||om tat sat ||

Viveka Chudamani Slokas 217- 218

In response to the disciple's cry that after negating all five sheaths , he is seeing nothing , the master responds that the very nothingness he sees is itself the - the Self which he is in search of. Master confirms the same in Sloak 217.  Continuing that thought Master elaborates on Self in Slokas 218 on wards.

Sloka 217:

विवेक चूडामणि  Sloka 217

तत्साक्षिकं भवेत् तत् तद् 

यत् यत् येन अनुभूयते ।

कस्यापि अननुभूतार्थे 

साक्षित्वं न उपपद्यते ॥

यत् यत् येन अनुभूयते  - That which is being known 

तत्साक्षिकं भवेत् तत् तद् -  that has this as a witness 

कस्यापि अननुभूतार्थे - that which has not been experienced

साक्षित्वं न उपपद्यते  - has no witness 

When something is experienced, that having been experienced there is a witness within. when something has not been experienced - ’अननुभूतार्थे’ - then there is no witness too.

 This is normal. There is nothing new in this statement

Now let us use this norm to the disciple's statement.

Disciple says - सर्व अभावं विना कैंचित् नपश्यामि ; 

It means that other than nothingness , he does not see anything. which confirms his seeing the nothingness.

When he is seeing something ( even if it is nothingness), he becomes the witness for that.  

So the Master is confirming to his disciple that what he said is true. He is seeing nothingness. The one who witnessed the nothingness is no other than the Self itself.

So after negating all the five sheaths what the disciple is experiencing is the Self only.

Having set the disciple's mind at rest, Master continues with his exposition of self

Before we proceed further, let us recap a bit of what we understood

Whether one recognizes or not, Self is that thing in side us. In the waking hours , the happiness and sorrow , the highs and lows we go through are witnessed by it. Whether we respond or not it is that tugs at our heart , reminding us of other path when we are seemingly lost in confusion of good and bad. When our ego rules our heart , and we are on a high , the witness for all that is the same Self. It is that which sparks bliss on seeing something generating happiness due to  merits of past. Ultimately it is that of the form of unlimited bliss , when you free yourself from other bondages,.

To have a question on one's mind  as to reality of unlimited bliss is quite possible. Question is really,  is it possible to feel the unlimited pure bliss, or it is only a myth on the spiritual path?  

When we can overcome the attachment to happiness and sorrow, or move beyond the happiness and sorrows of daily life, when we can see the sameness in our fellow beings, then we slide into a state of being witness to all that is happening around us. Witnessing the joys and sorrows, we also reach a state of being able to laugh at the highs and lows we went through. Then the mind is at ease. Mind at peace generates that bliss. then we may be laughing at our own foolishness. That reach for detachment generates the bliss. So at point it is no longer a myth.

  

The same thought is reinforced in Slokas 218 on wards

Sloka 218:

असौ स्वसाक्षिको भावो

यतः स्वेनानुभूयते |

अतः परं स्वयं साक्षात्

 प्रत्यगात्मन चेतरः॥218||

Again we try understanding each of the four line 

1 असौ स्वसाक्षिको भावो  - असौ भावो स्व साक्षिकः -

this has the nature of being witness of itself  

This refers to the Atman . It says Atman has the nature of being its own witness. 

2 यतः स्वेनानुभूयते - यतः स्वेन अनुभूयते -

since (it is) realized by itself  

Here one may have a question  as to how do we say it is realized by itself. Here we may recall the disciple's words. Disciple says that after the negation of five sheaths as unreal , what is left is nothing other than the absence of the five sheaths. When disciple says that there is nothing other than nothingness, this recognition is that of the witness within the disciple. It is as though Self is realized by itself, though Disciple himself does not realize it until it is elaborated by the Master. 

3 अतःपरं स्वयं साक्षात् प्रत्यगात्म

hence Supreme Self itself directly is the inner Self

4  न चेतरः - not anything else 

Sloka summary:

The Self has the nature of being its own witness. It is realized by itself. Hence Supreme Self itself is directly the inner Self, not anything else. 

Teacher is confirming what disciple noticed. With negation of all five sheaths as unreal , the nothing ness discovered is the Self. Here it is its own witness. 

||Om tat sat||