Atma Bodha - Post 45

Verse 35

अहमाकाशवत्सर्वं बहिरन्तर्गतोऽच्युतः ।

सदासर्वसमः सिद्धो निःसङ्गो निर्मलोऽचलः ॥ ३५॥

AHAM AAKAASHA-VAT SARVAM

BAHIH ANTAR-GATAH ACHYUTAH

SADAA SARVA-SAMAH SHUDDHAH

NISSANGAH NIRMALAH ACHALAH

[Like Space I fill all things within and without. Changeless, always the same in all, ever pure, unattached, stainless and motionless (am I).]

Aham, that is, I, am all pervading, internally and externally, in everything, much like the all pervading space (Akasa) that I see.

In the external world of Sareera Thrayam (the 3 bodies) and Bahya Prapancha (external world) – I  am the existence principle, the principle of Sath.

In the internal world of thoughts and emotions in the Manas (or Mind) – and all its associate parts like Ahamkara, Chittha and Buddhi, I am the consciousness principle or the principle of Chith.

 

I am Achyuthaha.  I never ever fall to the dualities of Samsaara and I am always my own protector and savior. I have no arrival or departure. I have no such limitations.

I am Sadaa  Sarva Samaha. I am the same to everyone. I exist everywhere and equally in all (Sarva), all the time (Sadaa). I have no differences based on any mundane distinctions – like caste, religion, sex, status and so on. All Naama roopas (Names and Forms) which differentiate all beings and objects have no relevance for me.

I am Siddhaha : It can mean either a Self evident person or  a liberated person. I do not need any proof for myself. I am the proof of everything else, as the one consciousness principle enlightening all others. I am also the ever liberated one.

I am Nissangaha. I am not related to, not connected to and not attached to anyone or anything in the creation. For worldly matters (vyavahaara), I may be a father, son, wife and so on. But, I have no attachments to these names and forms, which come at some point of time and space and go at some other point of time and space. They are ephemeral and transitory. In meditation, I negate all these relationships as binding forms and look upon myself as ever free.

I amNirmalaha.  There are no disturbances and no impurity in me – from any worldly relationships and attachments.  Even good remembrances come after us and disturb us. Good or bad, I am free of all past, present and future relationships and occurrences. I am free of anxieties, sorrows and all effects of Samsaara.

 

It is not that worldly relationships do not exist for me in a worldly sense for transaction purposes. But, these will not bind me and create disturbances and impurities in me. These will remain at the level of Sareera Thrayam and Chidhabhasa and I remain free of their bondages.

I am Achalaha. When no relationship and occurrences bind me, none of them can shake me. People around me are born and they also die. They undergo the travails of Samsaara. Even this body (for referral purpose, I may say, my Sareera Thrayam) is undergoing all changes like old age, diseases and so on.

But, I remain unshaken and unmoved. I, as consciousness, is knowledge myself and even the most difficult situations cannot shake me. As Atma Jnani, I do not get hurt by others, nor do I hurt others.

“Akashavat Sarvam” – The Simile of Space Again:

The only simile that can compare with our ever expanding consciousness is Space itself. That is captured in, “I fill all things within and without.” Space, as inspiring and expansive as it is, is just a concept in the mind. We can only compare the Self to it, but the Self goes beyond it; It has no second to be compared with. 

However, there is a strong point of similarity: The Self, like space, allows everything to exist in It, yet is not contaminated by anything else. 

This is the context in which we used the same simile earlier, in verse 10, where it was from the angle of ignorance that we looked at space – as being cut up by our limited individuality into units. This time the context is the opposite.

We are seeing it from the angle of the enlightened sage. It is unlimited and pristinely pure. Reality can have no qualities. If it had, then there would need to be another Reality that would support those qualities. Extending this reasoning would lead to an infinite regression that makes the hypothesis illogical.

Love.