Aparoksa Anubhuti [1]

21. Atman is eternal, since it is Existence itself; the body is transient, as it is non-existence in essence; and yet etc.,

22. The luminosity of Atman consists in the manifestation of all objects. Its luminosity is not like that of fire or any such thing, for (in spite of the presence of such lights) darkness prevails at night (at some place or other).

23. How strange is it that a person ignorantly rests contented with the idea that he is the body, while he knows it as something belonging to him (and therefore apart from him) even as a person who sees a pot (knows it as apart from him) !

24. I am verily Brahman, being equanimous, quiescent, and by nature absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. I am not the body which is non-existence itself. This is called true Knowledge by the wise.

25. I am without any change, without any form, free from all blemish and decay. I am not, etc.,

26. I am not subjected to any disease, I am beyond all comprehension, free from all alternatives and all-pervading. I am not, etc.,

27. I am without any attribute or activity, I am eternal, ever free, and imperishable. I am not, etc.,

28. I am free from all impurity, I am immovable, unlimited, holy, un-decaying, and immortal. I am not, etc.,

29. O you ignorant one ! Why do you assert the blissful, ever-existent Atman, which resides in your own body and is (evidently) different from it, which is known as Purusha and is established (by the Shruti as identical with Brahman), to be absolutely non-existent?

30. O you ignorant one ! Try to know, with the help of Shruti and reasoning, your own Self, Purusha, which is different from the body, (not a void but) the very form of existence, and very difficult for persons like you to realize.

31. The Supreme (Purusha) known as "I" (ego) is but one, whereas the gross bodies are many. So how can this body be Purusha?

32. "I" (ego) is well established as the subject of perception whereas the body is the object. This is learnt from the fact that when we speak of the body we say, "This is mine." So how can this body be Purusha?

33. It is a fact of direct experience that the "I" (Atman) is without any change, whereas the body is always undergoing changes. So how can this body be Purusha?

34. Wise men have ascertained the (real) nature of Purusha from that Shruti text, "(There is nothing) higher than He (Purusha)," etc. So how can this body be Purusha?

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 that "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.

55. The Shruti in the form of the Brihadaranyaka has declared that this Atman, which is the Self of all, is verily Brahman.

56. This world, though an object of our daily experience and serving all practical purposes, is, like the dream world, of the nature of non-existence, inasmuch as it is contradicted the next moment.

57. The dream (experience) is unreal in waking, whereas the waking (experience) is absent in dream. Both, however, are non-existent in deep sleep which, again, is not experienced in either.

58. Thus all the three states are unreal inasmuch as they are the creation of the three Gunas; but their witness (the reality behind them) is, beyond all Gunas, eternal, one, and is Consciousness itself.

59. Just as (after the illusion has gone) one is no more deluded to see a jar in earth or silver in the nacre, so does one no more see Jiva in Brahman when the latter is realized (as one's own self).

60. Just as earth is described as a jar, gold as an ear-ring, and a nacre as silver, so is Brahman described as Jiva.

61. Just as blueness in the sky, water in the mirage, and a human figure in a post (are but illusory), so is the universe in Atman.

62. Just as the appearance of a ghost in an empty place, of a castle in the air, and of a second moon in the sky (is illusory), so is the appearance of the universe in Brahman.

63. Just as it is water that appears as ripples and waves, or again it is copper, that appears in the form of vessel so it is Atman that appears as the whole universe.

64. Just as it is earth that appears under the name of a jar, or it is threads that appear under the name of a cloth, so it is Atman that appears under the name of the universe. This Atman is to be known by negating the names.

65. People perform all their actions in and through Brahman, (but on account of ignorance they are not aware of that), just as through ignorance persons do not know that jars and other earthenwares are nothing but earth.

66. Just as there ever exist the relation of cause and effect between earth and a jar, so does the same relation exist between Brahman and the phenomenal world; this has been established here on the strength of scriptural texts and reasoning.

67. Just as (the consciousness of) earth forces itself upon our mind while thinking of a jar, so also does (the idea of) ever-shining Brahman flash on us while contemplating on the phenomenal world.

68. Atman, though ever pure (to a wise man), always appears to be impure (to an ignorant one), just as a rope always appears in two different ways to a knowing person and an ignorant one.

69. Just as a jar is all earth, so also is the body all consciousness. The division, therefore, into the Self and non-Self is made by the ignorant to no purpose.

70. Just as a rope is imagined to be a snake and a nacre to be a piece of silver, so is the Atman determined to be the body by an ignorant person.

71. Just as earth is thought of as a jar (made of it) and threads as a cloth, so is Atman, etc.,

72. Just as gold is thought of as an ear-ring and water as waves, so is the Atman, etc.,

73. Just as the stump of a tree is mistaken for a human figure and a mirage for water, so is the Atman, etc.,

74. Just as a mass of wood work is thought of as a house and iron as a sword, so is the Atman, etc.,

75. Just as one sees the illusion of a tree on account of water, so does a person on account of ignorance see Atman as the body.

76. Just as to a person going in a boat everything appears to be in motion, so does one, etc.,

77. Just as to a person suffering from a defect (jaundice) white things appear as yellow, so does one, etc.,

78. Just as to a person with defective eyes everything appears to be defective, so does one, etc.,

79. Just as a firebrand, through mere rotation, appears circular like the sun, so does one, etc.,

80. Just as all things that are really large appear to be very small owing to great distance, so does one, etc.,