In the state of deep sleep, the mind is absent, absorbed in its causal state, nothing exists. Everything is a creation of the mind. As the wind creates and destroys the clouds, so too does the mind create and destroy this bondage.
The mind binds the Purusha by the gunas (qualities), by creating attachment to the body and the objects of the senses, just as an animal is bound by a rope. By creating non-attachment, the mind frees the Purusha. Think of objects as poison and you are free; think of them as nectar and you are bound (qualities).
Thus the mind can bind and free anyone. The quality of Rajas binds, and Sattva, free from Rajas and Tamas, liberates. The mind is purified by Viveka (discrimination) and Vairagya (detachment) and becomes free for liberation. Therefore one longing for liberation should acquire these two qualities. The mind is like a tiger wandering in the forest which is the world of sense-objects.
That should be avoided by one seeking liberation. The mind produces different types of sense-objects for the enjoyer--body, color, caste, status, qualities, actions and results. All these do not touch the consciousness; yet the mind deludes the consciousness into the belief that he is the enjoyer, the feeling of I, me, and `I am'. Repeated delusion means repeated enjoyment or suffering.
The mind creates the identification of the soul with the body and creates its bondage. The Sattva quality prevents the mind from creating such bondage. The sages who know consider the mind as the cause of all ignorance which drives the universe as the winds drive the clouds.
One who hopes for liberation must first purify his mind when freedom appears like a fruit in the hand. I say to you, strive for liberation alone and for nothing else. Root out attachment to sense-objects and activities that lead to such attachment. Have faith, listen to and reflect on the words of the scriptures. Thus will you get rid of Tamas and Rajas and gain Sattvic quality.
The third sheath, the Manomaya Kosa, is not the Atman as it has a beginning, an end, and is subject to change, pain and misery. You can see the mind but the Atman is unseen, because it is the seer Himself. The fourth sheath is the buddhi, the organs of feeling and their actions. This has the feeling of being the doer and seer.
This Vijnanamaya Kosa is the cause of the embodied world of the Purusha. This intellect is a reflection of consciousness, but is a form of Prakriti. It works as the `I' `I feel', `I do', etc. This Kosa is beginningless, and from time immemorial, engaged in the world's activities, good and bad, and enjoying their results.
This sheath takes different types of bodies and the three states belong to this sheath of intellect, as also pleasure and pain. Being closest to the Atman, this sheath reflects the Atman the most. The Atman manifests here as the doer and gives rise to all shapes though itself taking no shape. The mind or Buddhi creates everything, but manifesting as adjuncts, the Atman appears to be the doer, the enjoyer.
This Atman, though common to all, sees itself as separate as it identifies with the finite intellect, just as an earthern jar regards itself as different, though it is part of the common earth. Contact through superimposed adjuncts makes the Atman manifest qualities that are but names that do not alter the nature of the Atman.
The Atman remains all-pervading and unchanging. The disciple said: from what I have understood, liberation appears impossible. You say the Atman is bound through ignorance, that the jiva is without beginning and must therefore be without end. Hence the state of egoism should be endless and then there can be no liberation.
Kindly explain. The teacher answers: Your question is correct. Now listen carefully. Imagination that comes from delusion which comes from ignorance can never be a fact. There can be no connection of the Self- which is unattached, beyond activity and formless - with the objective world. The blissful Atman takes this `I' state only through ignorance.
This state is not real and does not remain. As long as ignorance exists, the state of `I' exists; ignorance alone sees a snake where there is only a rope. Avidya or ignorance is beginningless, but it disappears when Vidya appears, just as the dream disappears on waking up. So too the intellect disappears when it merges in the Atman.
(Excerpted from Viveka Chudamani, Slokas 171-199)
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