संस्थिता भावयन्तीव चिद्रूपैव परात्पदात् । भिन्नमाकारमात्मीयं चित्स्तम्भे शालभञ्जिका ॥ २६ ॥
saṁsthitā bhāvayantīva cidrūpaiva parātpadāt | bhinnamākāramātmīyaṁ citstambhē śālabhañjikā || 26 ||
- Another reading: भिन्नाकारमात्मीयं (bhinnākāramātmīyaṁ) for भिन्नमाकारमात्मीयं
Translation
Awareness itself stands as if imagining its own form as different from the highest state, as a carved figure on a pillar of awareness.
Word by word
- saṁsthitā
- stands
- bhāvayantī
- imagining
- iva
- as if
- cid
- (cit) awareness
- rūpā
- itself
- ēva
- indeed
- parāt
- from the highest
- padāt
- state
- bhinnam
- as different
- ākāram
- form
- ātmīyaṁ
- its own
- cit
- of awareness
- stambhē
- on a pillar
- śālabhañjikā
- a carved figure
Meaning
How then does he come to think "this is my body"? The image is of a figure carved on a pillar, the śālabhañjikā of temple columns: one with the pillar, of the same stone, yet seeming to stand apart from it as a maiden. The commentary: on a pillar of awareness a figure that is awareness stands as if holding the thought "my form is other than the highest state"; and his understanding is that this form of his is only such a thought, not real. The words as if carry the teaching: the figure never leaves the stone, and the creator never leaves Brahman, even while he seems to have a shape of his own.