Prose-section 27
In plain words
“When you set aside these five sheaths as not the Self, what is left at the end of that setting aside is the Self: distinct from them, the witness of the three states, its own light, changeless, stainless, eternal knowledge and bliss. Devadatta knows the pot he sees; he is not the pot and takes on none of its properties. Just so the Self knows the five sheaths, is none of them, takes on none of their properties, and is left over, alone. It is this Self you must know as ‘I.’” The disciple said: “Teacher, when I have reasoned away all five sheaths as mere appearance, I find nothing called ‘I’ but a sheer void. What other Self is there to be known as ‘I’?” The teacher said: “Learned disciple, you are good at enquiry, and what you say is true. There is a rule: whatever knows a thing as ‘this’ is its witness; what does not know it is not. The ego and the other seen things are unsteady and keep changing form; you know them when they are there, and you know the void when they are gone. What knows both, standing over them as knowledge, is their witness. It needs nothing further to know it, and knows itself by its own light, so it is witness to itself as well. It is one through waking, dream and sleep; it is the inward Self; in the Heart it shines of itself, always, as ‘I, I.’ Know this eternal knowledge and bliss, with a very subtle understanding, as ‘I.’ “A fool looks at the sun reflected in the water in a pot and calls it the sun. A wise man leaves aside pot, water and reflection and knows the sun as it is, alone in the sky, untouched, lighting all three and shining by itself. In the same way the ignorant fool, deluded, takes as ‘I’ the individual self, the reflection of the Self that appears in the intellect within the body. The wise man leaves aside body, intellect and reflected consciousness, enquires carefully and knows his own true Self: one, in the space of the Heart, knowing all this, eternal, filling everything and lighting everything, subtle and all-pervading, other than being and non-being, shining by itself with no inside or outside, undivided knowledge. Knowing it, he is stainless, free of birth and death, afraid of nothing, without sorrow, and becomes unmoving, dense bliss. “The knower who knows, by direct experience, as ‘I,’ the Brahman that is real, knowledge, limitless, bliss, one in essence, eternal, unbroken, self-established, pure, inward and not other, does not come back into samsara; he is that non-dual Brahman of bliss. So the knowledge that Brahman and the Self are one, ‘I am Brahman,’ is the chief means of release from the bondage of samsara. For the seeker there is no other way out of bondage than this knowledge. So you too, know yourself always by direct experience: ‘I am Brahman; Brahman am I; Brahman alone am I.’”
Word for word
“When the five sheaths are negated as not-Self, at the end of that negation the Self alone remains evident: distinct from them, witness of the three states, self-luminous, changeless, stainless, eternal knowledge and bliss. Like Devadatta knowing a pot without being the pot or acquiring its attributes, it knows the five sheaths without being them or acquiring their attributes. Know this Self as ‘I.’” The disciple asked: “Teacher, after reasoning negates all five sheaths as wholly apparent, we see nothing as ‘I’ except sheer void. What other reality of Self remains to be known as ‘I’?” The teacher answered: “Learned disciple, you are adept in enquiry and have spoken truly. What knows something as ‘this’ witnesses it; what does not know it cannot be its witness. The Self knows both the presence of unstable seen things such as ego and the void that is their absence. Being knowledge beyond these, it witnesses both. Without anything further needed to know it, it knows itself by its own radiance and is witness to itself. One through waking, dream and deep sleep, inward and ever shining spontaneously in the heart as ‘I, I,’ it is eternal knowledge and bliss. Know it as ‘I’ through very subtle understanding. “The undiscerning calls the sun’s reflection in pot-water the sun. The discerning sets aside pot, water and reflection and knows the self-shining sun, alone and unaffected in the sky, illumining all three. Similarly, ignorance takes as ‘I’ the individual reflection of the Self appearing in the intellectual adjunct within the body. The discriminating knower sets aside body, intellect and reflected consciousness, carefully enquires into and knows his true Self: one in the heart-space, knowing all these, eternal, pervading and illumining everything, subtle, pervasive, distinct from being and non-being, self-luminous without inside or outside, and undivided knowledge. He thereby becomes stainless, free of birth and death, fearless, sorrowless and unmoving, solid bliss in nature. “The knower directly recognises Brahman as it is, as ‘I’: real, knowledge, limitless, blissful, undivided, eternal, continuous, self-established, pure, inward and non-different. He does not return to samsara and is that non-dual blissful Brahman. Thus knowledge of Brahman–Self identity, ‘I am Brahman,’ is the principal means of release. Since there is no other way to release apart from this knowledge, you too always know yourself directly: ‘I am Brahman; Brahman am I; Brahman alone am I.’”