Atman, the size of a thumb, resides in the middle of the body. Lord of the past and the future, henceforth (knowing that) fears no more. This is verily that.
The Lord is referring to Atman, Purusha, which is described as the size of a thumb. Atman is the in-dweller and resides within the core of the body. The size of the thumb appears to be limiting the Atman to a small size, but it is not.
Eg: In a box, there is a space. Is the all-pervading space confined in the box? It is not limiting the space to the box alone. The space is there within the walls of the box and beyond it.
Similarly, when the Mantra says Atman is the size of a thumb, it is not limited to the size of a thumb alone. It is very much there in thumb and beyond it. There is a subtle implication when we say a thumb. It is an important part of a palm or hand. You cannot carry out any activity without a thumb. When you get hurt on the thumb, the entire hand becomes redundant.
Therefore, the thumb is referred to as Atman.
- Thumb does not mean restricting to a limited entity.
- It is of paramount importance as the hand rests on the thumb.
- It is the very quintessence of the hand.
Lord of the past and future means he is always in the present. One who knows this fears no more.
Viju̍gupsate means an abhorrence, otherness, an aversion towards the other, a sense of utter disgust, revulsion. You don’t fear when you have a sense of oneness. When you go home, you feel the oneness and do not fear the family members. When you are in an environment where you cannot identify with people or strangers, you instantly get the fear due to otherness. One who identifies with Atman, which is the very essence, quintessence of your personality, you become the lord of your past and future, and fear no more. There is no feeling of Vijugupsate. You draw a connection between Vijugupsate and bhaya, fear.
Atman of the size of a thumb is like flame without smoke, Lord of the past and the future. He alone is even today and will be verily tomorrow. This is verily that.
Atman is compared to a flame without smoke, which is Pure Consciousness, Brahman. Flame with smoke is the individual, jiva. When there is a flame with smoke, the flame is not bright. Smoke refers to the upadhis or equipment. Flame is an idol representing the ideal. When the sadhak goes through the sadhana, he perceives the Atman in his own heart like a flame. It is discovering the flame within oneself which exists in past, present and future. It is eternal.
A smokeless flame shines brighter because there are no impurities. Impurities of the upadhis are compared to vasanas. When an individual is without vasanas, it is pure consciousness. The smokeless flame shining bright and self-effulgent is the characteristic of the Atman.
Just as water rained on high mountains runs down scattering of all sides, so does he, who beholds the attributes as different, run after them only.
This section points out the bedha darshanam, which leads to samsara, and the next mantra, 15, talks of abedha darshanam, which leads to moksha. One who sees differences, bedha, is bound to samsara, and one who sees no differences, abedha, leads to moksha.
When water trickles down the mountain, it runs in different directions, gets dissipated, creates divisions, and is of no use. When water gets collected through proper conservation efforts, channelised, and directed through a reservoir or dam, it generates energy. It becomes resourceful and useful. It is compared to a person who beholds the dharmān attributes as different. The attributes of Brahman, Atman, which we see differently, destroy our unity, peace, and happiness, because we see everybody as different from me. We run after those differences and create more. This leads to samsara. The philosophical meaning of samsara is mental bondage, and the practical meaning is suffering. One who beholds the differences is in samsara and undergoes suffering. Here, Lord is talking of the dissipation of your energy. Next, Lord says when you see the oneness, there is no more differences, there is moksha.
Just as pure water poured into pure water becomes the same, only so does the Atman of the sage who knows this. O ! Gautama.
This mantra talks of abedha darshana sthithi. When we pour pure water from one container to another container of pure water, what remains is pure water. When we identify with Spirit, there is no difference between you and me. Differences arise because of identification with matter. When I identify with Consciousness, there is oneness.
Eg: In an organisation, you have a choice to represent your team, department, zone or to represent the entire organisation. The moment I identify with individuality, there are many people, but when you identify with Consciousness, it is the same which pulsates in every individual. There is oneness.
Matter has many divisions, but Atman is indivisible. The wise who know Atman become one, just like water poured from one container to another. As individuals, we have the choice either to identify with Spirit or matter. There is no viju̍gupsa in your life. If you don’t experience viju̍gupsa, you have oneness.
In the Bhagavad Gita – 35 qualities of a devotee, the Lord says, ‘who does not hate any being’ is my devotee. He does not say love, everybody. The test of love is the lack of hatred. The test of oneness is the absence of abhorrence. The moment you have abhorrence, you have no oneness.
You need to rationalise and see where you can identify with the other. Having hatred shows you have viju̍gupsa. We must reach the optimum at our level. If we keep a very high level of great saints, we may break at some point. We can grow from where we are, we cannot imitate what the great mahatmas did. See what thoughts crop up in us when there are these moments. It is a gradual growth. When the higher qualities of sattva come in you, the lower qualities, rajas and tamas, drop away.
