Verse 2.84

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

आत्मनोऽन्यस्य चेद्धर्मा अस्थूलत्वादयो मताः ।
अनात्मत्वेऽस्य किं तैः स्यादात्मत्वेत्वन्यधीह्नुतिः ॥ ८४ ॥

ātmano'nyasya ceddharmā asthūlatvādayo matāḥ |
anātmatve'sya kiṃ taiḥ syādātmatvetvanyadhīhnutiḥ || 84 ||

English translation of verse 2.84:

If it be held that not-gross, etc., are the attributes of Brahman which is other than the Self, what is their use to this Self when they are not its attributes? If they are the attributes of the Self, the idea of difference (between Brahman and the Self) is removed by them.

Notes:

A different argument is now advanced to show that the jīva must be different from Brahman. The Bṛbadāraṇyaka text (III, viii, 8) describes Brahman as not-gross, but the jīva is gross; and since Brahman and the jīva are characterized by a set of different attributes which are mutually exclusive, they must be different.

This argument will not do. The description of Brahman as not-gross, etc., is of no avail so far as the Self is concerned. What does the jīva personally gain by denying grossness, etc., of Brahman? If, on the contrary, the Self is said to be not-gross, etc., it will help to differentiate the Self from the body, the senses, and the mind and thereby to overcome the thought of difference between the Self and Brahman, for the person will be led to understand that the Self which is not-gross, not-subtle, etc., cannot be different from Brahman, the ultimate reality. Since the essential nature of Brahman and Ātman is the same, it is not possible to argue that they are different.