THE NATURE OF THE SUPREME
SELF (ATMAN)
extract form the book Vivekachudamani by Sankaracharya
124. Now I am going to tell thee of the real nature of the supreme Self, realising which man is freed from bondage and attains Liberation.
125. There is some
Absolute Entity (the Atman), the eternal substratum of the consciousness of
egoism, the witness of the three states, and distinct from the five sheaths or
coverings:
126. Which knows
everything that happens in the waking state, in dream and in profound sleep;
which is aware of the presence or absence of the mind and its functions; and
which is the background of the notion of egoism. – This is That.
127. Which Itself sees
all, but which no one beholds, which illumines the intellect etc., but which
they cannot illumine. – This is That.
128. By which this
universe is pervaded, but which nothing pervades, which shining, all this
(universe) shines as Its reflection. – This is That.
129. By whose very
presence the body, the organs, mind and intellect keep to their respective
spheres of action, like servants !
130. By which everything
from egoism down to the body, the sense-objects and pleasure etc., is known as
palpably as a jar – for It is the essence of Eternal Knowledge !
131. This is the innermost
Self, the primeval Purusha (Being), whose essence is the constant realisation
of infinite Bliss, which is ever the same, yet reflecting through the different
mental modifications, and commanded by which the organs and Pranas perform
their functions.
132. In this very body, in
the mind full of Sattva, in the secret chamber of the intellect, in the Akasha
known as the Unmanifested, the Atman, of charming splendour, shines like the
sun aloft, manifesting this universe through Its own effulgence.