Drg Drsya Viveka 12 Trans/Notes

DDV12

The subtle body is the material cause of ego and mind. It is one and insentient in nature. It is born, cycles through its three states for a time, and dies.

~A

Mano’haṅkṛtyupādānaṁ liṅgamekaṁ jaḍātmakam, avasthātrayam-anveti jāyate mriyate tathā.

 मनः-अहंकृति-उपादानम् – constituted of mind and ego; लिङ्गम् – subtle (body); एकम् – one; जडात्मकम् – insentient in nature; अवस्था त्रयम् – the three states; अन्वेति – goes through; जायते – is born; म्रियते – dies; तथा – and

The one insentient subtle (body) which is constituted of mind and ego, goes through the three states, and it is born and it dies.

~T

मनोऽहंकृत्युपादानं the material cause of mind and egoism एकं one जडात्मकं of the nature of insentiency लिङ्ग subtle body अवस्थात्रयं the three states अन्वेति attains तथा similarly जायते is born म्रियते dies.

The subtle (1) body, which is the material cause of the mind and egoism, is one (2) and of the nature (3) of insentiency. It moves (4) in the three states and is born and it dies.

~N

Notes

The subtle body is also called the liṅga śarīra, ‘Liṅga’ – to know. That by which something is known, symbolised, or indicated is called a ‘liṅgam’. For instance, smoke is the liṅgam of fire, Śivaliṅga, a symbol of Lord Śīva. SOS signals trouble and singing in the bathroom indicates a good mood. The subtle body is the indicator of life in the body. When the senses, prāṅas and mind function, we say the man is alive. He is certified dead when the pulse, breathing and heart beats stop.

~T

Here the author adds an incidental information which is required for further development. Until now the mind that has the substantial and the thought portions had been discussed. This two-fold mind is a part of the parent body called subtle body, which is the material cause of the mind. The subtle body is the invisible body behind the visible, live physical body. The subtle body consists of the five organs of knowledge, five organs of action, five-fold physiological systems called prāna along with the mind and thought. All these together is one unit. So it can also be said that the subtle body has three states of experience. Previously it was said that the three states of experience belong to the mind and here it is said that the three states of experience belong to the subtle body.

The cycle of birth and death has been going on from beginning-less time and will go on endlessly unless the individual gets jñānam. With this verse, the author concludes the discussion of the formation and function of the three seers. Hereafter the author gets into the main topic of the text, namely the cause of saṃsāra and its remedy.

~P

I have come to understand from the tvam-pada analysis, by examining the word tvam, that it means ātmā aham, sākṣī dṛg eva natu dṛśyate. This is what I understood, nothing more. How this ātmā is jagat-kāraṇam brahma? How? It is only sākṣī. How can there be an equation? Therefore, the whole nature of sṛṣṭi has to be talked about. That is the next topic. Therefore, although it looks as if the next topic śakti-dvayaṁ hi māyāyāḥ vikṣepāvṛti-rūpakam iti is coming from nowhere, it is not nowhere. It is the other side of tat-tvam-asi; tvam asi meaning ‘you are’ is one side of the equation and tat meaning ‘that’ is the other side. That is being brought in here.

~D

Translators / Commentators Legend

A: Aumdada

D: Dayananda

N: Nikhilananda

P: Paramarthananda

S: Sandeepany

T: Tejomayananda