Direct Self Relization

Author(s): Adi Shankaracharya
Publisher: Unknown

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35) Again, the Shruti has declared in the Purusha Sukta that "All this is verily the Purusha". So how can this body be Purusha? 36) So also, it is said in Brihadaranyaka: "The Purusha is completely unattached." How can this body, wherein inhere innumerable impurities be the Purusha? 37) There again it is clearly stated that "the Purusha is self-illumined." So, how can the body which is inert (insentient) and illumined by an external agent be the Purusha? 38) Moreover, the Karma-kanda also declares that the Atman is different from the body and permanent, as it endures even after the fall of the body and reaps the fruits of actions (done in this life). 39) Even the subtle body consists of many parts and is unstable. It is also an object of perception, is changeable, limited and non-existent by nature. So, how can this be the Purusha? 40) The immutable Atman, the substratum of the ego, is thus different from these two bodies, and is the Purusha, the Ishwara (the Lord of all), the Self of all; It is present in every form and yet, transcends them all. 41) Thus, the enunciation of the difference between the Atman and the body has (indirectly) asserted, indeed, after the manner of the Tarkashastra, the reality of the phenomenal world. But, what end of human life is served thereby? 42) Thus, the view that the body is the Atman has been denounced, by the enunciation of the difference between the Atman and the body. Now, is clearly stated the unreality of the difference between the two. 43) No division in Consciousness is admissible, at any time, as it is always one and the same. Even the individuality of the Jiva must be known as false, like the delusion of a snake in a rope. 44) As through the ignorance of the real nature of the rope, the very rope appears, in an instant, as a snake, so also, does pure Consciousness appear in the form of the phenomenal universe, without undergoing any change. 45) There exists no other material cause of this phenomenal universe, except Brahman. Hence, this whole universe is but Brahman and nothing else. 46) From such declaration of the Shruti), as "All this is Atman," it follows that the idea of the pervaded and the pervading is illusory. This supreme truth being realized, where is the room for any distinction between the cause and the effect? 47) Certainly, the Shruti has directly denied manifoldness in Brahman. The Non-dual Cause being an established fact, how could the Phenomenal Universe be different from It? 48) Moreover, the Shruti has condemned (the belief in variety) in the words: "The person who," being deceived by Maya, "sees variety in this (Brahman), goes from death to death." 49) Inasmuch as all beings are born of Brahman, the Supreme Atman, they must be understood to be verily Brahman. 50) The Shruti has clearly declared that Brahman alone is the substratum of all varieties of names, forms and actions. 51) Just as a thing made of gold ever has the nature of gold, so also a being born of Brahman has always the nature of Brahman. 52) Fear is attributed to the ignorant one who rests after making even the slightest distinction between the Jivatman and the Paramatman. 53) When duality appears through ignorance, one sees another; but when everything becomes identified with the Atman, one does not perceive another even in the least. 54) In that state, when one realizes all as identified with the Atman, there arises neither delusion nor sorrow, in consequence of the absence of duality.