Verse 18.17

Verse 18.17: “He that has not the ego-dominated disposition, and (hence) whose intellect is undefiled, were he even to slay these worlds, he would neither have slain nor would be fettered. (403)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

The being (whose pristine nature is sentient—lit. wakeful) who was, from all eternity wandering through and enjoying the world-dream, in the deep slumber of Nescience, was suddenly awakened, Oh Dhananjaya, from that sleep in the blissful state of distinctionlessness, (he) being addressed by the name of the great (sacred) words, ‘Tat-Twam-Asi’ and receiving a boon (indicated by the Preceptor placing his palm on the disciple’s head) through the power of the preceptor’s grace, in the manner of a person asleep who is patted on the head (by some one) to break off his slumber and in such a state there remains no egotism in that being: or in the way floods of mirage, which appear as if making one continuous and vast sheet of water, disappear altogether with the spreading out of the Moon’s rays; or in the way there remains no place for (the fear of) a goblin, with the departure of childhood; or in the way the state of fire-wood cannot be restored, once it (firewood) gets completely burnt; or in the way a dream can no longer be witnessed with the awakening. Even though the Sun were to go into a deep cave in search of darkness, it (darkness) would not be discovered by him (come to his share) even there: in that way, one who has attained the Supreme Self finds that each and every discernible object he may look at assumes the form of the very seer (Self) and they become one with him.

Whatever object the fire makes contact with becomes itself the fire, and then the distinction such as the object to be consumed by the fire and their consuming it ceases to exist. In that way, the conception of duality involved in the action is accompanied with the complementary and false idea that the Self is the doer. This is the perdition of the soul. When that false idea is destroyed, whatever remains as residue is the very state of the Supreme Self: could one, securing mastery over this state, ever remain confined to the body-form? Could the all-pervading upsurge of the waters at world-dissolution ever hold in any regard (identify itself with) a petty brook? In that way could the all-pervading cognition of being Brahman be controlled by the petty body-form, Oh Son of Pandu? Is it possible to control the Sun by capturing his reflected image (in water etc.)?

Could butter, churned out (of curds), be ever mingled again with butter-milk, having once been separated from it? Or could the fire abiding latent in fire-wood, once released from it, get back into it and remain latent (shut up) again, Oh Warrior? Or how can the Sun entertain any cognition of the night, the Sun who issues from the womb of the night? In that way how could one, who has swallowed (as a morsel) the very distinction such as the object of knowledge together with the knowing agent, feel any conceit as being himself the very body? The sky remains equally full every, where it goes (i.e. the sky-space has no real motion) and so it remains all-pervading.

In that way, whatever (actions) one does is inherently his own self; in what way then, could he get entangled in the action as a doer? There is no spot transcending the sky, the ocean has got no flow, while the (north) polar star cannot move away anywhere else: such is his state (of being action-free). Even one, in whom the conceit (of the body being the soul) has vanished owing to the realization of the Self, has also got to be doing actions, so long as he is in the body-form. Even though the wind ceases to blow, still the flutter of the tree (foliage) continues for some time; or even though camphor gets completely evaporated, still its fragrance remains behind in the casket for sometime; or even though the singing stops, yet the thrilling sensation created by it in the mind continues for some time; or the moisture remains behind even after the waterflow passes on; or even though the Sun sets in the West still there remains behind glowing the twilight; or the arrow rushes forward even after hitting (past) the target till the momentum in it gets exhausted; or even though the potter takes the earthen pot (after its complete moulding) off the wheel, still the wheel keeps on revolving for some time more, till the motion already gained by it is all spent up.

In that way all the egotism vanishes, still the nature (Prakriti) that brought on the present body-form makes the body continue performing actions. The dreams appear (during slumber) without any premeditation, or the bushes grow without any premeditated plantation; or the clouds -aerial mansion of celestial choir) get formed without any structural work; in that way, the aggregate of actions is performed on account of the five causes including the body itself without the soul doing anything himself.

The five causes together with the mode of causation combine together and bring about the formation of actions (as become due) consequent on the actions during past lives (the latent energy left as residue is transformed into kinetic energy),—irrespective of the result they may produce; it may be the destruction of the universe or the creation of a good new one: The Sun never concerns himself how the lotus flower gets withered during the night or the lotus gets fully blown up during the day (even though he becomes the cause of these); or the sky never concerns itself, whether the earth is shattered to pieces by the thunderbolt or it is covered with the growth of a fine meadow consequent on steady and cool rain-showers. In that way, he remains disembodied in his outlook, even while in the bodyform, and never cares to see the vicissitudes in worldly affairs produced by the actions taking place through his body etc. in the way one awakened from sleep does not visualize one’s dream. He appears engaged in actions (as a doer) to those who are not able to see beyond the body-form, as they view him merely through the physical eyes.

Does not a fox believe it to be the real guard—the dummy human form (prepared of grass) and placed on the border of the field (to scare away the birds etc.)? It is for the sane persons to see if one of unsound mind wanders about dressed or in naked condition (the latter remaining indifferent about it); or it is for others to care and to count the wounds of one killed on a battle-field (the dead one knowing nothing about it). It is for the spectators and others to look (with reverential admiration) at the terrible ordeal a Shatee (wife), seeking self-immolation on the pyre of her deceased husband, passes through she herself remaining blind to the terrible flames of fire or to her own (delicate) person, or to the (grieving) spectators. In that way one, who has realized his own self, and whose role as a seer has become one with the object to be seen and who has got merged into it, does not know what actions get performed by his body-organs.

When small ripples of water get merged into big waves, persons standing on the bank think that particular small ripples have merged into particular big ones; yet from the standpoint of water itself (as such) the notion of a big wave gulping up a small ripple is absurd and false. In that way for one, who has attained perfection, there exists nothing distinct from himself that he has to destroy (i.e. he has transcended dualism). To a worshipper might appear perfectly plausible the scene of a gold idol of the Goddess (Durga) holding a gold three-pointed spear (triśūla) in her hands and (as if) killing a gold idol of the buffalo-demon (mahiṣāsura); yet in practical reality, the Goddess, the three-pointed spear as also the buffalo-demon, are all of the same gold.

The fire as also water may appear faithfully depicted in a picture; yet it is all an illusion (on the part of one’s vision), in the picture itself there is neither real fire nor real water. In that way in the case of a liberated one, the bodily actions take place (as they become due) according to his destiny (actions of past life), yet not realising this fact silly ones (ignorant ones) call him the doer of the actions; and even though his actions (might) result in the destruction of all the three worlds, still one should not say that he brought it (destruction) about. Would it make any sense to say that one should first discover the darkness with the help of a light and then destroy it? In that way one of knowledge has nothing else left outside of him, that he should destroy. His intellect therefore is not tainted with merits or sins, in the way the sacred Ganges does not get defiled by any other river mingling with it. Who could bum and whom, when two fires clash, Oh, Dhananjaya? Could a weapon pierce itself? What is capable of infecting his intellect when he knows of no actions whatever distinct from his ownself? Therefore in the case of one with whom the (object of) action, the agent, and the instrument of action have become one, the actions performed by the body etc. do not fetter him.

The individual soul skilfully brings out the five causes and gets them into action, with the implements in the form of ten organs. Then fixing the border line of justice and injustice he gets created in a moment the mansions of actions. The taintless Self, however, never lends any help (directly) in this huge affair: you may say (if not directly) that he does lend his helping hand in arranging the preliminaries. No, that too is not the case: would the Self who is merely an on-looker, and the very knowledge itself, ever encourage fancy to indulge in tendencies towards activism? The tendencies towards activism to which the people are forcibly drawn in no way affect the Self. Therefore, one who has identified himself with his Self, is never imprisoned by these actions. But when the misleading (fallacious and deceptive) knowledge is painted on the canvas (background) of Nescience, the triad (viz. the object of action, the agent, as also the instrument of action) becomes conspicuous there.