Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
kamme ṇokammamhi ya ahamidi ahakaṃ ca kamma ṇokammaṃ.
jā esā khalu buddhī appaḍibuddho havadi tāva.. 19
ahamedaṃ edamahaṃ ahamedasseva homi marna edaṃ.
aṇṇaṃ jaṃ paradavvaṃ saccittācittamissaṃ vā.. 20
āsi mama puvvamedaṃ ahamedaṃ cāvi puvvakālamhi.
hohidi puṇo vi majjhaṃ ahamedeṃ cāvi hossāmi.. 21
eadṃ tu asaṃbhūdaṃ ādaviyappaṃ karedi saṃmūḍho.
ūdatthaṃ jāṇaṃto ṇa karedi du taṃ asaṃūḍho.. 22
(Jā) As long as the soul (esā khalu buddhῑ) believes that (kamme nokammamhi ya ahaṃ). I am kārmaṇa (subtle body and no-kārmaṇa [physical body] (ca) and that (kamma nokammaṃ idi) kārmaṇa body and physical body are posesessed by me, (tāva appaḍibuddho havadi) the soul remains unenlightened.
(Evaṃ tu asaṃbhūdam ādaviyappaṃ karedi) The soul who falsely belives that (aṇṇaṃ jaṃ paradavvaṃ) whatever non-self and alien (saccittāccittamissaṃ vā) whatever animate, inanimate or mixed [partly animate and partly inanimate] (ahamedaṃ) is myself, (edamahaṃ) is identical to myself (ahamedasseva homi) is possessing me (edaṃ mama) is possessed by me (mama pūrvvamedam āsi) was formerly (in the past) possessed by me (puvvakālamhi ahaṃ cāvi edaṃ) was formerly identical to myself (puṇo vi majjhaṃ hohidi) will be possessed by me in future also (ahamedaṃ cāvi hossāmi) will be identical to myself in future also (sammūdho) is unenlightened and externally-oriented (du) but the soul (bhūdatthaṃ jāṇaṃto) who rightly knows the ultimate nature of self and non-self (taṃ ṇa karedi) and, therefore, does not indulge in the false beliefs (asammūḍho) is enlightened and internally-oriented.
Annotations:
In these verses, Ācārya Kundunda draws up criteria for distinguishing between the enlightened and unenlightened souls. The most fundamental principle of the process of self-realization is the intrinsic purity of the self. Its impurity is due to its association and defilement by the karmic matter. In order to tread the path of spiritual realization the first thing that one has to get rid of is the materialist view of the self as identical with anything that is non-self which includes karmic matter.
Enlightenment first dawns when one is fully convinced of the distinction between self and non-self. To start with, one must distinguish between two kinds of empirical selves, viz., (i) bahirātmā the self which is externally-oriented and (ii) antarātmā, the self which is internally-oriented. Later on, one is required to rise much higher and concentrate upon and realize the transcendental self, paramātmā which is free from the limitations of the empirical self. The external self becomes the pure and perfect transcendental self by means of the intermediate internal self. In other words, the transcendental self is the self-realization of the external self through the intermediary stage of internal self or aṃtarātmā.
The self, with the deluded and false belief that it is none other than the material encumbrances (upādhis), some animate, others inanimate, with which it is surrounded in worldly life, is bahirātmā. This is the identification of the self with alien objects. Firstly, to believe one's own body as oneself, which is generally done in ordinary life, is nothing but delusion. Next the statements: "this body is mine" or "I am so and so" "this is my wife", "these are my children", "these are my ornaments, my house, my fields, my crops, my community, my nation" or "I am her husband, their father, their owner" identify one's self with alien persons and things.
The self that clearly discriminates itself from the alien persons and things is internally-oriented or antarātmā.
