[Advaita-l] Aham Ātmā Guḍākeśa

subhanu subhanu at hotmail.com
Tue Feb 3 13:09:49 CST 2015


 Sri Subrahmanian wrote:
"The upaniṣadic concept of 'pratyagātmā' is highlighted to bring out the Vedantic teaching of 'aham brahma asmi'. "
Namaste and thank you for the blog link. As I am sure a number of members know, Bhagavān Ramana Maharshi stated that Gita 10.20 (aham ātmā Guḍākeśa..) was the shloka capturing the essence of the Gita.
With regards the blog and pratyagātmā, there is a fascinating pair of vārtikā verses that not only echo adhyāsa bhāshyam (which either directly establishes the link between Suresvara and his teacher , or at a minimum confirm Suresvara had knowledge of brahma sutra bhashyam) but also amplify its purport that even every situation of knowing where the division yusmad "you" and asmad "I" is employed, it inexorably still points us beyond to the innermost self shorn of all superimposition , and that all external knowledge is presupposed by that innermost self:
Yušmad asmad vibhāgābhyām yavadvastviha mīyate ;
Yena tena viśešeńa pratyagarthah pratīyate
Pratyagartham anālingya na parāgvarti jāyate;
Vijñānam tena tat pūrvam sarvamanyat pratīyate 
Also in brihadāranyaka vārtikā sāra, Vidyaranya Swami echoes this adhyāsa Bhashyam  and states that when our ignorance which manifests as "I act, I am blind, twice born, a child etc" is removed,  all that is left is the only reality that is the innermost self of all:
karomyandho dvijo bālo dagdhashchinno'ham ityapi
Nāvidyām antareńaitaih pratyagātmā vishišyate [BVS I 65]
This is why Suresvara says that when the innermost self is known nothing unknown remains:
Pratyagātmani vijñāte nājñātam avashišyate [BUBV 1.4.1007]
Regards
Subhanu 



More information about the Advaita-l mailing list