Advaita Vedanta does not say that we should not earn or enjoy, but enjoy it with the conscious thought that you are a part of this world and nothing is permanent except the Self in you. Remember and be prepared to let go of anything at any time. Understand that all relationships are temporary and enjoy what you have when you have and don’t regret it when you lose. That is why the term ‘relatives’, the Self alone is always existent and everything else is relative to the Self.

The ‘Self’ is the Atman, which is a speck of Brahman at the micro level. A simple example would be that every speck that comes out of a firework in the sky is the same as the original even though each one appears separate, color, shape, and size. All the specks we see of that firework are the same ones that appear as many. Similarly, we are all that ONE Brahman, appearing in many different shapes, sizes, and colors. This article describes the nature of the ‘I’ in us.

The Self in all of us has no attributes:

Nirguna – Without Qualities

Nishkriya – Action less

Nirvikara-Unmodified

Nirakara – Formless

Nirvikalpa – Thoughtless

Niranjana – Immaculate

According to Advaitha Vedana, we are NOT the body, mind or intellect. The ‘Self’ always present in us animates the body and the Ego in this body veils the ‘Self’. The ego is nothing more than the thought that we carry around us. (He cast God out.) We are not what we think we are. Even if we have someone’s name, academic title, professional title, spouse, sister, brother, daughter, son, father or mother. These are relative titles. Only the Self present in us that animates us is reality and has no attributes. The Self is ever present without beginning or end. Only the body disintegrates into five elements.

What is an Upadhi?

The upadhis are the conditioning or the ‘delimiter’. The Body, the mind and the intellect delimit the Atman (rather claustrophobic of the Atman within its perimeter); although in reality they exist in Atman.

A beautiful example that is often used in Vedantic studies is the pot space and the room space. Although they appear to limit the space within its border or boundaries, the simple fact is that the pot or room exists in the wide space and appears to limit the space within its boundaries. Similarly, the Atman appears to be within the three sariras (sthula, suksma, karana) when actually these three anatman (non-atman) exist in the Atman. Without the power or illumination of Atman none of these can function. These are Upadhis of Atman, dependent on Atman.

The self is the Saksi or the Witness

Atman is the saksi or witness of the three states of consciousness: waking, dream and deep sleep. Therefore, Atman is different and distinct from all three.

Since the existence of these three states is temporary, Atman’s relationship with all three cannot be permanent and is temporary as a witness.

The mind-body team acquires knowledge about external objects only through the senses, while the ‘Self’ does not need any external instrument to acquire knowledge. He is self-luminous and is immediately absorbed. Therefore, this knowledge is also called direct knowledge. This is called non-instrumental (instrumented) immediate knowledge.

A very important difference in the possession of knowledge by the body-mind team vs. the possession of knowledge by the ‘Self’ is that the mind-body undergoes a modification in taking the form of the object as it comes to know one (thought of an object), but the Self does not go through this process. IT simply perceives and remains unchanged throughout the process. She is the mother witness of all activities of the mind, body and intellect.

Finally, the ‘Self’ also does not experience any after-knowledge effects, which means that there is no liking, disliking or indifference when the ‘Self’ acquires knowledge of anything. The self illuminates all forms of thought without intrinsically undergoing any modification and remains unchanged during the process of knowledge and afterwards. Therefore, it is described as ‘saksi’.

1. Svarupa laksana is the nature of the object based on its intrinsic quality like the sweetness of sugar. The Vedantic texts describe the intrinsic qualities of the ‘Self’ as Sat-Cit-Ananda.

Sat – Eternal Existence – unchangeable

Cit – self-glowing – self-luminous

Ananda is absolute Bliss

Since these are considered the intrinsic qualities of Atman, these descriptions are called the Svarupa-laksana of Atman.

2. Atman is the Animator of inert conditionings – ‘tatastha-laksana’ is the definition of Atman based on its extrinsic associates.

For example: 1. Atman is the animator of the Upadhis.

2. Atman is the saksi of the three states of consciousness.

The three states of consciousness, the waking state, the dream state and the deep sleep states are Upadhis of Atman. Atman is the animator of the Upadhis Although Atman appears to be in them, in reality these three states are confined within Atman. Without the illumination of Atman, these three do not work. Only Atman gives them the power to operate. Without knowing this, without realizing this, we think that Atman lives in this body!!

‘I’, the Ego creates all kinds of thoughts like “I am so-and-so, I am from this university, I am in this position…etc” literally limits one towards Self-realization just like the pot seems to limit one’s self. confining space when in reality the vessel exists in the realm of space.

3. Atad-vyavritti-laksana is nothing more than the description of an object through the modality of negation. For example: It is not this, it is not that… When Sita was asked who her husband was in a crowd in the Ramayana text, she said ‘not he’, ‘not he’ and finally fell silent agreeing that he was the only one when Sri Rama was pointed out.

Sankaracharya describes the ‘Self’ in Atma bodha in a glorious way by the method of negation.

“I am without attributes (nirguna) and actions (niskriya), eternal (nitya) without desire or thought (nirvikalpa), without stain (niranjana), without change (nirvikara), without form (nirakara), never liberated (nitya mukta) , and always without impurity (nirmala)”

1. Nirakara: (formless) The stula sarira has a definite form but the ‘Self’ is nirakara – without any form. Therefore the Self is not the gross body.

2. Nirvikara: (unchanged) The stula sarira undergoes six different changes: fetus, birth, growth, disease, decay, and death. Atman is nirvikara, without any modification. Therefore Atman is not of the gross body.

Nirakara and Nirvikara together deny that the ‘Self’ is the sthula sarira.

3. Niskriya: (no action) Actions are performed by karmendriyas and suksma sarira pranas. When the Self is Niskriya (without action), it is described as different from karmendriyas and pranas.

4. Nirvikalpa: (without any desires or thoughts) Desires and thoughts are realized by the mind, intellect, ego and memory. Again, since Atman is described as Nirvikalpa (without any desire or thought), it means that Atman is not the mind, intellect, ego, or memory.

Niskriya and Nirvikalpa together deny that the ‘Self’ is the suksma sarira.

5. Nirguna: (without gunas) Sattva, Rajas and tamas are the gunas of karana sarira (causal body). Since Atman is Nirguna, it is true that Atman is different from karana sarira.

6. Niranjana; (without blemish) Vasanas are the blemishes of the inner personality. Since Atman is described as niranjana (without any blemish), he is beyond vasanas.

7. Nirmala: (without dirt) In the spiritual context, vasanas are considered impure because they stain the inner personality. The ‘Self’ is described as Nirmala (pure) and is therefore beyond vasanas.

Nirguna, Niranjana and Nirmala show the Self as different from the karana sarira (Causal Body).

Thus we see that the terms Nirakara, Nirvikara, Niskriya, Nirvikalpa, Nirguna, Niranjana and Nirmala collectively deny that the Self is sthula-suksma-karana sarira.

All these descriptions of negation are examples of Atad-vyavritti-lakshana.