|| तत्वबोध -- 16||

|TB-16| Athma lakshaNam..

आत्मा तर्हि कः |

 Now that the student hears a new term, all that he has to dos is to ask,"what is this AthmA?" His guru now has to answer, not to brush him aside, but to drive him to a location from where he can not BUT see (understand) what AthmA is..! 
Now the guru answers.

स्थूल सूक्ष्म कारण शरीरात् वतिरिक्तः पञच कोशातीतः सन् अवस्थात्रय साक्षी सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः यः तिष्टति सः आत्मा |TB-16|

AthmA is that which is "DIFFERENT FROM", STANDS APART FROM" sThUla SarIram(gross or physical body), sUkshma SarIram (subtle body), kAraNa SarIram (causal body); that which transcends the five layers of our awareness (mistakenly represented by EVERY ONE except Sankara as five sheaths..!!); that which is the witness of three states of everybody's existence; that which is the very essence of sath, chith, and Anadham (another mistake uniformly committed by EVERY ONE except Sankara AS EXISTENCE, KNOWLEDGE, BLISS!!); 

Now count the numbe of new terms introduced by the guru..! The student wanted to know about "AthmA".. the guru counted 3 bodies, 5 koSAs, 3 states of our existence, and also 3 terms sath, chith, Anandham.. for a total of 14 terms..

Now you are probably guessing that the teacher has uttered a mouthful and so he will have the floor to himself.. ! In fact for quite some time to come, the guru will be definign onerm after the other.. why?

Becasue physical body has parts tht needs to be defined..!
The suble body.. same thing..!
The causal body? even though the student may not ask it.. the guru HAS to explain it..

Then the five koSAs.. what are they? why is it necessary to define them?

then what ARE the three states?

The student having heard from the guru the essential nature of AthmA or sath, chith, Anandha.. what are they?

Looks like we are in for a treat here.. IF AND IF ONLY WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO HANG IN thathvaboDha: AS A DEDICATED STUDENT..

SHALL I GO FURTHER???

You tell me..!!!

hari: om..

Mani

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