Verses 30-31

30)
vairaagyaM cha mumukshutvaM tiivraM yasya tu vidyate .
tasminnevaarthavantaH syuH phalavantaH shamaadayaH

It is only in the case of one who is determined in his detachment and yearns for liberation that sama etc. become meaningful and fruitful.

When it is said that sama etc become meaningful, (arthavantassamAdayah), the reference is to the words sama etc (see verses 22-24 for explanation of sama etc). The idea is: This person is one to whom the words saanta, daanta apply; that he is characterised by rigorous detachment one the one side and that he has absolute desire for liberation on the other. The sole fruit of sama etc is tivra mukmukshutva, supremely earnest desire for liberation. If a person has this absolute mumukshutva, then the cause (that is sama etc) has borne fruit, and by the presence of the effect (that is tivramumukshutva), the fruition of the cause is indicated. The fruition of tivravairaagya is what results in the afore mentioned qualities of sama, dama, saanta daanta etc.

The minds of people cannot be observed from the outside by another person, and hence it is impossible to say if that person has sama etc. But when a person has tivra mumukshutva, then by looking at the result, one can say surely that THIS person has sama etc. If it is asked how can a person know that he himself has sama etc, then he has to examine himself and ascertain if he has the cause (that is tivra vairavairaagya) in full, and if he experiences the pre-eminent fruit, the intense yearning for liberation, tivramumukshutva. So, sama etc, can be considered as a middle place between tivravairaagya and tivra mumukshutva. Speaking of tivravairaagya, a sloka in the sarva vedaanta siddhaanta saara sangraha says: kaakasya visthaavad asahyabuddhih | bhogyesu saa tIvraviraktirisyate | viraktitIvratvanidaanamaahuh bhogyesu doseksanameva santah || "Regarding all objectsof sense pleasure as contemptible as the leavings of a cow is said to be tIvravirakti. The cause of such persistent virakti is to see all such objects as sinful (in their nature and effects)".

31)
etayormandataa yatra viraktatvamumukshayoH .
marau saliilavattatra shamaaderbhaanamaatrataa ..

Where detachment and desire for release are not pronounced, sama etc., are unreal like a reflection in a mirage.

If viraktatA and mumukshutA are not pronounced, then they are transient appearances like water in a mirage. When the sun is very hot, and the appearance of water is there, it is only a mirage. Going near no water is obtained, nor is the thrist quenched. For a weary man, this is even man painfull as he has taken added pains to reach a mirage. Even so, in the absence of tivravairAgya and mumukshutA, sama etc are only illusory appearances like water in a mirage; such a one does not reap the fruits of sama etc., nor is he described by others as saanta etc.