इदानीं शान्तशापस्त्वं परं बोधमुपागतः । संस्थितोऽहमिवैकात्माऽकनकं कनकादिव ॥ ३९ ॥
idānīṁ śāntaśāpastvaṁ paraṁ bōdhamupāgataḥ | saṁsthitō’hamivaikātmā’kanakaṁ kanakādiva || 39 ||
Translation
Now the curse is over. You have reached supreme awakening, and you stand as I do, the one Self, as what seemed not gold stands again as gold.
Word by word
- idānīṁ
- now
- śānta
- over
- śāpas
- (śāpaḥ) the curse
- tvaṁ
- you
- paraṁ
- supreme
- bōdham
- awakening
- upāgataḥ
- have reached
- saṁsthitō
- (saṁsthitaḥ) stand
- aham
- I
- iva
- as
- ēkātmā
- the one Self
- akanakaṁ
- what seemed not gold
- kanakād
- (kanakāt) as gold
Meaning
The commentary explains the image: gold long in contact with dirt appears to have become something else, and cleaning returns it to what it was. The grime was never gold, and never changed the gold; akanaka, not-gold, is only how it looked. Aham iva ekātmā: you are as I am, one Self. The difference of father and son, creator and creature, was as real as the crust on the metal. So the commentary concludes that the ignorance was only something laid over him, and has gone. Think of what this says about a person who feels ruined, or stained beyond repair. The analogy allows for dirt, even a great deal of it. It does not allow that the gold could stop being gold.