"The Self – its nature (verses 124-135) : "

 

The Self – its nature (verses 124-135) :

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124. Now I will tell you of the Real Nature of the supreme Self, realizing which, one becomes free from all bondage and attains liberation.

　

　

125. Something there is, the Absolute Entity, the eternal substratum for the experience of ego-sense. It is the Witness of the three states and is distinct from all the five sheaths.

　

　

126. That which knows everything that happens in the waking, dream, and deep-sleep states, That which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions, That which is the essence behind the ego, That is ?'This'—the Self.

　

　

127. That which sees all but which no one can see; That which illumines the intellect etc., but which they cannot illumine, That is the "Self."

　

　

128. That by which this universe is pervaded, but which is not pervaded by anything, which when It shines, the entire universe shines as It‘s reflection, That is the Self.

　

　

129. That by whose very presence the body and the sense-organs, the mind and the intellect perform their respective functions, like servants!

　

　

130. That, because of which everything—the ego, the body, the sense-objects, and their pleasures etc., are known, as clearly as a jar, is of the nature of eternal knowledge.

　

　

131. This is the innermost Self, the Primordial Being, whose essential nature is the constant experience of indivisible Bliss, which is ever the same. Yet, it constantly gets reflected through differentmental modifications and, commanded by which, the sense-organs and the pranas (vital airs) perform their functions.

　

　

132. In this very body itself, in the secret cave of the intellect which is of the nature of sattva, in the space (akasha) spoken of as the unmanifest, the the Self (Atman), of captivating splendor, shines like the sun, high in the sky, illumining this universe by its very effulgence.

　

　

　

133. The knower of the modifications of the mind and the ego, and the activities of the body, the sense-organs and the vital airs (pranas), which apparently take their forms like fire in a ball of iron, is the Self, which neither acts nor changes in the least.

　

　

　

134. Neither it is born nor does It die; neither does It grow nor does It decay; being eternal, It does not undergo any change. Even when this body is destroyed, It does not cease to exist, like the space in a jar does not become extinct when the jar is broken.,

　

　

　

135. Different from primordial nature (prakriti) and its modifications is the Supreme Self, of the nature of pure knowledge. It is Absolute and directly manifests the entire gross and subtle universe, in waking and other states, as the substratum of the steady sense of egoism. It manifests Itself as the Witness of the intellect