अज्ञोऽपि तज्ज्ञसदृशो वलितात्मचमत्कृतिः । युक्त्या भव्योऽप्यभव्योऽपि न जडो नाऽपि चेतनः ॥ २ ॥
ajñō’pi tajjñasadṛśō valitātmacamatkṛtiḥ | yuktyā bhavyō’pyabhavyō’pi na jaḍō nā’pi cētanaḥ || 2 ||
Translation
Ignorant, it seems like one who knows, for the wonder of the Self is wound into it; by reasoning it is both fair and not fair; it is neither inert nor conscious.
Word by word
- ajñō
- (ajñaḥ) ignorant
- api
- though
- tajjña
- one who knows
- sadṛśō
- (sadṛśaḥ) it seems like
- valita
- is wound into it
- ātma
- of the Self
- camatkṛtiḥ
- the wonder
- yuktyā
- by reasoning
- bhavyō
- (bhavyaḥ) fair
- abhavyō
- (abhavyaḥ) and not fair
- na
- neither
- jaḍō
- (jaḍaḥ) inert
- cētanaḥ
- conscious
Meaning
The body is a puzzle. In itself it is ajña, without knowledge, inert; yet it seems to know, because the Self's consciousness is "wound into" it (valita-ātma-camatkṛti), as the commentary says, by the false identification of the two. It is "fair" (bhavya), because through it liberation can be won, and "not fair", because it is impure. So by reasoning it is neither simply inert nor truly conscious. This is the central confusion of the whole of life: the body seems to be me because the light of what I am shines through it. The reader is asked to look at that seeming and see through it.