Verse
28
आत्मावभासयत्येको बुद्ध्यादीनीन्द्रियाण्यपि ।
दीपो
घटादिवत्स्वात्मा जडैस्तैर्नावभास्यते ॥ २८॥
AATMAA AVA-BHAASAYATI EKOH
BUDDHI-AADINI INDRIYAANI
API HI
DEEPAH GHAT-AADI-VAT
SWAATMAA
JADAIH TAIH NA
AVA-BHAASYATE
(The Self alone
illuminates the intellect, etc, and also verily the senses,
just as a lamp itself illuminates pots, etc. Inert themselves, they
cannot illumine themselves)
We
return here to the light bulb analogy made in verse 26, this time it is coming
directly in the text itself, as a lamp illumining a jar.
There
it was used to illustrate the false origin of the ego. Here it is used to emphasize
the inherent inertness of the intellect equipment.
Can
Atma be an object that can be known by some other Knower, as subject? Is it
someone other than Atma? Other than Atma, whatever is – is Anaatma. In Anaatma,
which part can know Aatma? These are troubling questions.
Anaatma,
the whole of it, is INERT / JADAM principle – and has no chance of ever
knowing the CHAITANYA which is Consciousness principle.
Only
the Consciousness principle of Atma can know the inert, Anaatma principle.
It is the Anaatma principle which is Avidya or Ignorance and needs removal. If
avidya is removed, instantly, the Aatma will shine forth in its true splendor.
Atma
is all pervading, original consciousness principle and advayam, one without a second.
That
being so – it is Anaathma which shines, exists and transacts in presence
of the Atma Chaitanyam.
What
is meant by inertness of the intellect? The intellect is recognized to be the
most subtle part of the creation of the human being. The supremacy of the
intellect was brought out in verse 17. In spite of that supremacy, why is it
still described as being inert? Its supremacy lies only in the fact that it is
the “light bulb” of the human being.
No
other part of the human being has this capacity to express the Self so clearly
as the intellect, although in their functioning they all express to some extent
the ‘intelligence’ of the Self.
The
king of the human equipment is the intellect; it enlightens all other
functions. Nevertheless, it still cannot illumine itself. This limitation of
the intellect is the point being made in this verse. Intellect, although the
highest instrument we have, cannot be equated to the Self. By nature, it is
still part of “material” creation, and in that sense inert.
Deepa & Ghata Simile
“Deepa”
means light and “Ghata” means pot (like a lamp illuminates a pot). There is one
light and in front of that light there could be lots of pots — such as a pot of honey,
a pot of butter, a pot of yogurt — we need to keep relating this back to ourselves!
Taking
this in a Puranic sense, we have always read about Bhagawan Krishna going into
people’s homes and stealing butter, but how was he able to see in the dark room
(because the butter was probably kept in a cellar)? Bhagawan’s nature is
illumination, so when He went into a dark room he would shine and be glowing in
spite of his dark skin! Have you ever thought about black glowing in the dark?
That’s
what has been shared here — that “Swaatma” or the nature of one’s self illumines all
that is in front of it because one’s nature is illumination, like Bhagavan
Krishna. There is no difference between Atman/Brahman and Bhagawan Krishna
or Any incarnation.
“Jadaihi”
means that which is inert. All is inert other than you. That which is inert
does not have illumination and it needs to be illumined. If you know that
something is inert, then what else has to be there? There has to be awareness,
consciousness. If consciousness is not the nature of that which is inert, then
it means it is “your” nature.
Lamp
is self luminous. All the objects kept near and around the lamp are
non-luminous. All these objects which are near the lamp are illumined by the
Lamp. We see them in the light of the lamp. But, the non-luminous objects have
no chance of illumining the lamp. Always, luminous can only illumine the
non-luminous.
In
the same way, the self Luminous Atma can only illumine the non luminous
Anaatma. Non luminous Anaatma can never illumine the luminous Atma. Atma is
ever the knower principle and never the known principle. Atma is also ever the
experiencer and never an object of experience.
Being Clear of the Role
of Intellect
The
great value of the intellect lies in its power to analyze and reflect. The
intellect alone can grasp our real state of bondage: that we are trapped in a
prison. To understand the nature of the imprisonment and to help us see the way
out of it is the great function of the intellect.
Once
it has done that, its job is over, and the Self is revealed by itself, by its
own self-luminous nature. This idea is developed further in the verses to
follow. Thus, the intellect only has to uncover the veil of ignorance. It is
not tasked to reveal the Self.
The
Self will do that of its own accord, as it is self-revealing. It does not need
the intellect to illumine It. Indeed, there is no such need to illumine it as
it is self-luminous.
Dear
Readers,
The
process of Intellect absorbing Consciousness / Atman and then the further
process of how the absorbed / reflected consciousness of intellect goes on to
illumine body, mind, senses, has been explained in detail in an earlier verse.
The Kena Upanishad explains this
beautifully as “Atman is that which is the Ear of the ear, which is the Mind of
mind, the Speech of speech etc.
This is also covered in an earlier verse while elaborating
on "Atman is Chit", wherein Sat Chit Ananda was brought
in a verse by Sankara.
It is that by which the mind is thought and that by which the
man sees the activities through the eye.” Thus as the Mahavakya says, this Consciousness
is the Self or “Pragjyanam Brahma”. Self thus is the illuminator of all the
modifications of the intellect.
Love.
