PGS : Atma Bodha - Verse 04

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|Hari AUM|

 

Atma Bodha Verse 04 :

paricchinna ivAjnAnAt tannASe sati kevala: |

svayam prakASate hiAtmA meghApAyEamSumAniva ||

 

Translation :

This Self appears to be finite due to ignorance(ajnAna);

when ignorance is destroyed, the Self which is

self-luminous

is known, just as the radiance of the Sun is known after

the clouds pass away.

 

Explanation :

This verse is in continuation of the theme of the prior

verses; namely, the explanation of Atman, jnAna, avidya

etc.

To sum, bhagavatpAda has so far taught us that mOksha is

the

prime goal of life, mokshA can be attained by jnAna alone

and that jnAna leads to removal of avidya. But, what is

avidya?

 

Avidya is the primal ignorance of the jIva which thinks

of itself as finite, mortal etc. not realizing its true

Self

(Atman) which is infinite, immortal etc. How should this

avidya be removed? Not by any external agent. In verse 03,

ShrI Shankara mentioned that "karma" cannot remove avidya.

Here, he says that the Atman is self-luminous, meaning, the

Atman is already aware of its true Self. This is a key

concept.

 

No external agent can reveal the Self because the

Self is self-conscious and self-luminous. So, what prevents

it from knowing itself? Avidya. The ontological status of

avidya and its locus will be dealt with in other works of

greater philosophical depth. For now, it suffices to think

of avidya as that which prevents the jIva from realizing

its true Self(Atman).

 

Continuing with the earlier simile, in which avidya is

likened to darkness, here ShrI Shankara offers another

simile where avidya is likened to the darkness cast by the

clouds that obstruct sun light. What are these clouds?

We shall see later that these clouds are nothing but mAyA.

Once these clouds(mAya) go away, the darkness cast by them

(avidya) also vanishes and lets us bask in the radiant sun

light(brahman).

 

PS : I have added a couple of extra verses today because

they are on a related theme and naturally go together.

 

 

 

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