gained through equipments ranging from a mortal body to the form of Brahma is called 'detachment‘.
The tranquil state of mind when it rests constantly upon the contemplation of the goal after having again and again detached itself from myriad sense objects through a process of continuous observation of their defects, is called Sama.
Steering both kinds of sense organs (of knowledge and action) away from their sense objects and placing them in their respective centers of activity is called dama (self-control). The best uparati (self-withdrawal) is that condition of the thought-waves in which they are free from the influences of external objects.
Titiksa or forebearance is the capacity to endure all sorrows and sufferings without struggling for redress or for revenge, while always being free from anxiety or lament over them.
That by which one understands the exact import of the scriptures as well as the pregnant words of advice of the preceptor is called sraddha* by the wise; by this alone does Reality become manifestly clear.
Samaadhana or one-pointedness is that condition when the mind is constantly engaged in the total contemplation of the ever-pure Brahman; and it is not gained through any curious indulgence of the mind.
Mumuksutva is the burning desire to free oneself, by realizing one‘s true Self—from all bondages from that of egoism to that of identification with the body—which are bondages imagined due to ignorance.
Even though slight or moderate, this longing for liberation may bear fruit through the grace of the Guru and through detachment, calmness of mind etc.
Calmness and other practices have their meaning and they bear fruit indeed, only in one who has an intense spirit of renunciation and yearning for liberation.
Sama etc., become as ineffectual as a mirage in the dessert in him who has a weak detachment and yearning for freedom.
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