Shloka
रवेर्यथा कर्मणि साक्षिभावो
वह्नेर्यथा वायसि दाहकत्वम् ।
रज्जोर्यथारोपितवस्तुसङ्ग -
स्तथैव कूटस्थचिदात्मनो मे ॥ ५०७ ॥
raveryathā karmaṇi sākṣibhāvo
vahneryathā vāyasi dāhakatvam ;
rajjoryathāropitavastusaṅga -
stathaiva kūṭasthacidātmano me . 507 .
Anvaya
- अविकारम्avikāram
- Unchanging
- उदासीनंudāsīnaṃ
- the transcendent
- गृह–धर्माःgṛha–dharmāḥ
- the properties of a house
- प्रदीप–वत्pradīpa–vat
- like (they do not affect) the lamp
- देह–इन्द्रिय–मनो–धर्माःdeha–indriya–mano–dharmāḥ
- the properties of the body, mind and senses
- न एवna eva
- never
- आत्मानं स्पृशन्तिātmānaṃ spṛśanti
- affect the Atman
- अहोaho
- what a wonder!
Translation
For me, who am the unchanging consciousness, attribution of activity is like (as fictitious as) calling the Sun as the witness for human actions, like attributing the burning nature of fire to the iron and like attributing bondage with the superimposed object to the rope.
Annotation
Just as the sun is a mere witness to all human activity, I, the unchanging consciousness, am a witness to the actions of the body–mind–complex. Just as the burning nature of fire is attributed to iron – in the expression ‘the iron ball burns’ – the activities (doership) of body–mind–complex are attributed to me. Similarly, I have no bondage with the body just as the rope does not have any bondage with the snake which is superimposed on it (Jagadguru). In the three similes of i) sun and world, ii) iron and fire and iii) rope and snake, the sun, the iron and the rope are unaffected by the properties superimposed on them. Similarly, the witness consciousness is unaffected by the properties of the body–mind–complex.