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Namaskaar. Continuing Part 24 of Kathopanishat commentary by Shri V. Subrahmanian courtesy Advaita Academy
QUOTE
[mantra 2.1.3 continued]
But then, Shankara continues, is it not that even this body-mind complex is in no way different from the observed world of objects? Indeed the body and the mind are observable even as the outside world is. If the body-mind complex is admitted to be the knower of the external world of objects, there is nothing to prevent the external objects from knowing each other. But such is not the case as we know very well. The world of objects and the body-mind are all products of the same matter, prakRRti. The entire world of objects and the body-mind is an observable object to the observer the Self.
Thus, there is an entity that is different from the entire world of objects as well as the body-mind complex and is responsible for the entire gamut of knowledge-experience that we all get. And that entity is the Atman, the Self, brahman. This entity is Pure Consciousness. Just as in the case of a red-hot iron the cause of the redness and heat is the fire which is distinct from the iron, the Consciousness that enlivens the entire body-mind complex and illumines the world of objects, is distinct from them. Continue reading