Atma Bodha - Post 30

Verse 22

अज्ञानान्मानसोपाधेः कर्तृत्वादीनि चात्मनि ।

कल्प्यन्तेऽम्बुगते चन्द्रे चलनादि यथाम्भसः । २२॥

AJNAANAAN MAANASA UPAADHEH

KARTRITVA-AADINI CHA AATMANI

KALPYANTE AMBUGATE CHANDRE

CHALANA-AADI YATHAA AMBHASAH

(Due to ignorance, that which belongs to the mind; the agency of actions, etc, is attributed to the Self;  just as attributed to the moon reflected in water  are the trembling, etc, which belong to water.)

If we get a little deeper, then the translation comes to our contemplative mind thus:-

(They, the spiritually ignorant) will superimpose, those of the category of 'doer-ship', into which merges the delimiting adjunct that is(!) the mind, in(/upon) the Self, on account of the delusion that is the 'absence of (Self-)Knowledge', the way (the worldly ignorant) superimpose in (/upon) the sky-moon (moon in the sky) appearing in water, the movement of water (itself).

Acharya Shankara in this shloka talks about the ignorance of mind (which is an equipment or Upaadi). The mind expresses ignorance by mixing the Absolute with the relative and the relative with the Absolute. So ignorance of the mind is expressed as “mixing”. In a deeper sense, we take the Absolute (existence, awareness and joy), and we feel that it is actually relative - for example we think that our nature is to be depressed. We take that which is relative (such as the body, mind and intellect) and make that Absolute.

The greatest expression of vanity is the feeling of “I do” or “Kartrutva” that this is happening because of me. Where there is doer-ship there is deserver-ship. I project that the self is the doer and deserver. But we also just studied that the self does not have a purpose, self is complete and self is “being”. It is the mind and intellect (equipments) that express this “I do” and “I deserve”.

  

“Chandre Chalanadi Yathambhasa”

Acharyaji here quoted an example from Ramayana, where Bhagavan Rama as a little boy is playing with the pots of water reflecting the moon. Bhagavan Rama sees that the moon is shaking or not still and He gets upset. Then Bhagavan Rama’s mother explains to Him that when the pot is not shaking and the water is still, the moon does not look broken.

Both the direct moonlight as well as the reflected moonlight are unaffected by the turbulences in the puddle of water. Yet, to the child they seem to have “broken the moon”, and he takes immediate steps to run and fix it. Nor is the moonlight affected by any dirt or mud in the puddle. The moonbeams remain pristinely pure.

Moon

The moon referred to in this simile is the SELF, Pure consciousness that we are. The reflection of the moon on the water is the reflected consciousness on our Ego.

Water

Water referred in the simile is our mind. As long as our mind remains as pure ego with reflected consciousness without coming down to the ego that is ahamkara, our mind remains as stilled, serene and pure like the river without any movement of water, still, transparent, like the manasarover near Kailasa.

Leaf

The leaf that is thrown on the water are the various situations / events, good or bad, that happen to us / that comes to us for fetching experience to us.

Broken Moon

The disturbance in the water and the apparent  broken moon on the water is the disturbance of our mind caused due to the doer-ship / due to the ego that such and such things have happened to me, I am affected by such and such things, I am disturbed, I am tensed, I am in a hopeless situation etc.

A realized seer is the one who sees the reflection as it is and stands unruffled by the events that happen in his life, the one who is explained as a Raja or a King in a earlier verse,  who ever remains peaceful, in spite of various things that go on in the court / in his kingdom.

Thus, the consciousness that is borrowed from the intellect by our ego (Aham), is utilized only for carrying out our responsibilities in our life depending upon the asrama or the varna in which we are - Brahmacharya or Grahastha or Sanyasi or Vanaprastha, then our mind is never disturbed.

All the disturbance happens when the mind mistakes the reflected consciousness on its ego and believes that the mind or the physical entity of the human being itself is real and ignores that the body mind has borrowed the reflected consciousness only to discharge the responsibilities, to clear the karma and to retrace the lord.

When such disturbance happens due to ignorance of the truth, then the aham ego or the bigger I  is colored with smaller i and the Aham is mistaken and identified as Ahamkara!!!

This is how we are often affected by little disturbances in our life. Every movement disturbs our balance, and we react thoughtlessly to rectify it. If we developed a little of the witness-consciousness which is being taught here, we would not react in haste.

Calm observation may be the best way to resolve a disturbing situation. By observation, we come in touch with a part of our being that is truer than the superficial self (ego).

Love.

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.