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Chapter 17: Statement of Pupil's Enlightenment
As mentioned in the last chapter the dialogue between the preceptor and the pupil came to the end, when the Guru assumed silence and ecstasy. While watching it the pupil is also induced to turn introvert. Thereby he could get a glimpse of the soul abiding within. What he had heard from the Guru regarding six Fundamentals comes to his experiential level.
In stanza 117 the Guru had stated that the pupil could realize his true nature, if he contemplated over it. The pupil did accordingly and thereby he realized his true nature. In other words, he got enlightened. Now he does not need to know anything more. But in order to be sure that what he has realized is right, he likes to state how the concept underlying six Fundamentals has been assimilated by him.
Sadgurunä Upadeshthi, Ävyun Apoorva Bhän; Nijpad Nijmänhi Lahyun, Door Thayun Ajnän.
I gained the unprecedented sense by the teaching of your honor; I realized the true Self within myself and got rid of ignorance. 119)
Explanation & Discussion:
The pupil acknowledges his debt to the Guru, by whose teaching he attained enlightenment. The enlightenment abides within and is not to be gained from outside. One has to create the condition in which it can manifest. In other words, one has to be worthy of such manifestation. Such worthiness is termed as Upädän. Since the pupil's Upädän was ready, the teaching of the Guru became instrumental in bringing it out. The pupil is, however, aware that but for the guidance from Guru, he could not have manifested it. As such, he wants to acknowledge allegiance to the Guru for attaining the enlightenment.
He starts with first Fundamental relating to the existence of soul. But humble as he is, he does not state that he is enlightened. He uses the term Bhän, meaning the sense of Self. Until now he was groping in the dark and was moving around without knowing the right path. He was trying to comprehend the Self by external modes. It was his ignorance. That ignorance has been removed by the instructions of Guru and he has now been able to realize that soul abides within the body. It has come to his experiential level that the relation of soul to the body is comparable to that of a sword to its sheath or that of a coconut kernel to its outside
