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93
Je Drashtä Chhe Drashtino, Je Jäne Chhe Roop; Abädhya Anubhav Je Rahe, Te Chhe Jiv Swaroop.
That, which is the seer of eyesight, which recognizes form, and whereby unobstructed experience is retained, constitutes the essence of the soul.
Ätmasiddhi
Jain Education International
Explanation & Discussion:
The pupil had asked, "Why is the soul not visible to the eye?" The eye is the most vital sense organ. Other organs are also important; but losing any of them does not handicap a person to the extent he would feel handicapped by the loss of eyesight. If one loses, for instance, taste of the tongue or the tongue is somehow inoperative, he would feel less uncomfortable than the one who loses eyesight.
-51
In reply to the pupil's question, the Guru asks him to figure out the element that actually sees when an object comes within eyesight. We normally conceive of two factors, which are involved in the act of seeing. One is the eye and the other is the object. The eye is the means with which it is possible to see and thereby the object is reflected to the eye. But the question is, "Who is the seer?" He must be different from the means as well as the sight. Another question is, "Who actually knows what is seen?" In other words, "Who knows the form?" The Guru states that whoever is the seer and the knower, is termed as the soul. Seeing and knowing are the properties of the soul. The eye is merely an instrument in the act of seeing. With that instrument, the objects become visible to the seer; but the seer itself, the soul, cannot be visible thereby.
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