स्थित्यदनाभ्याम् च ॥ ७ ॥
sthityadanābhyām ca || 7 ||
sthiti-adanābhyām—On account of remaining unattached and eating; ca—also.
7. Also on account of (the mention of two conditions:) remaining unattached and eating (which are the characteristics of the Supreme Self and the individual self respectively).
“Two birds, inseparable Mends, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating” (Mu. 3. 1. 1).
Here Brahman is described as the witness and the individual soul as experiencing the fruits of good and evil actions and hence different from the other. This description, which distinguishes the two, can be apt only if the abode of heaven etc. is Brahman. Otherwise, there will be no continuity of topic. Nor can we take this text as merely describing the nature of the individual soul, for the scriptures nowhere aim at describing the individual soul, which is known to everyone as the agent, enjoyer, etc. Their aim is always to describe and establish Brahman which is not so known.