The sky, when associated with a vessel or with the liquor in the vessel, is not affected by them. Similarly, the Atman, which is associated with the limiting adjunct (body–mind–complex), never gets affected by its characteristics.
Annotation
The infinite space appears delimited by a vessel or by the liquor in the vessel but it is not affected by either. Similarly, in the case of the realised person the Atman is not affected by the limiting adjunct – the body–mind–complex which continues till the person attains videha–kaivalyam (Jagadguru). The expression videha–kaivalyam refers to the stage of destruction of not only the gross body but also of the subtle body in the case of a realised person. The word ‘ghata’ refers to the body–mind–complex and the ‘smell of liquor’ refers to the activities of the person till the fall of the body.