Verse 2.573

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

अन्यहेतुः स्वतो वा स्याद्भयं नोभयथाऽपि हि ।
स्वातन्त्र्याभावादन्यस्मिन्स्वात्महानं च नेष्यते ॥ ५७३ ॥

anyahetuḥ svato vā syādbhayaṃ nobhayathā'pi hi |
svātantryābhāvādanyasminsvātmahānaṃ ca neṣyate || 573 ||

English translation of verse 2.573:

Is fear caused by an external object or by the Self itself? Indeed, in neither case, can one be free from it, for one is not free to remove the fear caused by an external object on which one is dependent, and also the destruction of the Self is not desired.

Notes:

It was stated in verse (571) that if fear should arise without a cause it could never be removed. The critic who is interested in vindicating the standpoint of duality now argues that there is a cause for fear. If so, what is that? Two possibilities may be thought of. Fear, it may be said, is caused by an external object or by one’s own Self. But neither of them is helpful to the critic to show that fear can be eliminated. If fear is caused by an external agency over which one has no control, one can never think of eliminating it with the result that fear is bound to continue for ever. If it be said that fear is caused by one’s own Self and not by any external factor, it will never disappear unless the Self ceases to exist. But no one would wish for the cessation of the Self. In other words, fear is bound to persist.