What is intended to be
said here is that when the soul, in a dream, musters together the
occurrences and objects of different times and places, when, in fact,
congruity in respect of both time and place does not apply to it, it must
be regarded to have an existence that is distinct and independent of the
senses and the body.
677. The object of this is to show that the Soul has only knowledge of
the pleasures and pains arising in consequence of Sattwa and Rajas and
Tamas and in connection with the three states of the understanding due to
the same three attributes. The Soul, however, though knowing them, does
not enjoy or suffer them. He is only the silent and inactive Witness of
everything.
678. The object of the simile is to show that as wind is a separate
entity although existing with the fire in a piece of wood, so the Soul,
though existing with the senses is distinct from them.
679. The Bengal texts read indriyanam which I adopt. The Bombay edition
reads indriyendriyam, meaning the sense of the senses, in the same way as
the Srutis declare that is the Prana of Prana, the eye of the eye, the
ear of the ear, etc., Sravanena darsanam tatha kritam is 'apprehended by
the ear,' i.e., as rendered above, 'apprehended through the aid of the
Srutis.'
680. The commentator uses the illustration of a tree. Before birth the
tree was not; and after destruction, it is not; only in the interim, it
is. Its formlessness or nothingness is manifest from these two states,
for it has been said that which did not exist in the past and will not
exist in the future cannot be regarded as existing in the present.
Pages:
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788
2789
2790
2791
2792
2793
2794
2795
2796
2797
2798
2799
2800
2801
2802
2803
2804
2805
2806
2807
2808