17.17 and 17.18 During dream, one mind is divided into subject (knower), object (known) and instrument of knowledge. The divisions are unreal. Likewise, in the waking state, one consciousness appears differently when desires in the intellect causes action. The desires arise because the jiva thinks that it is incomplete though it is essentially complete. The desires and actions are revealed by consciousness. The waking state is a superimposition on consciousness, the substratum. The divisions in the waking state are as unreal as the divisions in the dream. The ideas of interior and exterior in the waking state are unreal like reading and writing which are interdependent. Reading depends on a written page without which nothing can be read and writing also depends on reading as we first read and then write. So, both of them are unreal as the sounds represented by written letters are all-pervasive and have no forms. Hence, they can neither be really written nor read.
17.19 to 17.24 Desires keep the wheel of Samsara moving. Sense objects are out there in the world which get revealed in the light of consciousness and are perceived in the mind through senses. A desire with determination arises in the mind to acquire the object because due to ignorance, there is a sense of incompleteness and the delusion that there will be completeness by acquiring the object. The desire that is like a spark today is capable of developing into a conflagration tomorrow. It is therefore, to be controlled. The senses are safe only when free from desire.
Ignorance is the root cause of Samsara. It is dormant because the mind is not functional during sleep and it is active during dream and the waking state. As the world is born of ignorance, it is unreal. There is Samsara when duality is considered real. Samsara becomes mithya and loses its potency when one gains Self-knowledge.
Self-knowledge is the conviction that consciousness is the nature of a jiva and it is also the supreme Self, i.e., Brahman. Self-knowledge is the highest knowledge, and the scriptures impart it with great care. A pure mind is like a mirror in which the knowledge shines. It grasps the teachings of the scriptures imparted by a competent teacher. A competent teacher is not only a jnani but also possesses communication skill. Yama, niyama, sacrifices and religious austerities are the disciplines to purify the mind. Disciplines listed in BG (17.14-17.17) are meant to purify the mind. The author says that these practices are superior to performance to religious duties. Mind should be free from distractions so as to have one-pointed thought of Brahman.
17.25 to 17.31 In the waking state the sense organs are active and the objects are perceived. These perceptions are revealed in dream when the sense organs are inactive, but the mind is active. The absence of perceptions and their impressions is deep sleep. The witness of the three states is the Self which is not affected by and is unattached to the three states. Realization of the Self is the highest human goal. Deep sleep is called ignorance because the impressions which are dormant in deep sleep are the seed of the waking and dream states. The waking and dream states are born of Ignorance. Ignorance is also called maya. Maya evolves into the three states again and again. Self is the substratum of the three states. Ignorance is burnt by the fire of Self-knowledge and in the vision of a knower of Self, the waking state is unreal, and Self is immutable and appears as many like many reflections of the sun in different pots of water.
A magician creates the illusion of an elephant, and he comes and goes on an elephant. The magician seated on the elephant stands for reflected consciousness and the original magician stands for original consciousness. The magician never climbs on the elephant. The magician seems to be arriving and departing but what is the truth? Neither the elephant arrives and departs; nor the magician arrives and departs. Magician is very much on the stage; but we get the illusion of both of them coming and going. Likewise, the Self, though devoid of all motion, appears to be undergoing conditions such as, the undifferentiated sleep, dream, etc.
Just like there is no elephant nor its driver, and magician is different from them, so are the three states and the Self, the witnessing consciousness stands aloof from them. When the magician creates the magic spell, magic spell affects the entire audience except the magician and anyone who has developed the skill of not being affected by the spell. Similarly, Isvara is not affected by maya and a Jnani who knows the truth is not affected.
Contd