Atma - 33-Amanastvānna me

Atmabodha Commentary by Swami Paramarthananda

Agitated Vs Peaceful state
(Verse 33)
amanastvānna mē duḥkharāgadvēṣabhayādayaḥ | aprāṇō hyamanāḥ śubhraḥ ityādi śrutiśāsanāt ||

When we say ahaṁ Brahma asmi, another doubt that will come is that I have so many worries, all the time I am agitated and tense, whereas, Brahman is said to be śāntaṁ śivaṁ niṣkalaṁ etc. How can Brahman the embodiment of peace and I, the embodiment of agitation, be identical?

For that Śaṅkarācārya gives the answer. Whenever we say agitiation, again it refers to manō vṛtti which belongs to Anātmā. And ‘I’ the Ātmā has no connection to the mind at all. Because mind is mithyā and ahaṁ is satyaṁ. And therefore amanastvāt – since ‘I’ am totally free from the mind – duḥkha rāga dvēṣa bhayādayaḥ na mē santi. Na mē santi – for ‘me’ they are not there. ‘They’ refers to duḥkha – sorrow; rāga – attachment; dvēṣa – hatred; bhaya – fear – ādi padāt kāma, krōdha, lōbha mōha, mada, mātsaryaṁ etc. – all of them.

How do we know that Ātmā is free from mind, body etc? He gives the Śruti quotation here also; Aprāṇō hyamanāḥ śubhraḥ ityādi śrutiśāsanāt. Divyō hyamūrtaḥ puruṣaḥ sa bāhyābhyantarō hyajaḥ. Aprāṇō hyamanāḥ śubhrō hyakṣarātparataḥ parah: Muṇḍakōpaniṣat. So since Ātmā is free from prāṇaḥ, is free from manaḥ and is śubhraḥ, meaning Ātmā is free from ignorance also, Ātmā is sūkṣma śarīra rahitaṁ, kāraṇa śarīra rahitaṁ. Śubhraṁ refers to kāraṇa śarīra rahitaṁ. Aprāṇō hyamanāḥ refers to sūkṣma śarīra rahitaṁ. And divyō hyamūrtaḥ – here amūrtaḥ refers to Sthūla śarīra rahitaṁ. Thus Ātmā is Sthūla, sūkṣma, kāraṇa śarīra rahitaṁ.

Here we should note a subtle difference. First we say Ātmā is different from three śarīraṁs. Next we say Ātmā is free from three śarīraṁs. Can you see the difference?
• When we say Ātmā is different from three śarīraṁs, we don’t negate the three śarīraṁs. The three śarīraṁs are there, Ātmā is different from them. Here there is dvaitaṁ. If I say I

am different from you, it would mean that I am there and you are also there. Similarly first I say Ātmā is Sthūla sūkṣma kāraṇa śarīrāt vyatiriktaḥ. This is only the first stage.
• Later I should say that the Sthūla sūkṣma kāraṇa śarīraṁs are not at all there. First we accept that they are existent. Later we say that the three śarīraṁs are not at all there. They are adhyāsā. They are kāryaṁ, māyikaṁ, nāma rūpaṁ. Therefore, prapañcāḥ naasti. Ityādi śruti śāsanāt. Śāsanāt means vākyāt.

And therefore, whenever we say ahaṁ Brahma asmi, we should be clear about the meaning of ahaṁ. When saying ahaṁ if we are referring to the śarīraṁs, it would mean we remember only our relative status like brother, sister etc. So when I say “you are Brahman” – you should have got out of your body, mind, intellect etc. and as caitanyaṁ, ahaṁ Brahma asmi, is correct.

So this is how sandēha nivṛtti has to be done.