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CHAPERI
41
38. Absolutely pure, having the nature of perception and knowledge, always non-corporeal, I am indeed unique. Hence not even an atom of alien things whatsoever (whether living or non-living) is related to me as mine.
COMMENTARY Aham: the Self implies this: The soul from beginningless eternity associated with ignorance and delusion forgets its true nature, gets identified with alien features and characteristics till he is roused from slumber by a benevolent spiritual master who repeatedly strives to wake him up to his true nature. Just as a person who has lost his jewel feels a joy and surprise when it is brought and placed in his hands, so also the jīva wakes up as a result of the master's effort to realise that his Self is the Parameśvara, that his nature is pure and unsullied by alien features, shedding the pure light of pure consciousness all around.
Ekaḥ: the undivided unity implies that in spite of the several psychic states, emotional, cognitive and conative, experienced by the Self, it is an indivisible unity.
Suddhaḥ: pure. The Self, in spite of its gati, modification, such as human and divine and in spite of the nine types of psycho-physical modifications called nava-padārthas, never loses its intrinsic pure nature and hence he is suddha.
Arūpī: non-corporeal. Since the pure soul has no other nature except upayoga, the pure knowledge and perception, and since it transcends the sense-perception of vision, taste, touch, etc., it is always non-corporeal. The Self having this nature and illuminating all things around through its light of knowledge remains absolutely uninfluenced by alien psychic states and physical objects so that not even an iota of the alien things it can call its own.
Thus ends the jiva-padārtha or category of Soul. The author takes up next the ajīda-padartha for discussion.
The Samskrit commentators use the term ranga. Here ends the first Scene, pūrva-rangaḥ samāptaḥ, thereby suggesting that the whole work is a Cosmic Drama in which the chief hero is the Self who appears on the stage in different characters and in association with different actors-certainly a beautiful metaphor in depicting the career of the Atmā.
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