Manava Dharmashastra 6.45

6.45

anenākleśitā'bhihitā | na maraṇaṃ kāmayeta | nāpi jñānātiśayalābhārthī jīvitam | kālameva pratīkṣeta | yadyadā bhaviṣyati tattadaivāstviti cintayet | yathā bhṛtako nirveśam | bhṛtiṃ gṛhītvā kālaṃ paripālayati, aharetasya mayā karttavyamiti, nāntarā vicchede mūlyalābhaḥ, evaṃ saṃsārakṣayāccharīrapāte mokṣo bhavyatetena vidhinā, na svecchāvṛttena |

He shall not rejoice at death; nor shall he rejoice at life; he shall await his time, just as the servant awaits the fulfilment of his contract—(45).

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
This denotes freedom from troubles.

He shall not seek death; nor shall he seek life, for the purpose of acquiring more knowledge.

‘He shall await his time’.—He shall cultivate the habit of thinking ‘let anything happen at any time it may’.

‘Just as the servant waits for the fulfilness of his contract’—‘This work I have got to do for him during the day,—if I stop in the middle, I shall not obtain full wages’.

Worldliness having thus ceased, when the man’s body falls off, he attains Liberation, by this process and not by doing whatever he likes.—(45)

This verse is quoted in Aparārka (p. 953), which explains ‘nirveśam’ as ‘time limit’—in Parāśaramādhava (Ācāra, p. 569);—and in Nṛsiṃhaprasāda (Saṃskāra, p. 70a).

Comparative notes by various authors
Mahābhārata (12.245.15).—(Same as Manu, reading ‘nideśam’ for ‘nirveśam.’)

Viṣṇu (96.18)—‘He must neither wish for death nor for life.’