Prose-section 42
In plain words
This Self, Brahman in nature, the witness of all and its own light, shines without a break in the sheath of intellect as ‘I, I’, yet it is other than all five sheaths. Pointed to by the experience ‘I’, it shines as the Self alone, always immediately present. Fix your heart firmly in Brahman, the thing aimed at. Keep each outer sense in its own place, hold the body still and pay it no heed. Practise a single, unbroken current of thought of the undivided oneness of Brahman and Self, ‘I am Brahman; Brahman alone am I’, with no thought of any other kind, and so make the mind still little by little. Know fully the complete experience of the oneness of Self and supreme, and drink the essence of Brahman’s bliss always and gladly. What use is thinking about the worthless world of body and all that is not Self? Give up this low thinking about the not-Self, the cause of every sorrow. Know firmly as ‘I’ the Self that is bliss, which you are. Take the sense of ‘I’ away from the ego and the rest, stay as indifferent to them as to pots and cloth, and keep thinking only of the Self, which brings liberation.
Word for word
This self-luminous Self, Brahman in nature and witness of all, though constantly shining as ‘I, I’ in the intellectual sheath, is distinct from the five sheaths. It shines as the ever-immediate Self alone, indicated by the experience ‘I’. Establish the heart steadily in Brahman as this aim. Settle each external sense in its own seat, keep the body still and maintain unconcern towards it. Through practice of an uninterrupted, homogeneous modification of undivided Brahman-Self identity—‘I am Brahman; Brahman alone am I’—without other, dissimilar modifications, gradually make the mind motionless. Fully knowing the complete experience of identity of Self and the supreme, always drink joyfully the essence of Brahman-bliss. What use is thinking of the paltry non-Self world of body and the rest? Relinquish this lowly contemplation of non-Self, the cause of all suffering. Firmly know the bliss-Self that is oneself as ‘I’. Remove ‘I’-identification from ego and the rest and remain unconcerned towards them as towards pots, cloth and other objects. Constantly contemplate the Self alone, which brings liberation.