Atma Bodha - Post 38

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.

Atma Bodha - Post 37

Verse 27

रज्जुसर्पवदात्मानं जीवं ज्ञात्वा भयं वहेत् ।

नाहं जीवः परात्मेति ज्ञातं चेन्निर्भयो भवेत् ॥ २७॥

RAJJU-SARPA-VAT AATMAANAM

JEEVAM JNAATVAA BHAYAM VAHET

NA AHAM JEEVAH PARAATMAA ITI

JNAATAH CHET NIRBHAYAH BHAVET

(As one who regards a rope as a snake, so too one, regarding oneself as an ego, is overcome by fear.  “I am not the ego, but the Supreme Self”, if he realizes this, he becomes fearless.)

An attempt is made in this verse to relieve the intellect of the burden placed upon it by the falsely created sense of “I”. The burden is simply all the fears resulting from the misplaced identity of oneself as an individual. 

These are shown in this verse to be unnecessarily taken upon one’s own shoulders, when in reality they do not even exist.  

“Rajju-Sarpa-Vat Atmanam”: The Rope-Snake Analogy

 

In this simile, a rope is seen and misidentified as being a snake. The resulting fear that grips the person beholding this has no basis as it arises from pure delusion. 

The rope is not even aware of the existence of the ‘snake’, so it cannot be held responsible. It is the individual consciousness or the ego which has to bear the responsibility of the consequences for this deluded perception.

The rope is our true identity, the SELF or the Atman.

The mistaken identity of rope as a snake is our mistaken notion of our ego “I am this jiva”.

The burden of ‘fears’ represent the entire range of deluded perceptions arising from this ego-consciousness.

Removing the venom of snake’s bite is overcoming the notion that “I am this Jiva”.

Freedom / fearlessness is the state of Realization that “I AM THE CHANGELESS, BIRTHLESS, DEATHLESS PURE SELF”.

When a Jiva exists with his mistaken identity as Jiva, he suffers from all the 6 negative qualities, Kama, Krodha etc. The Jiva, under its own delusion and imagined fear, suffers from the consequences of such fear. The real fear of the snake is due to the venom in its bite.

The sage solves the problem by removing the ‘venom’ from the snake’s bite. The venom lies in the sense of egoism that heads this whole web of delusion. Hence, the “ego-sense” in a sage is rendered ‘toothless’.

The snake has been burnt and is there only in appearance, it cannot do any harm. A burnt snake may still look like a snake but it cannot do anything. 

The sage’s egoism is like that. It is just enough to go on functioning in this world; it serves only an operational function. But really there is no ‘venom’ in it. The venom of selfishness has been transformed into the nectar of universal vision.

A burnt rope cannot be used to tie anything; the moment it is touched it crumbles to ashes. Similarly, the sage’s egoism, which is burnt, cannot tie him to this world anymore. The sage is freed from bondage to this world.

An ignorant person’s ego is full of venom. If he is criticized he will seek revenge on the one who criticizes him. He will try to bite back with venom.

But in a Jnani there is no such reaction. He knows he has been criticized, but remains indifferent to it, understanding that it is only a thought current passing through. He has no fear of criticism. 

The fearlessness of the sage tantamount to complete liberation from all bondage. Because the Jnani has risen above egoism, he sees the correct picture of all the facts listed in the previous verse.

He knows that the consciousness expressing through his intellect is a reflection of the Self, i.e. it is Chid-Abhasa. Hence he is not disturbed by any wave produced in it, such as the crest of praise or the trough of criticism.

Love.

Atma Bodha - Post 36

Verse 26

आत्मनो विक्रिया नास्ति बुद्धेर्बोधो न जात्विति ।

जीवः सर्वमलं ज्ञात्वा ज्ञाता द्रष्टेति मुह्यति ॥ २६॥

AATMANAH VIKRIYAA NA ASTI

BUDDHEH BODHAH NA JAATU ITI

JEEVAH SARVAMALAM JNAATVAA

JNAATAA DRISHTAA ITI MUHYATI

There is no action for the Self and the intellect itself has no capacity to know; yet the individuality, experiencing them, thinks. “I am the knower and the seer”, and is thus deluded.

Three important facts are presented in this verse which we would need to keep in mind when engaging our intellect to the task of probing the Truth:

i)  Atman has no modification, hence it cannot be attributed the responsibility of acting; it does not act. 

ii)  The inner instrument is inert. It is composed of ‘matter’, subtle matter but still insentient. Human intellect is not endowed with the powers of feeling, thinking, willing or wishing, because it is a product of matter which is inert.

iii)  Intellect reflects the light of Atman: This makes it appear to be a conscious entity, but that is the delusion. The individuality (Jiva) which is a reflection of the pure consciousness in the mind, falsely identifies itself with the body-mind-intellect equipment due to ignorance of its true nature.

Accordingly, it comes to super impose the characteristics of the true Self on these insentient matter developments (Body, Mind, Intellect)

In this way, the delusion that “I am the seer”, “I am the knower” etc. arises in EGO.

This is a false self, not the real Self. But it does not know that. These are the items which our discrimination or intellect has to apply itself to in order to assist us in obtaining Self-knowledge.

Analogy of a Light Bulb:

There is no example or simile given in this verse but Swami Chinmayananda ventures an illustration: that of an electric bulb.

All three of the above points are illustrated by it:

In itself the bulb cannot give light without electricity flowing through it. When electricity (symbolizing the Self) flows, then the inert bulb lights up, as that is what it is designed to do; it cannot do anything else.

The bulb becomes the means by which we are able to “perceive” electricity. In the same way, the intellect plays its role of making us “aware of” the existence of the Self, although on its own it has no power to know it.

The point about the ego-sense is also illustrated by this analogy. If the bulb had an ego-sense, it would feel that it itself were producing the light, although it is only an instrument that is used by the electricity to give light. By its association with the electricity it is seen to be an instrument of light.

Chinmaya concludes his commentary on this verse with the following truth, which is crown jewel of wisdom.

“The illumining consciousness, because of which there is an awareness of the various objects and activities in the inner mind, is THAT supreme reality.”

Thus, though waves of sorrow, dejection, despair, joy, success, anger, jealousy, passion etc. may come in mind, he who knows the “Knower” of all these waves is not affected by them.

He rejoices in his experience of SELF and cries out in Joy, “THE SELF I AM. I am illumining my mental conditions.” 

I may be happy or unhappy but these are all the mental waves that “I” am illumining. I am the Light of Consciousness. None of the conditions of my mind is Me, the Pure consciousness!!!”

Love.