6.18 The Self as consciousness may be known as Kūṭastha, Brahman, Jīva or Īśvara just as space (Ākāśa) may be known in different circumstances such as space in a pot, great space, space conditioned by water and space conditioned by a cloud of particles.
~tr-Denton
Jīva, Kūṭastha, Īśvara, Brahman The relationships between these terms should be understood.
Brahman is that which is one without a second, it is by nature existence, consciousness and bliss. When Brahman apparently exercises the power of Māyā, the cosmic power responsible for creation, then Brahman is called Īśvara. Brahman in its natural state is Nirguṇa or Nirviśeṣa but when the power of Maya is exercised, it is Saguna (with qualities), or Saviśeṣa (with qualities) and is termed Īśvara. Remember that Māyā (the measure of creation) is mithyā (illusory) and consequently unreal.
Īśvara created the beings in the world (the non-sentient bodies and minds) and entered into them as Consciousness. This observing consciousness present in all beings is called Kūṭastha as it is unchanging and eternal. When this Kūṭastha (the same in all the bodies and minds) seems to get identified with a particular body and mind it is called the Jīva. This identification is because of reflection of Kūṭastha in the intellect which is then termed Jīva. Jīva is non-eternal and limited because it is reflected in the limited intellect & as it is associated with the limited body and mind. When the Jīva is purified by purification of the mind it is not different from the Ātman.
Brahman or Nirguna Brahman is mahākāśa – unlimited space. Īśvara is the reflection of unlimited space in the various clouds that are seen. Kūṭastha is space limited by a pot – the space inside a pot. The space inside a pot is called Ghatākāśa which is not at all different from Mahākāśa but seems to be different because of the limitation of “pot”. Thus Kūṭastha is Consciousness or Brahman alone but seems to be different from Brahman because of the body-mind complex. But Kūṭastha is never affected by body-mind because it is the witness to the activities of body and mind. Thus there are not “many” Kūṭasthas or Consciousnesses but only one Kūṭastha which seems to be limited by various bodies and minds which by themselves are only illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman.
Jīva is the reflection of Kūṭastha in the water in the pot – reflection of ghata ākāśa in the water in the pot is Jīva. Thus the Jīva is non-eternal and limited only because the reflection has validity only in the water and while the water is there.
~commentary Denton
22. The consciousness which is conditioned by the gross and subtle bodies, on which they are superimposed and which knows no change, is known as Kūṭastha.
~tr-Swahananda
Kūṭastha literally means the immovable, the immutable, that which remains like the unchanging, fixed iron-piece (anvil) on which the blacksmith does all his work. Or it means the top of a mountain which remains unchanged and undisturbed. Or some say that Kūṭa means the changeable world in which the unchangeable remains. It is that part of absolute consciousness on which the individual personality is superimposed.
~commentary Swahananda
23. On the Kūṭastha is superimposed by imagination the intellect (buddhi). The reflection of Kūṭastha in the intellect is animated by vitality and is called the Jīva. It is subject to transmigration.
~tr-Swahananda
Some take buddhi in this context to mean primal nescience.
~commentary Swahananda
24. As the Ākāśa in a pot is concealed by the Ākāśa reflected in the water with which the pot is filled, so Kūṭastha is obscured by Jīva.
~tr-Swahananda
This principle is called mutual obscuring or super-imposition. Ghatākāśa corresponds to Kūṭastha and Jalākāśa to Jīva. The latter covers the former. This erroneous notion of their identity is called Anyonyādhyāsa, mutual superimposition.
~commentary Swahananda
25. Under the delusion of mutual super-imposition the Jīva cannot discriminate and realize that he is not Jīva but Kūṭastha. This non-discrimination is beginningless and is known as the primal nescience.
~tr-Swahananda
32. If Kūṭastha were contradictory to ignorance and its obscuring power then who is the experiencer of this obscuring? It is the discriminating knowledge which is contradictory to ignorance, as is seen in a knower of truth.
~tr-Swahananda
What is it that cannot co-exist with ignorance or Avidyā ? It is knowledge or Viveka which distinguishes reality from illusion. Knowledge of reality is relative, pure consciousness is absolute. Projection of an illusory appearance on reality i.e., attributing erroneously the properties or predicates of one object to another, or simply mistaking one thing for another, is called super-imposition or Vikṣepa (Anyonyādhyāsa, Adhyāsa or Adhyāropa). On Kūṭastha or the portion of all-pervading consciousness the conception of the gross and subtle bodies accompanied by buddhi rests. This buddhi being transparent gives out the reflection of Kūṭastha circumscribed by bodies. This reflection is called Cidābhāsa or Jīva. Now the presence of Avidyā and Āvaraṇa leads one to identify this Cidābhāsa with the real Cit or Kūṭastha.
Because, before the discerning eyes of the knower of Truth the obscuring power of Māyā vanishes—Māyā ceases to delude. Kūṭastha ceases to appear as subtle and gross bodies and shines in its own effulgence. It is this true knowledge of Ātman or Reality born of thorough discrimination between the real and the unreal which cannot coexist with ignorance or the mistaking of one thing as another or even the non-knowledge, which expresses itself as I do not know. The ordinary knowledge which we use in our everyday life is not only not contradictory to ignorance but is necessary for knowing that ignorance. If we do not know our ignorance, we cannot say that we are ignorant, but we do say it, which shows that this knowledge and ignorance co-exist in a very real sense.
~commentary Swahananda
Kutastha is that which is the changeless substratum of the physical and the subtle bodies which the Jiva experiences. This substratum is called the Kutastha because it is unmoving like an anvil, even while it is beaten severely. The intellect which is superimposed on the Kutastha and through which the latter is reflected, becomes the source of the appearance of the Jiva, which is so called because it infuses life into the individuality and appears to get involved in Samsara. As the space reflected in the water of a jar completely covers the real space in it, Jivahood takes the position of the Kutastha and makes it impossible for one to have a direct knowledge of the Kutastha, by mutual superimposition (Anyonya-Adhyasa) of attributes. The existence, consciousness, freedom and bliss of Kutastha are superimposed on Jivahood, and the Jiva begins to feel thereby that it exists as intelligence, freedom, bliss, and so on. Conversely, the changing characters of the Jiva, such as pain, pleasure, etc., are superimposed on the Kutastha, and one begins to feel that one has really these experiences. Thus the Jiva, getting busy with itself and its activities, forgets its own source, and knows it never in its daily life. This forgotten nature is called Mula-Avidya or the original ignorance.
~commentary Krishnananda
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