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VIVEKACŪDĀMAŅI
ahamkāra etc., covered by them, by stern discrimination, every one of the sheaths should be expelled from consciousness with the conviction: this is not my ātman. It has been said earlier in the work: pancānāmapi kośānām apavāde vibhātyayam śuddhaḥ nityānandaikarasaḥ pratyagrūpaḥ paraḥ svayam jyotiḥ 11 (śl. 153). “When the five sheaths are removed, this (ātman) appears in all its purity, of the nature of eternal bliss, inmost in one, supreme and selfeffulgent." Out of the feeling that the sişya should attain complete liberation, the guru who is the ocean of compassion explains this in many ways. There water covered over with moss was given as an example; here is the example of water mixed with mud which is totally different from it. This is intended to bring about in all ways the awareness of the difference of the anātman.
208 Now is concluded the proposition that the vijñānamaya kośa is not the ātman.
अतो नायं परात्मा स्यात् विज्ञानमयशब्दभाक् । . विकारित्वाज्जडत्वाच्च परिच्छिन्नत्वहेतुतः।
दृश्यत्वाद् व्यभिचारित्वान्नानित्यो नित्य इष्यते ॥२०८॥ āto nāyam parātmā syāt vijñānamayaśabdabhāk vikāritvātjadatvācca paricchinnatvahetutah drśyatvād vyabhicăritvānnānityo nitya isyate 11
This which is called by the name vijñānamaya cannot . be the Paramātman. Because, it is liable to change, it is insentient, it is limited, it is an object of perception, and it is not constantly present. The non-eternal is not said to be eternal. ataḥ: for the reasons, that are to be told.
Because of its liability to change, its insentience, its limited character, its perceptibility and its inconstancy, this kośa which is referred to by the name vijñānamaya kośa cannot be the Paramātmā or mukhyātmā. Like a mirage, it is only seemingly real. It is dịştanaştasvabhāvah: It appears, but does not abide as it appears. Vide the śruti: nityo nityānām (Katha.); and the sūtra; nityatvācca tābhyaḥ: "By the reason that ii gets eternal liberation, the ātman which is nitya cannot be the vijñānamaya kośa as the latter by its changeability is anitya (non-permanent).”
Vijñānamayakośa is different from the ātman because like the gross body it changes, it is insentient, it is limited; it is perceived,
bet is perceived
