15.9 to 15.13, 15.15 to 15.17
The Self is the light of pure consciousness. It is non-dual. A Self-realized person knows that there is one Self in all beings including a pipal tree (BG 10.26). The Self is homogeneous, undivided, without parts and all-pervading like space. As space accommodates everything, all beings are in one Self. The self is different from gross and subtle bodies as said in Isa Up 8. It is like a witness. The ideas of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ are thoughts of the mind. They do not exist in the Self which is a witness. Therefore, the Self is free from virtue and vice, pleasure and pain and old age. As intellect is the seat of aversion and fear, the Self is free from them and their impressions. It is pure, free from worldly afflictions.
15.14 A meditator is different from the object meditated upon. It is said that a meditator assumes the form of the object of meditation. The Self is devoid of such actions for It exists independently and is established in Itself.
15.17 and 15.18 Consciousness is changeless otherwise it will cease to be a witness. As witness, it is different from the intellect. Intellect is limited. The Self is the knowledge-principle and pervades all knowledge. The Self is the ultimate knower. The knowledge of the Knower never ceases. It exists in deep sleep as well. The Self is the knower of blankness of deep sleep.
15.19 and 15.20 Shankaracharya suggests a traditional method of inquiry. The Self, which is of the nature of consciousness, is the original illuminator like sun. The mind borrows sentiency from the Self and becomes a secondary illuminator like a properly placed mirror which borrows brightness from the sun and illumines the room. Likewise, the mind illumines the sense organs and the sentient sense organs illumine (reveal) the sense objects. They constitute a lower-level illuminator. On the face of it, the mind seems to be an illuminator (i.e., sentient) in its own right. Here comes the role of teacher who tells the student to discriminate between the Self, the primary illuminator, from the mind, the secondary illuminator and sense organs. Upon such discrimination, he should identify himself with the Self.
15.21 and 15.22 The human life is compared with a Yajna in which oblations are offered in the sacrificial fire. The Self is the original fire (Consciousness) which ‘lends’ fire to the fuel-like intellect to lit (making sentient). To keep the fire burning, it is ‘fanned’ by desires born of ignorance. And the flames shoot out as though sense organs are reaching out to sense objects. The sense organs of which eyes are chief are swayed away by the objects of desire and the intellect is in the grip of the sense organs. A question may arise. Can the Self be held responsible for madness and the rat race because the Self is the original fire? There is difference between the actual fire and the Self. The Self does not lend fire (consciousness) in the strict sense. In the presence of the Self, intellect (fuel) becomes sentient (lit up). There is no action by the Self. Therefore, the answer is ‘No’.
15.23 Using the metaphor of Yajna, the verse depicts the attitude of a jnani. In the waking state, the intellect interacts with the external world through sense organs. That is to say, the oblations (experiences due to contact with sense objects) are offered into fuel (the intellect) which has borrowed fire (sentiency) from the original fire (Self). The Self is not affected by the experiences whether favourable or unfavourable. The intellect while enjoying the experiences is convinced (tells itself) that Self (i.e., essential nature of the person) is not affected by pain or pleasure.
15.24 The experiences recorded in the waking state are replayed during dream which are illumined by the light of consciousness of the Self. The Self is the witness of the dream. During dream, unlike the waking state, there is no external light. Therefore, Self illumining the dream is called taijasa.
15.25 Durind deep sleep, there is no experience of the external world. The mind and impressions on it are dormant. There is blankness. It is a passive state. The Self as a homogeneous mass of consciousness exists and illumines the blankness. The Self is called prajna.
15.26 to 15.30 The Self which is pure consciousness is not a doer. It is action-free. The mind and sense organs are made of matter and are essentially inert. However, they become sentient (illumined) by the mere presence of the ever-existing Self. Due to proximity with the Self and being subtle, the mind is illumined first and then the illumined mind illumines the sense organs. It is similar to mirror and other objects becoming bright in the presence of sun, and the bright mirror making a room bright. Like sun, the Self does not make any effort. The sentient mind and organs do their functions. An ignorant person thinks that the functions of the mind and the organs are of the Self. The fact is that the Self is not an agent. Agentship and other attributes belong to the limiting adjuncts, i.e., the mind and the organs. The superimpositions of the attributes on the Self are due to ignorance about the Self. As a result, the philosophers describe the Self differently, e.g., conscious, non-conscious, agent, non- agent, all-pervading, not all-pervading.
Contd Part 18