मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णां

कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम् ।

यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं

वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम्

• Mudaha – Hey Deluded person or ignorant person
• Dhana agama trishna – dhana means wealth; agama- acquiring or incoming; trishna – moham or greed
• Jahihi – leave it or do not fall for it.
• Manasi – in your mind and heart
• Vit-thrushna – remove this greed or moham
• Sad buddhi – good intellectual mind
• Kuru – please develop
• Nija –karma upattham- due to the doing of karma, and the earning of punyam
• Yat – that thing
• Labase – which you get
• Tena – with that
• Chittham – your mind should be
• Vinodhaya – happy or make your mind happy.

The first verse makes the person have purushartha nischaya. Being definite about one’s ultimate goal of life. One day or the other we will have to find moksha i.e. emotional independence which will lead us to happiness. The first verse is for one who wants to be a mumukshu. Only when the ardent wish to know who the lord is there, or I want to know the value of knowledge then only one gets committed to pursuit of knowledge. When a person becomes committed to pursuit of knowledge, he becomes spiritual. Till such time the person is not spiritual, but he may be religious and ethical. Jignasu is the desire to know what the self is, who I am, what is the truth of the universe, who is the lord. When a person becomes spiritual, he becomes highly worshipful, prayerful, and is committed to living the life with values. Such a person knows the value of values and is committed. Spiritual person will be religious and ethical. An ethical person need not be religious, a religious person needs not be spiritual. But a spiritual person will always be ethical and religious, worshipful, prayerful, knows the value of values, committed to study of shastram, emotionally independent, does not wile away time in wasteful activities.

Moha is delusion and Mudaha is deluded person. I have told you already that other than the knowledge of the lord, nothing will free you. Therefore, may you earn artha as it is important but may you not be greedy. Dhahaha means thirst which is equal to Trishna. Craving for too much wealth. Shastram does not say that don’t earn wealth, but it says don’t crave for it and if you spend chasing that all the time, then you won’t get time to pursue the study. The more we go after accomplishing artha, the more our attention will be taken out. You will more extrovert and less with the lord and you learn less. So dhana agama trishnam jahihi means, may you give up the desire to acquire and crave for it. May you pursue only what is required and is enough for you. Greed is chasing and you become a slave of the mind. If you don’t manage your desire, you become a slave of your mind. So pursue all the artha, Kama, dharma in moderation.

• So Mooda jahihi dhana agama Trishna – means Hey Mudaha, don’t keep running after wealth and keep craving for it all the time. If you don’t know the purushartha nischaya, then you will keep chasing what you think makes you happy without understanding what ultimate happiness is. So you become deluded and hence Sankara calls here mudaha.
• Sad buddhim kuru – may you have the right understanding. Dur Buddhi means wrong thinking which means to accumulate more and more. So use your will power, have a discriminative understanding. What you are seeking for?
• Manasi Vit-thrushnam – May you be free from greed.
• Yellabase nija karmau pattham – Do your duties as prescribed in the dharma. Then whatever is ordained in your destiny you will get it. Nija karma upattham – means by doing your daily karma whatever you get as prasadah.
• Yella base means yathu labase – yatha – means whichever you are ordained for
• Labase means – you will get or ordained to get
• Tena – So
• Chittham – keep your mind
• Vinodhaya – happy.