17.51-55 A man desirous of knowing the truth should cultivate dispassion and refrain from loving the worldly objects for such a love is risky. It is mixed with pain because any worldly object is impermanent and its absence causes pain. The love causes bondage as desires are plenty and impossible to fully satisfy. He should approach a skilled teacher who has Self-knowledge, who is tranquil and established in Brahman- meaning he is anchored in Self while transacting in the world. In this sense, he is free from bondage of action. Such a teacher interprets the scriptures and impart knowledge (Ch Up 6.14.2 and BG 4.34). When a qualified student approaches a skilled teacher with humility in the prescribed manner, the teacher should accept him into his fold and impart knowledge of Brahman thereby enabling him cross Samsara which is like ocean of darkness.
Sri Shankara summarizes the Vedantic teachings for the benefit of the teacher. ‘I am not the body’, ‘I am not the mind and the sense organs’, ‘I am the Self which is pure consciousness and different from body, mind and senses organs. As the sun illumines the world by sunrays which are free from growth and decay, consciousness illumines and reveals everything through the mind and sense organs. Pure consciousness (Consciousness) is all-pervading, and particularized consciousness is Consciousness limited by adjuncts, e.g. worldly objects. It is like space and pot space. Just as one sun illumines this entire world, so too the knower of the field illumines the entire field (BG 13.34). The illuminating power Consciousness never ceases.
17.56 According to the scriptures, a man is essentially Self which is of the nature of consciousness, is unlimited and free. Due to ignorance, he mistakenly believes that consciousness is limited to the body and possesses physical attributes-much like reflection of the moon which appears to ripple with water’s movements. Consequently, he commits the error of superimposing the suffering of the body onto the Self.
17.57-60, 65 and 66 The Mandukya Upanishad (3-7) teaches how can a man realize the Self. In the waking state, he has varied experiences of external world. In dream he perceives an internal world as fragmented mental impressions created in the waking state. In deep sleep, there is neither external world nor internal world. On further inquiry, it is found that the three states of experience are mutually exclusive, and consciousness is common factor across them. It does not change despite changing experiences. The unchanging consciousness is the substratum of the three changing states. The three states are superimpositions onto the Self caused by ignorance. On negating them, i.e., by not identifying with the three states, consciousness remains resulting in identification with consciousness. It is Self-realization. Figuratively, the realized soul has swallowed the three states. The fruits of Self-realization are invaluable. The man is free from the cycles of birth and death. As he does not identify with mind-body complex, he is free from human sufferings. e.g., old age, fear. After death, he does not follow the two paths of travel, namely, northern path and southern path.
17.61-64 A Self-realized man does not identify with gross and subtle bodies and five sheaths just like butter extracted from milk and thrown into it does not get mixed with it again.A knower of the Self revels in the bliss of the Self. How can he suffer from fear when he is the Self? After all, the organs, the mind, fire and so on cannot function without the blessings of the Self? “Out of His fear the Wind blows. Out of fear the Sun rises. Out of His fear runs Fire, as also Indra, and Death, the fifth” [Tai Up 2.8.1 Eight Upanishads, with the Commentary of Sankaracharya, Vol 1 Swami Gambhirananda ]
17.67-70 There is neither knowledge nor ignorance in Self as It is of the nature of homogeneous consciousness. Being all-pervading, there is no day and night in It just like sun which is pure light. It is self-effulgent. It is beyond acceptance and rejection. It is devoid of interior and exterior. It has no beginning, middle or end.
17.71-75 The Self is devoid of the triad, namely, knower, known, and the instrument of knowledge. It is the knowledge principle behind the triad. It is non-dual. Any attempt to know the Self as an object is bound to fail as it entails duality. It only remains after applying the process of ‘not this’, ‘not this’. As the Self is non-dual, there is one Self across all beings (Br up 1.4.10). There is no plurality of Selves. A Self-realized person is free from the control of the gods. According to Sruti, a knower of Brahman is Brahman. While other persons worship the gods, the gods adore a man of knowledge. As he renounces everything not real, he abides as unbounded consciousness- free and immortal. A Self-realized person knows that the Self is Brahman while those mistake the Self for something else are ignorant.
17.76- 81 Sri Shankara next instructs an aspirant about Vedantic meditation. In meditation, the aspirant should dwell on the thought that as Self, which is identical with Brahman, he is pure, without qualities, without action, free from duality, free from unhappiness. Vedantic meditation is unlike yogic meditation, which is practice of thoughtlessness, i.e., cessation of modifications of mind. He should abandon identification with the body, social order (varnashrama) and worldly roles etc. Instead, using the sacred word Om, he should meditate on the core teachings- ‘I am Self’, ‘Self is Brahman’, Self is beyond day and night, i.e., it is beyond time. It is omnipresent. There is no bondage in the Self. It is free from merit, demerit, past, future, cause and effect. Though itself free from action, physical and moral orders are regulated in the world in Its presence just like an embankment controls flow of water. In this sense, the Self is figuratively a doer of everything though it is a non-doer. As It is omnipresent, It outruns everything moving including the mind. It appears moving though remaining perfectly still-a paradox born of the maya power of Brahman, the universal Self. “Without action, a non-agent and one without a second, I, the universal Self, make the world go round like a king who is only a witness or like the loadstone which moves iron by its proximity only”. (Translation by Swami Jagadananda, Advaita Ashrama)
17.82-83 Sri Shankara reiterates the hallmarks of true knowledge. It is doubt-free understanding of bondage and its root cause (ignorance), liberation and its means (Self-knowledge). True insight is recognizing and negating the chain of causes and effects which drives the wheel of Samsara and that upon such negation, Brahman that is beyond all objects of knowledge remains. A knower of Brahman is freed from Samsara and attendant sufferings. “The Self cannot be accepted or rejected by Itself or others, nor does It accept or reject anyone else. This is right Knowledge. “The knower goes beyond grief and delusion and has the acme of his life fulfilled”. (Translations by Swami Jagadananda, Advaita Ashrama).
17.84-87 Self-knowledge is the subject of all Vedantic scriptures. It produces the conviction of “I am Brahman”. It is the most effective purifier which burns all sins and ends the transmigratory life. It is highly esoteric and remains hidden even from the gods, It must not be taught to those lacking pure mind. It should be given to a disciple who is obedient and is free from worldly passion. The highest gratitude which a student can give to his preceptor is to acquire the knowledge and cross the ocean of transmigratory life.
17.87-89 Sri Shankara concludes the chapter 17 by offering salutations to the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent Brahman who is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. He pays deep obeisance to the teacher who by imparting the knowledge, frees the disciple from the relentless cycle of birth and death. Contd