SAUNDARANANDA 1.17: Not That

shraamyanto munayo yatra
svargaay' odyukta-cetasaH
tapo-raageNa dharmasya
vilopam iva cakrire

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1.17
There the toiling sages,

Hearts straining heavenward,

Seemed by their passion for asceticism

Almost to do dharma a mischief.

COMMENT:
Heart straining heavenward (svargaay' odyukta-cetas) is a vivid description of a Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex in extension. But sitting in the supreme manner, allowing the neck to release, the head to go forward and up, the back to lengthen and widen, and the legs to release out of the pelvis... is not that.


EH Johnston:
There the sages, with minds aspiring to Paradise, strove so hard that they seemed by their very passion for austerities to destroy religion (which consists in passionlessness).

Linda Covill:
Here the sages, their minds straining heavenwards, so greatly exerted themselves that they seemed to do violence to dharma with their passion for asceticism.

VOCABULARY:
shraamyantaH = nom. pl. pres. part. shram: to be or become weary or tired , be tired of doing anything ; to make effort , exert one's self (esp. in performing acts of austerity) , labour in vain
munayaH (nom. pl.): m. a saint , sage , seer , ascetic , monk , devotee , hermit (esp. one who has taken the vow of silence)
yatra: where

svargaaya (dative): towards heaven
udyukta-cetasaH (nom. pl): being of zealously active mind
udyukta: mfn. undergoing , undertaking ; prepared or ready for , zealously active , labouring for some desired end
cetas: n. consciousness , intelligence , thinking soul , heart , mind ; will

tapo-raageNa (insts. sg.): through the red taint of/passion for asceticism
tapas: n. ascetic practice, asceticism
raaga: m. the act of colouring or dyeing ; colour , hue , tint , dye , (esp.) red colour , redness ; inflammation ; any feeling or passion , (esp.) love , affection or sympathy for , vehement desire of , interest or joy or delight in (loc. or comp.)
dharmasya (gen. sg.): of/for/to the dharma

vilopam (acc. sg.): m. carrying off , taking away ; a break , interruption , disturbance , injury ; ruin , loss
vi- √ lup: to tear or break off or to pieces , wound , lacerate pull out or up ; to tear away , carry off , ravish , seize , rob , plunder ; to destroy , confound , ruin
iva: like, as it were , as if; in a certain manner , in some measure , a little , perhaps (in qualification or mitigation of a strong assertion); nearly , almost , about
cakrire = 3rd pers. pl. perfect kR: they did