संपद्याविर्भावः, स्वेनशब्दात् ॥ १ ॥
saṃpadyāvirbhāvaḥ, svenaśabdāt || 1 ||
saṃpadya—Having attained; āvirbhāvaḥ—there is manifestation (of its real nature); svenaśabdāt—from the word ‘own’.
1. (When the Jiva) has attained (the highest light) there is manifestation (of its real nature), as we know from the word ‘own’.
“Now this serene and happy being, after having risen from this body, and having attained the highest light, reaches its own true form” (Chh. 8. 8. 4). The opponent explains this text as follows: The individual soul which has got rid of its identification with the three bodies, viz. gross, subtle, and causal, after attaining Brahman exists in the state of Liberation. This Liberation was not a pre-existent thing, but something that is newly acquired like heaven, as the word ‘reaches’ in the text clearly shows. Therefore Liberation is something new that is acquired by the Jiva. The Sutra refutes this view and says that the word ‘own’ shows that Liberation was a pre-existent thing. The Jiva manifests its own nature, i.e. its real nature, which was so long covered with ignorance. This is its attainment of Liberation. It is nothing that is newly acquired.