तत्वविवेकः कः? आत्मा सत्यं तदन्यत् सर्वं मिथ्येति ॥
One must clearly understand definitions of sat (सत्), asat (असत्) and mithyā (मिथ्या). As captured in earlier post under the quality of Vivek (Discrimination), sat refers to the eternal, unchanging existence, in all 3 times (past, present and future) and without any modification (as modification implicitly means destruction of one and the birth of another). On the contrary, asat is something that never exists in ANY of three times, i.e. It never existed in past, doesn’t exist today and will never exist in future. Mithyā refers to the existence in a given time due to one’s experience (perception), and it changes over time. Thus, mithyā is neither sat (as its existence is temporary), nor asat (as it is experienced).
Here the term Tattvaviveka (तत्वविवेक) refers to the ability of discerning the eternal Truth (sat) from the rest. Here “the rest” means the apparent truth (mithyā) and untruth (asat). Upon inquiry, one infers that in any experience, there are two parties, one is “the subject (the experiencer)” and other “the object / world (experienced)”. The object / world is ever changing entity, thus mithyā. However, the subject / experiencer is unchanging and ever existent, thus sat.
However, the experiencer (ātmā) can be defined in various ways based on the context. It may mean body (देह), senses (इन्द्रिय), mind (मनसः), transmigratory principle (जीव) or supreme consciousness. Naturally the student asks clarification for the experiencer, ātmā (आत्मा).
आत्मा कः?
स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीराद्-व्यतिरिक्तः पंचकोशातीतः सन् अवस्थात्रय-साक्षी सच्चिदानन्द-स्वरुपः सन् यस्तिष्ठति स आत्मा ॥
Upon further inquiry, one naturally gets next question as What is Self (ātmā – आत्मा)? Scriptures takes a wonderful approach to define the term ātmā, using its attributes (लक्षण).
Scriptures attempts to define ātmā, the Self, the Subject, the experiencer in three ways.
- Using atad vyāvṛtti lakṣaṇa (अतद् व्यावृत्ति लक्षण) – This is negation principal. It says what Self is NOT.
- Using taṭastha lakṣaṇa (तटस्थ लक्षण) – These are temporal attributes. They describe Self using attributes exhibited at specific times / in a given state.
- Using svarupa lakṣaṇa (स्वरुप लक्षण) – This is the true nature of the Self. Like how sweetness is for sugar.
Using atad vyāvṛtti lakṣaṇa, scriptures explain the Self as what it is NOT. The Self is beyond three bodies (will be covered in detail later). It is not a) the gross body (स्थूलशरीर), nor b) the subtle body (सूक्ष्मशरीर), nor c) the causal body (कारणशरीर). It is also beyond five sheaths (पञ्चकोश) (will be covered in detail later). This a negation or elimination approach (what Self is not).
Using taṭastha lakṣaṇa, the Self is defined through its temporal attributes (i.e. attributes that are associated at a given time). The Self is defined as a witness of the three states of existence (will be covered in detail later).They are a) Waking state (जाग्रदवस्था), b) Dream state (स्वप्नावस्था) and c) Deep sleep state (सुषुप्त्यवस्था). Thus, it is referred as witness of three states (अवस्थात्रय-साक्षी).
Finally, using svarupa lakṣaṇa, the Self is defined using its true nature. The Self is defined as eternal existence (sat), Consciousness / Awareness (chit) and Bliss / Peace (ānanda). Thus, it is the existence-consciousness-bliss (सत् + चित + आनन्द = सच्चिदानन्द).
Read next तत्वबोध – 4 of 11: The Three Bodies
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