Tattvabodha can be looked at as
having 4 distinct segments. The first segment after establishing the anubandha
catustayam (अनुबन्ध चातुष्टयं) or the intended recipient of the text, its
subject matter, its purpose and the relation of the text to its purpose went on
to elaborate on the qualifications that a seeker of the Truth needs to possess.
Having concluded this segment we now enter into the second segment which
elaborates in detail who an individual is and what his true nature is. The Self
is first defined in negative terms in terms of what it is not and then its true
nature is asserted.
The segment begins with the inquisitive student asking
of the learned teacher what atman (आत्मन्) is and the teacher in the traditional
manner of all Vedantic literature providing a terse response which shall then
be elaborated in great detail.
आत्मा कः ?
स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीराद्व्यतिरिक्तः
पञ्चकोशातीतः सन्
अवस्थात्रयसाक्षी
सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः सन्
यस्तिष्ठति स
आत्मा ।
What is the Self? That which is other than the gross,
subtle and causal bodies, beyond the five sheaths, the witness of the three
states of consciousness and of the nature of existence-consciousness-happiness
is the Self.
We had seen previously how a colorless crystal can
appear green or blue when held before a piece of green or blue cloth. The piece
of cloth in this example is referred to as upadhi (उपाधि) in Vedantic phraseology
and the crystal is referred to as the upahita (उपहित). The three bodies, five
sheaths and the three states of consciousness are the upadhi (उपाधि) for the
Self and they condition the Self based on their own attributes. We shall now
expound in detail the three bodies, five sheaths and the three states of
consciousness and understand their attributes so we can identify how their
attributes are conditioning the Self. It is this conditioning that is the basis
for mistaking the non-Self for the Self. Without the conditioning, the Self, as
we had seen previously is of the nature of limitless existence, consciousness
and fullness.
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