"Manu said, 'The mind united with the senses, recollects after a long
time the impressions of the objects received in the past. When the senses
are all suspended (in respect of their functions),This verse seems to show that the Rishis had knowledge of spectacles, and probably also, of microscopes. The instrument that shewed minute objects must have been well known, otherwise some mention would have been made of it by name. The commentator calls it upanetra. the Supreme (the
Soul), in the form of the Understanding, exists in its own true nature.
When the Soul (at such a time) does not in the least regard all those
objects of the senses in respect of their simultaneity or the reverse in
point of time but mustering them from all directions holds them before it
together, it necessarily happens that he wanders among all things that
are incongruous. He is, therefore, the (silent) Witness. Hence the Soul
encased in body is something having a distinct and independent
existence.By death on sleep. There is Rajas, there is Tamas, and there is Sattwa, the
third. There are again three states of the understanding, viz., waking,
dreaming, and sound sleep. The Soul has knowledge of the pleasures and
pains, which are all contradictory, of those states, and which partake of
the nature of the threefold attributes first mentioned.Yugapat means simultaneous: atulyakalam means differing in point of time in respect of occurrence: kritsnam qualifies indriyartham; Vidwan means Sakshi; and ekah, independent and distinct. What is intended to be said here is that when the soul, in a dream, musters together the occurrences and objects of different times and places, when, in fact, congruity in respect of both time and place does not apply to it, it must be regarded to have an existence that is distinct and independent of the senses and the body. The Soul
enters the senses like the wind entering the fire in a piece of
wood.The object of this is to show that the Soul has only knowledge of the pleasures and pains arising in consequence of Sattwa and Rajas and Tamas and in connection with the three states of the understanding due to the same three attributes. The Soul, however, though knowing them, does not enjoy or suffer them. He is only the silent and inactive Witness of everything. One cannot behold the form of the Soul by one's eye, nor can
the sense of touch, amongst the senses, apprehend it. The Soul is not,
again, an object of apprehension by the ear. It may, however, be seen by
the aid of the Srutis and the instructions of the wise. As regards the
senses, that particular sense which apprehends it loses upon such
apprehension its existence as a sense.The object of the simile is to show that as wind is a separate entity although existing with the fire in a piece of wood, so the Soul, though existing with the senses is distinct from them. The senses cannot themselves
apprehend their respective forms by themselves. The Soul is omniscient
(inasmuch as it apprehends both the knower and the known). It beholds all
things. Being omniscient, it is the Soul that beholds the senses
(without, as already said, the senses being able to apprehend it). Nobody
has seen the other side of the Himavat mountains, nor the reverse of the
moon's disc. Yet it cannot be said that these do not exist. Similarly,
though never apprehended by the senses, yet nobody can say that the Soul,
which dwells in all creatures, which is subtile, and which has knowledge
for its essence, does not exist. People see the world reflected on the
moon's disc in the form of spots. Though seeing, they do not know that it
is the world that is so reflected there. Even such is the knowledge of
the Soul. That knowledge must come of itself. The Soul depends upon the
Soul itself. Men of wisdom, reflecting on the formlessness of visible
objects before birth and after destruction, behold by the aid of
intelligence, the formlessness of objects that have apparent forms, So
also although the Sun's motion cannot be seen, yet persons, by watching
its rising and setting, conclude that the sun has motion.The Bengal texts read indriyanam which I adopt. The Bombay edition reads indriyendriyam, meaning the sense of the senses, in the same way as the Srutis declare that is the Prana of Prana, the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, etc., Sravanena darsanam tatha kritam is 'apprehended by the ear,' i.e., as rendered above, 'apprehended through the aid of the Srutis.' Similarly,
those who are endued with wisdom and learning behold the Soul by the aid
of the lamp of intelligence, though it is at a great distance from them,
and seek to merge the fivefold elements, which are near, into
Brahma.The commentator uses the illustration of a tree. Before birth the tree was not; and after destruction, it is not; only in the interim, it is. Its formlessness or nothingness is manifest from these two states, for it has been said that which did not exist in the past and will not exist in the future cannot be regarded as existing in the present. Tadgatah is explained by the commentator as udayastamanagatah or taddarsinah. Verily, an object cannot be accomplished without the
application of means. Fishermen catch fish by means of nets made of
strings. Animals are captured by employing animals as are the means.
Birds are caught by employing birds as the means. Elephants are taken by
employing elephants. In this way, the Soul may be apprehended by the
principle of knowledge. We have heard that only a snake can see a snake's
legs. After the same manner one beholds, through Knowledge, the Soul
encased in subtile form and dwelling within the gross body. People
cannot, through their senses, know the senses. Similarly, mere
Intelligence at its highest cannot behold the Soul which is supreme. The
moon, on the fifteenth day of the dark fortnight, cannot be seen in
consequence of its form being hid. It cannot be said, however, that
destruction overtakes it, Even such is the case with the Soul dwelling in
the body. On the fifteenth day of the dark fortnight, the gross body of
the moon becomes invisible. After the same manner, the Soul, when
liberated from the body, cannot be apprehended. As the moon, gaining
another point in the firmament begins to shine once more, similarly, the
Soul obtaining a new body, begins to manifest itself once more. The
birth, growth and disappearance of the moon can all be directly
apprehended by the eye. These phenomena, however, appertain to the gross
form of that luminary. The like are not the attributes of the Soul. The
moon, when it shows itself after its disappearance on the fifteenth day
of the dark fortnight, is regarded as the same luminary that had become
invisible. After the same manner, notwithstanding the changes represented
by birth, growth and age, a person is regarded as the same individual
without any doubt of his identity. It cannot be distinctly seen how Rahu
approaches and leaves the moon. After the same manner, the Soul cannot be
seen how it leaves one body and enters another.Both the vernacular translators render the second line incorrectly. The first line is elliptical, and would be complete by supplying asannam pasyanti. The paraphrase of the second line is Pratyayannam Jneyam Jnanabhisamhitam(prati)ninisante. Jneyam is explained by the commentator as prapancham. Jnanabhisamhitam means that which is known by the name of Knowledge, i.e., Brahma, which has many similar names some of which the commentator quotes such as Satyam (truth), Jananam (knowledge), Anantam (infinite), Vijnanam (true knowledge), Anandam (joy or happiness). Rahu becomes visible
only when it exists with the sun or the moon. Similarly, the Soul becomes
an object of apprehension only when it exists with the body. When
liberated from the sun or the moon, Rahu can no longer be seen.
Similarly, the Soul, liberated from the body, can no longer be seen. Then
again, as the moon, even when it disappears on the fifteenth day of the
dark fortnight, is not deserted by the constellations and the stars, the
Soul also, even though separated from the body, is not deserted by the
fruits of the acts it has achieved in that body.'"