अथ यत्र एतत् आकाशम् अनुविषण्णम् चक्षुः सः चाक्षुषः पुरुषः दर्शनाय चक्षुः अथ यः वेद इदम् जिघ्राणि इति सः आत्मा गन्धाय घ्राणम् अथ यः वेद इदम् अभिव्याहराणि इति सः आत्मा अभिव्याहाराय वाक् अथ यः वेद इदम् शृण्वानि इति सः आत्मा श्रवणाय श्रोत्रम्
atha yatra etat ākāśam anuviṣaṇṇam cakṣuḥ saḥ cākṣuṣaḥ puruṣaḥ darśanāya cakṣuḥ atha yaḥ veda idam jighrāṇi iti saḥ ātmā gandhāya ghrāṇam atha yaḥ veda idam abhivyāharāṇi iti saḥ ātmā abhivyāhārāya vāk atha yaḥ veda idam śṛṇvāni iti saḥ ātmā śravaṇāya śrotram
The eye is the place where space has opened for seeing: the puruṣa of the eye is for seeing, the eye is that one may see. He who knows "let me smell this" — he is the ātman; the nose is that one may smell. He who knows "let me say this" — he is the ātman; speech is that one may speak. He who knows "let me hear this" — he is the ātman; the ear is that one may hear.
7ad6eac39c12 · publicado 26 jul 2026, 23:55:55 UTC
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The solution to the first lesson, a hundred and one years later: "the puruṣa who is seen in the eye" (8.7.4) turns out to be the puruṣa who sees through the eye. The eye is not a little mirror with "me" inside it but a window, "where space has opened for seeing"; the organ is an instrument, the ātman its owner: "he who knows 'let me smell, let me speak, let me hear' — he is the ātman".
The formula yo veda — "he who knows" — is repeated before every sense: the mark of the owner is intention, the will "let me do", preceding every perception. The senses do not perceive by themselves — one perceives by means of them; the body with its marvellous optics and acoustics is equipment, not the bearer of the "I". Virocana's error is taken apart down to the last screw: he took the eyepiece for the one who looks.