यच्छेद्वाङ्मनसी प्राज्ञस्तद्यच्छेज्ज्ञान आत्मनि ।
ज्ञानमात्मनि महति नियच्छेत्तद्यच्छेच्छान्त आत्मनि ॥ १३॥
yacchedvāṅmanasī prājñastadyacchejjñāna ātmani .
jñānamātmani mahati niyacchettadyacchecchānta ātmani .. 13..
The wise man should merge his speech in his mind and his mind in his intellect. He should merge his intellect in the Cosmic Mind and the Cosmic Mind in the Tranquil Self.
Commentary:
This is another verse which briefly states the categories of ascent, which was mentioned in a little more detail in the earlier verse. What should we do in meditation? The sense organs should be settled in the mind. Here vak, which means ‘speech’, is to be considered as representative of all the sense organs. It is not merely the speech that has to be withdrawn, but everything that represents sensuality, or sensory cognition. The mind should withdraw the power of the sense organs. The seeker should withdraw the consciousness from the senses and fix it in the mind, and then he should withdraw the consciousness from the mind and fix it in the intelligence. Then he should withdraw the consciousness from the intelligence and fix it in the cosmic intellect. Then he should withdraw it from there and fix it in the universal Atman. This is a brief statement of what has already been said in the previous verse. Chānta-ātman is the Supreme Being, Brahman, in which we have to settle ourselves finally in meditation.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
Master (To M.): “That which is Pure Atman is unattached. Maya, or avidya, is in It. In maya there are three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas. These three gunas also exist in the Pure Atman. But Atman Itself is unattached. If you throw a blue pill into the fire, you will see a blue flame. If you throw a red pill, you will see a red flame. But fire itself has no colour of its own.
“If you put a blue pill in water, the water will turn blue. Again, if you put alum in that water, it will regain its natural colour.
“A butcher was carrying a load of meat when he touched Sankara. Sankara exclaimed: ‘What! You have touched me!’ The butcher replied: “Venerable sir, neither have you touched me nor have I touched you. You are Pure Atman, unattached.’ Jadabharata said the same thing to King Rahugana.
“The Pure Atman is unattached, and one cannot see It. If salt is mixed with water, one cannot see the salt with the eyes.
“That which is the Pure Atman is the Great Cause, the Cause of the cause. The gross, the subtle, the causal, and the Great Cause. The five elements are gross. Mind, buddhi, and ego are subtle. Prakriti, the Primal Energy, is the cause of all these. Brahman, Pure Atman, is the Cause of the cause.
This Pure Atman alone is our real nature. What is jnana? It is to know one’s own Self and keep the mind in It. It is to know the Pure Atman.
“How long should a man perform his duties? As long as he identifies himself with the body, in other words, as long as he thinks he is the body. That is what the Gita says. To think of the body as the Atman is ajnana, ignorance. (BG 18.11) (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)