now i shall explain discrimination between Atman (Self) and the non-Atman (non-Self), which you must learn.
Listen carefully; then realize the truth of its within your own soul. Man is in bondage becasue he mistakes what is non-Atman for his real Self. This is caused by ignorance. Hence follows the misery of birth and death.
Through ignorance, man identifies the Atman with the body, taking the perishable for the real. Therefore he nourishes this body, anoints it, and guards it carefully. He becomes enmeshed in the things of the senses like a caterpillar in the threads of its cocoon.
The Atman is indivisible, eternal, one without a second. It is eternally made manifest by the power of its own knowledge. It glories are infinite. The veil of tamas (darkness) hides the true nature of the Atman, just an eclipse hides the rays of the sun.
When the pure rays of the Atman are thus concealed, the deluded man identifies himself with his body with his body which is non-Atman. Then rajas (ignorant distractions) which has the power of projecting illusroy forms, afflicts him sorely. It binds him with chains of lust, anger, and other passions.
The Atmans bondage to the non-Atman springs from ignorance. it has no external cause. It will continue indefinitely until a man becomes enlightened. As long as a man remains in the bondage it subjects him to a long train of miseries - birth, death, sickness, decrepitude and so forth.
This bondage cannot be broken by weapons, or by wind, or by fire, or by millions of acts. Nothing but the sharp sword of knowledge can cut through this bondage. it is forged by discrimination and made keen by purity of heart, through divine grace. Tdhe wise man who seeks liberation from bondage must discriminate between Atman and non-Atman. In this way, he can realize the Atman, which is Infinite Being, Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Love. Thus he finds happiness.
The body is a bundle of bones held together by flesh. Its a very dirty and full of filth. The body can never be the same as the self-existant Atman, the knower. The nature of the Atman is quite different from that of the body. Man is pure spirit, free from atachment. The ind deludes him. It binds him with the bonds of the body, the sense organs and the life breath. It creates in him the sense of "I" and "Mine."
The error of identifying Atman with non-Atman is the cause of man's birth, death and rebirth. This false identification is created by the mind. Therefore its the mind that causes the misery of birth and death and rebirth for the man who has no discriminatin and is tainted by rajas and tamas (dullness)
Therefore the seeker after liberation must work carefully to purify the mind. Practice detachment toward all actions. Have faith in the Reality. Devote yourself to the practice of spiritual disciplines, such as hearing the word of Brahman (the truth of Self), reasoning (constantly reflecting) and meditating upon it. Thus the mind will be free from the evil of rajas (ignorant distractions)
The Atman is pure consciousness, clearly manifests as underlying the states of waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. It is inwardly experienced as unbroken consciousneses. It is the unchanging witness that experiences the ego, the intellect and the rest, with their various forms and changes. It is realized within ones own heart as existence, knowledge and bliss absolute. Realize this Atman within the shrine of your own heart.
The body, the covering of intellect, the reflection of consciousess upon it - none of these are Atman. The Atman is the witness, infinite consiousness, revealer of all things but distict from all, no matter whether they be gross or subtle. It is the eternal relaity, omnipresent, all-pervading, the subtlest of all subtlties. It has neither inside nor outside. It is the real I, hidden in the shrine of the heart. Realiza fully the truth of Atman. Be free from evil and impurity, and you shall pass beyond death.
shankara's crest jewel of discrimination (viveka-chudamani ) translation by swami prabahjavanda and christorper isherwood.
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