Vakyavritti
– 4
Verse 21
Agamanme manoanyatra saampratam cha
sthireekritam I
Evam yoh vetti dheevrittim ‘soham’ iti
avadhaaraya. II
You should firmly think
“I am That Athma that illuminates the modifications of mind like ‘My
mind went elsewhere; however it has been brought to rest (attention) now.”
One is aware of the wanderings of the mind. One is aware
of mind’s remoteness or distraction and the mind’s availability at any time. So
if one is aware of the mind’s going and coming one must be different from the
mind. When one watches with alertness
one discovers that the Self as Sakshi Chaitanyam illumines mind’s
movements. Guru is discussing the mind again
as one is intimately connected to the mind and takes upon oneself the
fluctuations in mind’s moods and says “I am happy”; “I am restless”; I am
worried” etc, when it is really the mind that is happy, restless, worried etc. So guru repeats the teaching again to impress the
disciple that ‘Tvam’ stands for the Sachidananda Athma that is
the Sakshi Chaitanyam only.
Verse 22
Svapna-jagarite suptim bhaava-abhaavau
dhiyaam tathaa I
Yah vetti avikriyah saakshaat –‘soham’ iti
avadhaaraya. II
You should
firmly think “I am that Athma, the changeless illuminator of dream,
waking and deep sleep states as well as the appearance and disappearance of the
intellect’s functions”.
In the previous verse, it was explained that mind is an
object of experience and one is aware of the mind’s travelling out and coming
back etc. and so one is different from the mind, Here the same idea is explained through
another method, We have got three states
of experience, waking, dream and deep sleep state. In waking state mind is in
the extroverted state experiencing the external world through the sense-organs;
in dream state mind is in the introverted state experiencing vasana
projected dream world; in deep sleep mind is in a passive state, resolved and
in potential condition. The witness of all the three states of experience and the
presence and absence of thought in those states is the Sakshi Chaitanyam
that is the Athma, which is oneself.
In the same way one is aware of the intellect’s functioning in the
waking state and its non-functioning in the other two states. “Sakshi Chaitanyam, the Athma,
who by its mere presence illumines the three states of experience and the
fluctuations of the intellect is You, the meaning of ‘Tvam’ pada” guru tells the disciple.
Verse 23
Ghata avabhaasakoh deepoh ghataadanyao yathaa
ishyate I
Dehaavabhaasakoh dehee tathaa ‘aham bodha
vigrahah’ II
Just as a
lamp that illumines a pot is known as different from the illumined pot so also,
I,the self, an embodiment of Consciousness, being the illuminator of the body
(am different from the body).
In this verse the idea that illuminator is different from
the illumined object is repeated in respect of Self and body with the
difference that in this verse Athma is described as embodiment Of Consciousness. Consciousness
spreads over the body intimately. Therefore, one thinks body is a conscious entity. This verse states that the body is not a
conscious entity. Consciousness is like the light, body is like the object. One
is the illuminator another is the illumined. They are not one and the same. So guru
reminds the student “You, the embodiment of Consciousness is different from the
body”.
Verse 24
Putra vitta-aadayoh bhaavaa yasya sheshatayaa
priyaah I
Drishtaa sarvapriyatamah ‘soham’ iti avadhaaraya.II
Beings and
things such as children and wealth are dear for the sake of That One who is the
sole Seer and dearest of all –‘I am That One’, thus you should firmly
think.
Verse
25
Parapremaaspadatayaa maa nabhuvamaham sadha I
Bhooyaasamiti yoh drishtaa ‘soham’ iti
avadhaaraya. II
The dearest of all, for
whom there is the anxiety, ‘May I never cease to be; may I always be’, That supreme Seer –‘I am That One’, thus
you should firmly think.
Athma that has been hitherto described as Chaitanya swarupam, is now
described as Ananda swarupam in these two verses 24 and 25. Love for ananda is universal and
unconditional. Self-love is universal and unconditional. Equating these two we arrive at the
conclusion that ananda and Self are one and same i.e Athma, the
self is Ananda swarupa. Further
love for others is conditional only, condition being that they make one
happy. In fact no one loves anyone for
anyone’s sake. As Brihadaranya
Upanishad points out “athmanasthu kamaya sarvam priyam bhavathi”. It is only for one’s own sake anything and
everything else become lovable. Even
love for wife, children and wealth and other objects are conditional only. As far as they are useful to one and
connected to that one, they are loved.
Yajnavalkya in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad clearly says that love for
others is conditional and only love for oneself is unconditional. “That Athma
which is not only Chit swarupa but is also Ananda swarupa and
that Athma is the real ‘I’”, guru instructs the disciple.
And this unconditional love for oneself is expressed in the form of a
person’s desire to live on and on and on. Nobody wants to die because everything else that
is dear to him, he can enjoy only if he is alive. Therefore, everybody wants to
live eternally. Nobody wants mortality, everybody wants immortality. If then one wonders why some people commit
suicide it is because of self-hatread induced by debt, disease, dishonour etc. If through some intervention, divine or
human, if those conditions are removed one would no longer like to end his
life. Hatred for oneself is
conditional. Love for oneself alone is unconditional. “Athma, the supreme seer of body, mind,
sense-organs, intellect and prana is also Ananda swarupa and that Athma
is the Real ‘I’”, guru teaches the disciple.
Verse 26
Yah saakshi-lakshanah bodhah
‘tvam’-padaarthah sah uchyate I
Saakshi-tvam api boddha-tvam avikaaritayaa
aatmanah.II
Consciousness, which is of the nature of
Witness, is that which is meant by the word ‘Thou’. Even the witnessing is only the illumining
power without undergoing any change, on the part of the Self.
Guru
who has all along been explaining ‘Tvam’ padam relating it to the student
before him, now changes track by addressing directly in terms of ‘Thou’ in
Mahavakhya “That Thou are”. He says that Tvam pada lakshyartha is Consciousness
that is of the nature of Sakshi, which knows without undergoing any change. Mind by itself cannot know because it is jadam. Pure Consciousness by itself
cannot be a knower, as it will not directly be involved in knowing process. It
is involved indirectly through its reflection in the mind which makes the mind
sentient. So mind + reflected consciousness + Consciousness mixture is the knower. Of these the mind and reflected consciousness
are subject to changes and are dependant on Consciousness for knowing. So Consciousness, Tvam pada lakshyartha is
called Sakshi, the changeless knower, while mind is called pramatha. The
illumining power is called knowing and like the sun Consciousness illumines
without changing.
Verse 27
Deha-indriya-manah-praana- ahamkritibhyah
vilakshanah I
Projjhitaa ashesha shad-bhaava vikaarah
‘tvam’-pada aabhidhah.II
From body,
senses, mind, prana and from the ego sense – totally distinct; absolutely
free from the six modifications (which body undergoes); This, the Self, is the
indicative meaning of the term ‘Thou’.
We
have seen in the earlier verses that Athma as the supreme seer is
different from the body, prana, sense-organs and anthakarana that
includes mind, intellect and ego. Here
it is restated as the Tvam pada lakshyartha. It is further stated that it is free of all the
six modifications that the body is subject to.
The six modifications are; birth,
phenomenal existence, growth, change, decline and death. So Athma the Tvam pada lakshyartha
is unchanging, eternal and is of Satchidananda swarupa.
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