Chapter 16 Consisting of Earth
16.1 to 16.4 The verses establish that real I, the Self, which is of the nature of consciousness, is different from the gross body, the sense organs and the mind because they all are made of five fundamental elements, namely, earth, water, fire, air and space. They are devoid of consciousness and are inert. Take the gross body. Its solid part is made of earth, the grossest element. The title of the chapter is derived from the name ‘earth’. The liquid part is made of water. There is heat in the body which is due to the fire element. There is air inside the body, e.g., the vital forces. Lastly, the empty area inside the body is made of space.
There are five sense organs, eyes, ears, nostrils, tongue, and skin which reveal respective sense objects, namely, form and colour, sound, smell, taste, and touch. There is an illuminator-illumined relationship among each pair of sense organ and sense object. Each pair is unique. They do not mix, e.g., eyes do not hear. The sense objects are categorized according to pre-dominance of the five elements. A sense object will be revealed by a sense organ which has predominance of the same element as that of the sense object. The conclusion is that the sense organs are also made of the five fundamental elements and therefore inert. As such, the Self is different from them.
There are five motor organs, e.g., hands, legs, mouth, two outlets. The sense organs receive stimuli from the sense objects, and five motor organs are for actions. The sense organs can function only when they are connected with the mind. The eyes, ears, etc are ready to function. The mind decides which organ should function at a particular time. Otherwise, there will be chaos like a traffic jam. The mind judges the situation and makes a decision. As receiver of information through the sense objects, it is called mind. When it makes a judgment and decides, it is intellect. The mind is also inert because it is connected with the sense organs. The crucial point is that the mind, sense organs and the gross body which are all inert can function only when they become somehow become conscious. They do so in the presence of the Self, which is of the nature of consciousness. Consciousness is not a product of inert matter. It is independent of matter.
16.5 to 16.9 The mind receives the stimuli through the sense organs causing modifications in the mind. As the mind is inert, so are the modifications. The consciousness of the Self assumes the forms of the modifications whereby the modifications are revealed. It like when the light falling on an object, assumes its form and reveals the object. As the light is different from the object on which it falls, consciousness is different from the mind and its modifications. There is no volition when consciousness reveals the mind just like a lamp in the presence of which the surrounding area is bright.
The most fundamental modification of the mind is ‘I’ thought called ego which manifests whenever the mind is active. It is an attribute of the mind and not of the Self which is the original ‘I’. Similarly, modifications of other types, e.g., pleasure, pain, etc are properties of the mind and not the Self. They are revealed by consciousness and are experienced. The Self is different from the ego, but similar to it. The similarity causes mixing of the Self and the ego. As a result, a non-discriminating man attributes the properties of the ego, namely, pain and pleasure to (him) Self. A man of discrimination does not attribute pleasure and pain to the Self.
16.10 to 16.13 The Self is the seer (subject) and the mind is the seen (object). There is no seer of the Self. The Self is the ultimate subject. Is it not possible that the Self is both subject and object like the eye is the seer of its reflection in the mirror? The answer is ‘no’. A situation where an entity is the object of itself, i.e., it is both subject and object, is possible when the entity is made of parts. One part may be the subject and another part the object. It happens when mind sees the thoughts arising in it. This is not possible in the case of the Self because It has no parts. It is indivisible. It is a homogeneous mass of consciousness. Even before experiencing anything there is consciousness. It is illogical to say that consciousness experiences itself.
Suppose for the sake of argument that consciousness has parts. Even then, one part cannot objectify the other part because both the parts are identical. It cannot be established which part is the subject and which part is the object. Suppose a tube light is divided into two parts. Both the parts are equally bright. It is not possible to say which part is the illuminator and which is the illumined because for an illuminator-illumined relationship, one part should be brighter than the other part.
A flame has two faculties: burning and illuminating. Burning power cannot burn the burning power itself. Similarly illuminating power cannot illumine the flame. A property cannot objectify itself.
16.14 and 16.15 Buddhists hold that there is no Self other than the intellect. It is discarded because the Self is the witness of the intellect and is therefore different from it. The view that there are parts in the Self is also unreasonable. For It is of a homogeneous nature without having a dividing line in It. The theory of void (Nihilism) is not tenable because the intellect is witnessed like a jar by another i.e., the Self. The Self exists during deep sleep when intellect is dormant and also exists during dream and waking when there is apparent coming into being of the intellect
Contd Part 20