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.