DRG DRSYA VIVEKA | VERSE 1 | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA

|| VERSE 1 | SEER & SEEN ||

rupam drishyam locanam drik
tad drishyam drik tu manasam
drishya dhi-vrittayah sakshi
drig eva na tu drishyate || 1 ||

The form is perceived and the eye is its perceiver .

It ( eye ) is perceived and the mind is its perceiver .

The mind with its modifications is perceived and the Witness ( the Self ) is verily the perceiver .

But It ( the Witness ) is not perceived ( by any other ) .

|| COMMENTARY | SWAMI NIKHILANANDA ||

The direct and immediate knowledge of Atman or Self is the means to the attainment of " Liberation " . The understanding of the meaning of the great Vedic statement THAT THOU ART enables one to realize the goal of life .

The meaning of THAT THOU ART is correctly grasped by understanding the sense of the words contained in the statement .

The first five slokas in the treatise explain the significance of THOU .

FORM — It implies all objects of sense perception .

EYE — lt stands for all the organs of perception such as nose , ears , etc .

PERCEIVER — The eye is perceiver only in a relative sense because it is itself perceived by the mind .

MIND — The sense organs , unless the mind is attached to them , cannot perceive their objects . In a state of deep sleep the sense organs do not perceive anything because the mind , at that time , ceases to function .

WITH etc — This includes buddhi , citta , and ahankara .

PERCEIVER — The mind is controlled by the conscious Self . Compare " My mind was elsewhere ; I did not see . "

IT — The Atman or the innermost Self is the ultimate perceiver .

If a perceiver of the Atman is sought , the inquiry will end in what is known as a regressus ad infinitium .

All entities from the gross objects to the mind are products of avidya which itself is insentient . Hence they also partake of the nature of insentiency . Therefore they are objects . The subjective character of some of these is only relative .

But the Self is the ultimate Seer because no other seer is known to exist .

The knowing nature of the Knower is never absent .

SOURCE | SATYAVEDISM.ORG