ता वा अस्यैता हिता नाम नाड्यो यथा केशः सहस्रधा भिन्नस्तावताणिम्ना तिष्ठन्ति, शुक्लस्य नीलस्य पिङ्गलस्य हरितस्य लोहितस्य पूर्णा; अथ यत्रैनं घ्नन्तीव जिनन्तीव, हस्तीव विच्छाययति, गर्तमिव पतति, यदेव जाग्रद्भयं पश्यति तदत्राविद्यया मन्यते; अथ यत्र देव इव राजेव, अहमेवेदं सर्वोऽस्मीति मन्यते, सोऽस्य परमो लोकाः ॥ २० ॥
tā vā asyaitā hitā nāma nāḍyo yathā keśaḥ sahasradhā bhinnastāvatāṇimnā tiṣṭhanti, śuklasya nīlasya piṅgalasya haritasya lohitasya pūrṇā; atha yatrainaṃ ghnantīva jinantīva, hastīva vicchāyayati, gartamiva patati, yadeva jāgradbhayaṃ paśyati tadatrāvidyayā manyate; atha yatra deva iva rājeva, ahamevedaṃ sarvo’smīti manyate, so’sya paramo lokāḥ || 20 ||
20. In him are those nerves called Hitā, which are as fine as a hair split into a thousand parts, and filled with white, blue, brown, green and red (serums). (They are the seat of the subtle body, in which impressions are stored.) Now when (he feels) as if he were being killed or overpowered, or being pursued by an elephant, or falling into a pit, (in short) conjures at the time through ignorance whatever terrible things he has experienced in the waking state, (that is the dream state). And when (he becomes) a god, as it were, or a king, as it were, or thinks, ‘This (universe) is myself, who am all,’ that is his highest state.
In him, in this man with a head, hands, etc., those nerves called Hitā, which are as fine as a hair split into a thousand parts, and they are filled with white, blue, brown, green and red serums. Many and various are the colours of the serums, owing to the intermixture, in various proportions, of nerve matter, bile and phlegm. The subtle body with its seventeen constituents has its seat in these nerves, which have the fineness of the thousandth part of the tip of a hair, are filled with serums, white and so on, and spread all over the body.
All impressions due to the experience of high and low attributes of the relative universe are centred in this. This subtle body, in which the impressions are stored, is transparent like a crystal because of its fineness; but owing to its contact with foreign matter, viz. the serums in the nerves, it undergoes modifications under the influence of past merit and demerit, and manifests itself as impressions in the form of women, chariots, elephants, etc. Now, such being the case, when a man has the false notion called ignorance based on past impressions, that some people—enemies or robbers—have come and are going to kill him. This is being described by the text: As if he, the dreamer, Were being killed or overpowered. Nobody is killing or overpowering him; it is simply his mistake due to the past impressions created by ignorance. Or being pursued or chased by an elephant, or falling into a pit, a dilapidated well, for instance. He fancies himself in this position. Such are the false impressions that arise in him—extremely low ones, resting on the modifications of the mind brought about by his past iniquity, as is evidenced by their painful nature. In short, he conjures at the time, i.e. in dreams, when there is no elephant or the like, through the impressions created by ignorance, which have falsely manifested themselves, whatever terrible things such as an elephant he has experienced in the waking state.
Then when ignorance decreases and knowledge increases, (the result is as follows). The text describes the content and nature of the knowledge: And when he himself becomes a god, as it were. When, in the waking state, meditation regarding the gods prevails, he considers himself a god, as it were, on account of the impressions generated by it. The same thing is being said of the dream state too: He becomes ‘a god, as it were.’ Or a king, as it were: Having been installed as the ruler of a state (in the waking state), he thinks in his dreams also that he is a king, for he is imbued with the impressions of his kingly state. Similarly, when (in the waking state) his ignorance is extremely attenuated, and the knowledge that he comprises all arises, he thinks under the influence of these impressions in the dream state also, ‘This (universe) is myself, who am all.’ That, this identity with all, is his highest state, the Ātman’s own natural, supreme state. When, prior to this realisation of identity with all, he views the latter as other than himself even by a hair’s breadth, thinking, ‘This is not myself,’ that is the state of ignorance. The states divorced from the self that are brought on by ignorance, down to stationary existence, are all inferior states. Compared with these—states with which the Jīva has relative dealings—the above state of identity with all, infinite and without interior or exterior, is his supreme state. Therefore, when ignorance is eliminated and knowledge reaches its perfection, the state of identity with all, which is another name for liberation, is attained. That is to say, just as the self-effulgence of the Ātman is directly perceived in the dream state, so is this result of knowledge.
Similarly, when ignorance increases and knowledge vanishes, the results of ignorance are also directly perceived in dreams: ‘Now when (he feels) as if he were being killed or overpowered,’ etc. Thus the results of knowledge and ignorance are identity with all and identity with finite things, respectively. Through pure knowledge a man is identified with all, and through ignorance he is identified with finite things, or separated from something else. He is in conflict with that from which he is separated, and because of this conflict he is killed, overpowered or pursued. All this takes place because the results of ignorance, being finite things, are separated from him. But if he is all, what is there from which he may be separated, so as to be in conflict; and in the absence of conflict by whom would he be killed, overpowered or pursued? Hence the nature of ignorance proves to be this, that it represents that which is infinte as finite, presents things other than the self that are non-existent, and makes the self appear as limited. Thence arises the desire for that from which he is separated; desire prompts him to action, which produces results. This is the gist of the whole passage. It will also be stated later on, ‘When there is duality, as it were, then one sees something,’ etc. (II. iv. 14; IV. v. 15). Thus the nature of ignorance with its effects has been set forth; and as opposed to these, the effect of knowledge also, viz. the attainment of identity with all, has been shown. That ignorance is not the natural characteristic of the self, since it automatically decreases as knowledge increases, and when the latter is at its highest, with the result that the self realises its identity with all, ignorance vanishes altogether, like the nôtioṅ of a snake in a rope when the tnith about it is known. This has been stated in the passage, ‘But when to the knower of Brahman everything has become the self, then what should one see and through what?’ etc. (Ibid.). Therefore ignorance is not a hàtural characteristic of the self, for that which is natural to a thing can never be eliminated, as the heat ahd light of the sun. Therefore liberation from ignorance is possible.