Shloka
घनच्छन्नदृष्टिर्घनच्छन्नमर्कं
यथा निष्प्रभं मन्यते चातिमूढः ।
तथा बद्धवद्भाति यो मूढदृष्टेः
स नित्योपलब्धिस्वरूपोऽहमात्मा ॥१०॥
ghanacchannadṛṣṭirghanacchannamarkaṃ
yathā niṣprabhaṃ manyate cātimūḍhaḥ ;
tathā baddhavadbhāti yo mūḍhadṛṣṭeḥ
sa nityopalabdhisvarūpo’hamātmā .10.
हस्तामलकीयभाष्यम्
किं च —
घनेन मेघेन छन्ना तिरोहिता दृष्टिः दर्शनं यस्य सः घनच्छन्नदृष्टिः पुरुषः घनच्छन्नम् अर्कम् आदित्यं यथा येन घनच्छन्नत्वप्रकारेण मन्यते जानाति निष्प्रभं प्रभारहितम् अप्रकाशस्वभावमिति यावत् । मूढो मन्यते घनच्छन्नदृष्टित्वात् प्रकाशस्वभावमपि रविम् अप्रकाशं पश्यतीत्याह — अतिमूढ इति । अतिमूर्खत्वात् स्वात्मनो दृष्टिविघातमगणयन् सूर्यमेव अप्रकाशं मन्यते । पादपूरणे चकारः । तथा तेन प्रकारेण अविद्याच्छन्नदृष्टिः बुद्धिमात्मत्वेन गृहीत्वा तद्गतदुःखादिकम् आत्मन्यध्यारोप्य बद्ध इव आभाति यः मूढदृष्टेः सोऽहमात्मेति सम्बन्धः ॥
English Translation of Hastamalakiyam
Just as a very ignorant person whose vision is obstructed by a cloud thinks that the sun, covered by a cloud, is devoid of brilliance, so also, to a person who is deluded by Avidya the Atma appears as bound. That Atma which is of the nature of eternal consciousness I am.
English translation and Notes of Hastamalakiya Bhashya
Due to Avidya, ignorance of one’s real nature, a person identifies himself with the body-mind complex and looks upon himself as a limited being, in bondage. Even when a person thinks of himself as bound and suffering, he is really the ever-blissful Brahman. It is not as if he is initially in bondage and becomes liberated when he realizes that he is in fact Brahman itself. It is only the ignorance of one’s real nature that has to be removed. When what appears to be a snake is realized to be only a rope, it is not as if the snake has gone away and a rope has come in its place. It was only the rope that was always there, but was wrongly seen as a snake. So also, it is not as if there was really bondage earlier, and liberation was attained on the dawn of Self-knowledge.