Atma Bodha - Post 29

Verse 21

देहेन्द्रियगुणान्कर्माण्यमले सच्चिदात्मनि ।

अध्यस्यन्त्यविवेकेन गगने नीलतादिवत् ॥ २१॥

DEHA INDRIYA GUNAAN KARMAANI

AMALE SAT CHIT AATMANI;

ADHYASYANTI AVIVEKENA

GAGANE NEELAT-AADI-VAT.

(Qualities and functions of the body and senses, are, upon the pure Self, whose nature is Existence and Consciousness, superimposed due to lack of discrimination (by fools) just as colors like blue, etc, are superimposed on the sky.)

This verse is indirectly a tribute to the intellect in man which has the capacity to distinguish and resolve the situation of superimposition described here.

The actions and functions of the body and senses are ascribed to the Self. That is the error which is the subject of this verse. Anyone with a sharp intellect can see without much difficulty that the Self cannot be blamed for the actions performed by the body and senses, as  It is beyond them and is unaffected by them.

Hence, to ascribe this activity to the Self can only be the work of fools, who do not have their reasoning power awakened. That is the view of Sri Shankaracharya in this verse.

“Gagane Neelatadivat” Nyaya:

The sky is not actually blue. It may appear in varied colours, depending on the time of the day. At sunrise and sunset it is of quite a different hue altogether. Blueness is a quality that is superimposed upon it.

Not only its blueness, but also various other qualities such as misty haze, fogginess, air pollution, dustiness, have their origins in things which are not the sky. Yet, it is the sky that is described as misty, foggy, etc. although it has nothing to do with those conditions.

Thus it is only due to the lack of discrimination that the qualities of ever changing mind and the intellect and their limitations are superimposed on the Atman. Acharya here says that the foolish one’s i.e. those who do not know the true nature of Atman, attribute the qualities of the gross and subtle bodies to the Atman.

Just like how the sky remains the same even when different colors are attributed to it due to our vision, the Atman remains pure and unaffected.

Another beautiful example given by our Acharyas to explain this is, just as how the sands of the desert can never become moist from the water of a mirage, likewise, the Self is not affected by the traits of the body and the senses.

This is the superimposition of the conditions which occurs in relation to the Self. Only when we use our discriminative reason to look into the truth of things can we correct this erroneous superimposition of such qualities upon on the ever Pure Consciousness.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 28

Verse 20 

आत्मचैतन्यमाश्रित्य देहेन्द्रियमनोधियः ।

स्वक्रियार्थेषु वर्तन्ते सूर्यालोकं यथा जनाः । २०॥

AATMA CHAITANYAM AASHRITYA

DEHA INDRIYA MANAH DHIYAH

SWA-KREEYAARTHESHU VARTANTE

SOORYAA-LOKAM YATHAA JANAAH

(Depending on Self, of the nature of consciousness,   the body, senses, mind and intellect engage in their respective activities just as sunlight heralds activity amongst people.)

In the previous sloka, we learnt that all the activities done are attributed only to the mind and the senses whereas the Self remains untainted by all actions and their results. Then one may get a doubt that do these senses act in their own accord?

And if so are they not sentient and hence the Self? To answer this, Acharya explains in this sloka that just as how people work depending on the daylight of the sun, the senses, mind and intellect seem to act only due to the Consciousness. 

The Witness-ship, seen in the above two verses as a figure of authority that inspires action and as the contractor himself of all activities, is here seen in a third perspective, as the energizer that sets everything in motion.

Aashritya: “depending on”; the Self is first defined as of the nature of Consciousness, to indicate that it is actually just a witness of all the activities taking place.

The body, senses, mind and intellect depend on the Self to do their work. What are they depending upon Him for? – For the power that energizes them or galvanizes them into action.

The analogy of the relationship between the workers and their boss is the best to describe this dependency.

“Sooryalokam Yatha Jana”: The Energizing Sun

The sun has the power of getting things moving. The word Surya itself literally means “that which moves others”. When the sun rises, people ‘move’ – out of their beds!

When the sun rises, the birds start chirping. Everything in nature awaits the signal from the sun before engaging with their work for the day. This beautifully compares with the situation of the Self, who has simply to give consent and all things get done thereafter.

The sun rises up. Its first rays place its signature on the pay cheques of the workers here on earth, and they are happy to plunge into their work thereafter!

Dear All,

In one of the previous verses, we went through a detailed explanation on How consciousness illumines the intellect.

Once the Consciousness illumines intellect, then the EGO of a being goes on to absorb the reflected Consciousness in the intellect and then passes the same to body, mind, senses.

The process of Ego absorbing the reflected consciousness is explained in Drik Drsya Viveka and few other texts with an example of a furnace and an iron ball.

When an Iron ball is brought in connection with furnace, then with the heating process, the iron ball assumes the nature and quality of furnace and glows like the furnace itself.

Exactly in the same way, the ego (iron ball), gets in touch with the reflected consciousness in intellect (Furnace) and then, the ego itself gets conscious / sentient and then from the ego, the reflected consciousness is passed on to body and senses so that the body and senses become conscious!!!

Thus without this consciousness, there is no activity possible. But the Self by itself is ever pure and is not affected by the actions of the senses. 

Senses seem to work only due to consciousness but consciousness is never affected by their actions.

We have to never forget that the illusory duality can never affect the Self. It is only due to ignorance that one perceives the senses, world of duality and hence all the actions. 

Like the sun that illumines any object that comes in front of it without itself being affected, the Self illuminates the physical and the subtle bodies. 

           

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 27

Verse 19

व्यापृतेष्विन्द्रियेष्वात्मा व्यापारीवाविवेकिनाम् ।

दृश्यतेऽभ्रेषु धावत्सु धावन्निव यथा शशी ॥ १९॥

VYAAPRITESHU INDRIYESHU AATMAA

VYAAPAAREE IVA AVIVEKINAAM

DRISHYATE ABHRESHU DHAAVATSU

DHAAVAN IVA YATHAA SHASHEE

(The Atman, observed through the active senses   by the non-discriminating people, is as if active in appearance; when the clouds move in the sky, it seems as though the moon were running)

In Verse 18, the Witness-ship was focused on authority, awe and respect; it did not get into contact with the work.

In this verse, the same Witness-ship is seen as if performing the activity, although it is in reality untouched by the activity. We have to consider the example first in this case, to properly grasp the real situation.

 “Dhaavan Iva Yatha Shashee” Simile

Imagine - It is twilight; a group of clouds are flying through the skies. In between them we see the moon. From a scooter the little boy, holding fast to his dad, stares at the moon. He screams to dad, ‘Hey, father, look the moon is chasing us. Will it reach home before us? Quick, go faster, let’s beat it!’ This is how a child would see the moon racing with his scooter!

What does this teach us? How far away is the moon? – Never too far away to avoid taking the blame for our activities on earth!  

The Self is in a similar situation. Although it remains only as a witness of what is going on “under its nose”, yet in the eyes of one who has not learnt to discriminate, the Aviveki, it appears as if the Self is acting.

For an ignorant person who mistakes the mind and the senses as the Self, Self appears to be limited. It is only when there is a false cognition of Self that there arises misery due to thoughts such as “I am sad”, “I am poor”, “I did this” etc. but the Self like the moon is ever blissful and is never the enjoyer or the doer of any actions. 

It is only the ego that creates this illusion. Hence for a wise one who discriminates between the reality and the non-duality, for one who knows the real nature of Self, there can never be any miseries.

In an earlier verse, we learnt clearly as to how consciousness illumines intellect.

Going further, the ego of a human being borrow such reflected consciousness from intellect and it mistakes that it is consciousness and it totally ignores the truth that it has only borrowed the consciousness reflected in the intellect, so that the body, the mind all can be conscious.

Thus, this verse is all about the mistaken notion of the ego that it is consciousness and thus, the ego mistakes all actions done by itself as reality, exactly like the child saw the moon and thought, the moon is moving!!!

It is a little difficult to absorb but those who contemplate in depth can take this part.

Due to the Self’s proximity to the scene of action, it is viewed as if it is performing the actions. There is a complete transference of doership from the Upadhis that are involved in the action, to the Self which is independent of these Upadhis and who is not affected by the actions.

Hence it is very essential for a seeker to know that all the duality and hence the actions are illusions only and are perceived only due to the ego arising due to ignorance of one’s true nature. And that any actions can never be done by the Self and that ‘I am verily bliss alone’ and hence all the actions can never affect Self, just like the movement of clouds on moon. This is what Acharya says in Atmashatkam also as “Aham Bhojanam Naiva Bhojyam Na Bhokta; Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham”

The Self is Asanga (unattached), Kutastha (unaffected) and Chidrupa (pure consciousness). Yet it is seen by the unknowing intellect as being the actor itself of all the numerous actions performed by the body and mind.

Love.