sarUpa budhirjagatIshvare cha

sarUpa dhIrAtmani yAvadasti

arUpa Atma yadi kaH prapashyet

sA dRRiShtirekA anavahirhi pUrNA

 

sarUpa budhiH = the notion they  have a form; jagatIshvare cha = in the world

and Ishvara; sarUpa dhIH = notion that Truth has a form; Atmani = in one self;

yAvat = as long as; asti = is there; arUpa Atma = if self iswithout form; yadi = if

(one has knowledge); kaH = who;  prapashyet = sees; sA dRRiShtiH = that

vision; ekA  = alone; anavadhiH  = infinite; hi = indeed; pUrNA = full

 

As long as, in oneself one has the notion of being with form, i.e. as long as one is identified to the body mind, so long, the world and Ishvara also will be considered to be with form.  If the self is without form, who sees? That vision, indeed is infinite and full.

 

It is the identification with the body which gives rise to different notions about oneself and the world. If one considers oneself limited to the body and mind then, naturally, the world and Ishvara are separate from him. Being separate, they are then limited and hence with form. So, a person having the wrong notion of oneself being the body will see a world which is limited.

Some, may say, that the truth is formless and it can be appreciated as a thought. This is false, if truth can be appreciated as a concept of formlessness, it is still limited by thought. The thought gone, the truth is not known any more. This is the problem  faced by many spiritual enthusiasts, who do not have the patience nor interest to study scriptures  but want to hasten their spiritual growth by some quick mantra or meditation in vacation. Any concept that one visualizes of, in meditation, is after all a concept and will vanish as soon as the meditation ends, since, the body is still considered the truth while the truth is thought of as formless.

The truth being formless has to be limitless. If the body is the truth and hence limited, then it is excluded from the formless truth, then the truth is no longer infinite.

This being a contradiction, it shows that to know the formless truth one has to rid oneself of attachment to the body. Then one knows the body as an appearing form which has no actual existence of its own (mithyA). The formless truth which is infinite is within the body also. That truth I am. I am not the body. The body and world are incidental appearances on consciousness.

This vision alone cuts asunder all notions of limitations and divisions and hence is infinite and full.

 

yat pa~nchakoshAtmakasti deham

tadantara kim bhuvanam chakAsti

deham vinA pa~ncha vidham tadetat

pashyanti ke vA bhuvanam bhaNantu

  

yat = that; pa~nchakoshAtmakasti deham = body with the five koshas; tadantarA

= apart from it; kim bhuvanam chakAsti = does the world shine?; deham vinA

pa~ncha vidham tat = without the five fold body; etat = this; pashyanti = see; ke

vA = who at all? bhuvanam = world; bhaNantu = say.

 

Does the world shine apart from the body with the five koshAs. Say, without the five fold body who at all can perceive the world?

 

The same idea of individuality and identification with the body is continued. The five koshAs (sheaths) are not literally sheaths upon the Atma, they are to be understood as loci for misunderstanding. Hence, it has to be understood as being sheath like, not sheaths literally.

Some people might understand it as literal peels over the Atma and these peels have to be pulled off to discover the Atma. Atma then has to be a limited entity, if it can be encapsulated within sheaths.

Due to these various spheres/sheaths/loci, where mistakes of identification happen(namely the annamaya, prAnamaya, manomaya, vij~nAnamaya and Anandamaya kosha), the ego (ahankAra) gets stronger.

All our transactions are based on the ego which is supported by the identification to the five koshAs. Without this fivefold identification there is no transaction in the world. That is what is meant by the question – “Without the five fold body who at all can perceive the world?”

We see that in waking and dream states there are transactions occurring with the waking and dream world respectively. In deep sleep when the ego is resolved, there is no world. Hence, the ego is the basis for the transactions in the world.

The ego born of ignorance is the cause of misery and limitation. One is the whole and can know it with conviction when the body identification is destroyed.