Thursday 10 November 2016

Ishavasyopanishad -8

Mantra 5

तदेजति तन्नैजति तददूरे तद्वन्तिके

तदन्तरस्य सर्वस्य तदु सर्वस्यास्य बाह्यतः |


It moves, and it moves not. It is far, and it is near. It is inside all this, and also outside all this.

The movement of the atman is like the movement of the sun with reference to a perceiver. The sun does not really move; only the clouds move. It is the mind that shifts its centres of thought, and consciousness appears to follow it because of its omnipresent nature. The mind cannot move outside the reality of the atman. Its motion is within Truth, but, because it works in terms of forms or particular centres, it moves and changes itself. And because the atman-consciousness is reflected through the mind, the reflection appears to move when really the medium it is that moves. In itself, the atman does not move, because it is eternal. It is very far, because it is infinite and without boundaries. Also it appears to be very far to the ignorant, because it is not possible to know it even in crores (tens of millions) of births through any worldly means. It is very near, because it is the heart of all. It is nearer than even the mind. It is the central existence of every being here; there is nothing nearer than the atman. It is inside all this, because it is the subtlest principle immanent in everything. It is outside everything, because it is the supreme transcendental being outside all names and forms. It is not exhausted in this universe. In the Purusha Sukta it is said figuratively that 3/4th of God is outside the universe.

The atman is intense knowledge, without internal or external restrictions.


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