Verses 18 to 22
Verse 18
aatma ajnaana mahaa-nidraa jrimbhite asmin
jagat maye I
deergha-swapne sphuranti ete svarga
mokshadi vibhramah II
Out of the great ‘Sleep’ called ignorance,
is projected the dream consisting of this world. In this long dream, there
spring forth the delusions such as heaven, liberation, etc.
In
this and the next verse, the mithyathvam of the world is discussed. To convey this idea, the author defines the
world and its transactions as a dream caused by self- ignorance. Self-ignorance
is compared to spiritual sleep because in one’s regular sleep one is not aware
of oneself as waker and in spiritual sleep one is not aware of oneself as Sat-
Chit-Aananda swarupa Athma. The sleep has got two powers - Avarana sakthi
and Vikshepa sakthi. The Avarana sakthi covers oneself as a
waker. Then the Vikshepa sakthi projects a dream world out of oneself
that appears very real in the dream for the dreamer does not know the dream as
dream in the dream. All the dream transactions and sufferings also
appear real for a dreamer in the dream as the dream itself is real for the
dreamer. They can end only when one gets
back to oneself as a waker. The
ignorance of oneself as a Sat-
Chit-Aananda swarupa Athma is a higher sleep in which the Avarana
sakthi has covered the Sat-
Chit-Aananda swarupam and the Vikshepa sakthi has
projected this waking world which is a longer dream. From Vyavaharika jiva drishti, samsara,
moksha etc., are all real but from Paramarthika Athma drishti samsara,
moksha etc., are all mithya only.
Verse 19
jada-ajada vibhagah ayam ajade mayi
kalpitah I
bhitti-bhage same chitre chara-achara
vibhagavat II
This
division as the inert and the sentient (things), is imagined in Me, the Pure Consciousness,
just like stationary and moving objects drawn in a flat painting upon a plain
white wall.
In the
dream example cited in the previous verse, one dreams as a sentient living
being and projects a dream that has sentient living beings and inert objects,
both created by the dreamer. The waker
is not affected by the divisions in the dream.
The author in this verse gives another example of a stationary inert
wall on which moving and stationary objects besides sentient beings and inert
objects are painted. The wall is not
affected by the divisions in the painting on the wall. It only supports the
painting and is not concerned with what is painted on it. In the same way, the Self, the pure
Consciousness is unaffected by all the variety in creation superimposed on It. The opposites like sentient and inert, moving
and stationary in creation are all superimposed on the substratum, the real
Self, the pure Consciousness.
Verse 20
chaityah uparaga rupa me sakshita api na
taattvikee I
upalakshanam eva iyam nistaranga
chid-ambudheh II
Even my witnesshood
is only a thought arising in the mind; it is not the Absolute. This witnesshood
is only an assumption in the waveless ocean of Consciousness (that I am).
Various thoughts like that of doership,
enjoyership etc. constantly rise in the mind.
The Consciousness is the illuminator of all these thoughts. Only with
regard to these thoughts Athma, the pure Consciousness is said to be the
witness, but this status of being a witness is not absolute. Because when the world, which is only a Vyavaharika
sathyam, is negated, then Athma, the pure Consciousness, which is a Paramarthika
sathyam no longer has the status of witness. The witness status is only an incidental
definition from the stand point of the unreal world. The term ‘witness’ only
describes an assumption of that one Brahman, which is free from all
modifications and which is a limitless Ocean- of-Consciousness without any
waves of thoughts and that one without a second Brahman is Athma,
my true Self.
Verse 21
amrita abdheh na me jeernih moorshaa
dindeera janmabhih I
sphatika adreh na me raagah swapna sandhya
abhra-vibhramaih II
To Me, the ocean of immortality, there is
no loss when ‘unreal’ waves rise or fall. To Me, the mountain of pure crystal, there
is no colouring when whirls of ‘unreal’ evening clouds pass by.
This verse gives
us two beautiful analogies that tell us what Pure Consciousness is like. One is
that of ocean and waves and the second is that of mountain of pure crystal and
colourful clouds at time of sunset. Imagine an ocean with bubbles and waves rising and
falling. Bubble is not a separate
substance and waves are not separate substances. There is only one substance
called water. Bubble is a name given to a form, wave is a name given to another form.
Similarly, I, the Consciousness, am like that ocean and the whole world is Nama-Rupa superimposed on me, the Consciousness. Because of the rise and fall of
these waves and bubbles, nothing happens to the ocean with no increase or loss
of water. Similarly, because of the rise
and fall of the creation, Nama-Rupa, nothing will happen to me, the
Consciousness, an ocean of immortality, ever changeless and indestructible. The second example is that of a mountain of
pure crystal. In the evening sky, colourful
clouds appear and disappear and move about. The colours of the cloud can never tinge the
mountain with its colours. The mountain does not become red because of a red
cloud or blue because of a blue cloud, only it appears to change colours with
the clouds. But it does not change colour and remains asangaha; untainted, and
un-tinged by the colors of the moving clouds. Even though, seemingly, the
crystal seems to gain different colours, crystal is ever untainted. The movement
of the colourful clouds cannot colour the crystal mountain. Similarly, events in life cannot affect Me, the Athma that is pure Consciousness.
Verse 22
swaroopam eva me satvam na tu dharmo
nabhastvavat
mat anyasya satah abhavan na hi sat jaatih
ishyate.
Existence
is my (the Athma’s) very nature, not just my quality; as space-ness is
the very nature of space. Nor can Existence be considered as a category because
there is no existence apart from me.
If Existence
is a property, it will have to depend upon something else for its existence. If Existence is a property and it depends
upon some substance then that substance different from this property has to be
something other than existence. Other than existence, it can only be
non-existence. In that case Existence will
be a property which depends upon non-existence for its existence which is
logically wrong. Therefore, Existence is
not a property. It is the very nature of
Athma, my Self. Existence is not
many. There is only one Existence which pervades all the people. For Athma that is Brahman is
one without a second, Ekam eva Advitiyam, and Brahman’s aspect as Existence makes Him the
support of all that has existence. He is
the very existence (Sat) of everything! The example of space is given here to
illustrate this. You cannot count many spaces because space is only one. When you
count the spaces as pot space, room space, stomach space, head space etc., the
plurality belongs to the containers and not to space. So there is no plurality in respect of space.
Existence cannot be categorised as well for there should be more of one to categorise. As there is no plurality with Consciousness
like space, it cannot be categorised. So Consciousness is one only and it is
the nature of Athma, the Self and it is not a property or can be
considered as a category. That one
Existence lending existence to all the Nama-Rupas is the Swarupam
of my real Self as Athma.
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