Vivekachudamani

The supreme Self (Paramatma)

   By realizing one�s real nature as identical with the supreme Brahman one becomes free from the bond of samsara and attains liberation. All the effects of Maya, from Mahat to one�s own body, are mithya, like a mirage. The Self is self-existent (It has no cause). It is the substratum of the ego-consciousness. It is the witness of all the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep and is different from the five sheaths (which will be described later on). It illumines the experiences in the states of waking and dream and also the absence of all experiences in deep sleep. It perceives all the activities of the sense organs, but the sense organs cannot know it. It illumines the intellect, but the intellect cannot know it. It pervades the whole universe, but no object in the universe can pervade it. Everything else in this universe is insentient and attains sentiency only because of it. Because of its mere presence, the body, senses, mind and intellect perform their respective  functions, as if prompted by it. This means that the Self does not itself do anything, nor does it cause the body, etc., to act. It merely provides the sentiency for them to act by its mere presence. The Self is therefore compared to the sun which provides the light for every one to act, but is not the cause of their actions. Being of the nature of eternal consciousness, everything from the ego-sense to the body, as well as all objects, all emotions such as pleasure, pain etc., are known by it. They are all objects of knowledge and the Self alone is the subject. The Self is innermost, eternal, without a beginning, of the nature of infinite bliss, is always of the same nature, and is behind every cognition. It shines in the cave of the intellect.

   The Self has no birth or death; it does not increase or decrease or undergo any change; it is eternal. It is not destroyed even when the body is destroyed, just as the space inside a pot  is not destroyed when the pot is destroyed. it is different from Prakriti as well as its modifications. It is pure consciousness. It illumines everything, those with form and those without form. It is devoid of all attributes. It shines in all the states of waking, dream and deep sleep as the witness of the intellect and as the basis of the ego. One should realize this self as identical with oneself by controlling the mind and making it pure. Thus one can cross this ocean of samsaara with its waves of birth and death.

   The answer to the question, �What is bondage� is taken up next.  sanskrit documents