the Self, by nature Being Knowledge Bliss

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE][Originally

Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages hadwritten several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutrasand thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiryto accomplish their purpose.From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed thesalient

points

into

Sanskrit

verse

in

a

work

of

twelve

chapters,called Sri Advaita

Bodha Deepika.Still later, some great man seems to have translated thisinto Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eightchapters

of

the

same

are

found

published.]THE MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT8-9. Disciple: How does association with mind entangle theSelf in samsara?Master: Mind whose nature is always to be thinking of this andthat, functions in the two modes — the `I' mode and `this' mode,as already mentioned in Chapter I on Superimposition. Of thesetwo, the I-mode has always the single concept `I', whereas thethis-mode varies according to the quality operating at the time,satva, rajas or tamas, i.e., clearness, activity or dullness.D.: Who has said so before?10-11. M.: Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said that the mindhas these qualities, satva, rajas and tamas and changesaccordingly. In satva, dispassion, peace, beneficence, etc.,manifest; in rajas, desire, anger, greed, fear, efforts, etc., manifest;in tamas, sloth, confusion, dullness, etc.12-14. Unchanged Pure Knowledge by nature, the SupremeSelf when associated with the mind changing according to theoperative qualities, becomes identified with it.D.: How can that be?M.: You see how water is of itself cold and tasteless. Yetby association, it can be hot, sweet, bitter, sour, etc. Similarlythe Self, by nature Being-Knowledge-Bliss, when associatedwith the I-mode, appears as the ego. Just as cold water in unionwith heat becomes hot, so also the Blissful Self in union withthe `I'- mode becomes the misery-laden ego. Just as water,originally tasteless, becomes sweet, bitter or sour according toits associations, so also the Self of Pure Knowledge appearsdispassionate, peaceful, beneficent, or passionate, angry, greedy,or dull and indolent, according to the quality of the this-modeat the moment.15. The sruti says that the Self associated with prana, etc.,appears respectively as prana, mind, intellect, the earth and theother elements, desire, anger, dispassion, etc.16. Accordingly associated with the mind, the Self seemschanged to jiva, sunk in the misery of endless samsara, beingdeluded by innumerable illusions, like I, you, it, mine, yours, etc.