Chapter IV, Section I, Adhikarana II

Adhikarana summary: In the meditations on the Supreme Brahman the meditator is to comprehend It as identical with himself

 Sutra 4,1.3

आत्मेति तूपगच्छन्ति ग्राहयन्ति च ॥ ३ ॥

ātmeti tūpagacchanti grāhayanti ca || 3 ||

ātmeti—As the self; tu—but; upagacchanti—acknowledge; grāhayanti—teach; ca—also.

3. But (the Sruti texts) acknowledge (Brahman) as the self (of the meditator) and also teach others (to realize It as such).

The question whether Brahman is to be comprehended by the individual soul as identical with it or separate from it, is taken up for discussion. The opponent holds that Brahman is to be comprehended as different from the individual soul on account of their essential difference. For one is subject to misery, while the other is not. This Sutra refutes the view and holds that Brahman is to be comprehended as identical with one’s self; for in reality the two are identical, the experience of misery etc. by the individual soul—in other words, the Jiva-hood—being due to the limiting adjunct, the internal organ. (Vide 2. 3. 29 ante.) For instance, the Jabalas acknowledge it. “I am indeed Thou, O Lord, and Thou art indeed myself.” Other scriptural texts also say the same thing: “I am Brahman” (Brih. 1. 4. 10); “This self is the Brahman” (Ma. 2). These texts are to be taken in their primary, and not secondary sense, as in, “The mind is Brahman” (Chh. 3. 18. 1), where the text presents the mind as a symbol for contemplation.

Hence we have to meditate on Brahman as being the self.