Just as by the contact of a red flower, a crystal glass looks apparently red, so too, this Self, unattached and unborn, when in contact with the five kosas (sheaths), appears to be of their characteristic individual nature. But when one discriminates intelligently and thoroughly, then one realizes that the Self is unborn and not attached to anything, since it is non-dual.
The intellect comes under the sway of the three gunas; therefore, it has three states of consciousness, such as the dream state. Since the experiences in the three states contradict each other, they are by themselves illusions, and they do not exist in this eternal, supreme, non-dual, ever-auspicious Brahman.
The inner equipments, presided ever by the Self, come to identify with the body, the sense organs, prana, the mind, and so on. This complex makes the intellect dance in endless thoughts. Because thoughts stem forth from tamas, they are of the nature of ignorance. As long as the intellect remains, so long remains this birth in samsara.
After rejecting all the equipments with the help of the famous scriptural statement “Not this, not this” and experiencing the immortal, changeless mass of pure Consciousness in his heart, the wise man, having enjoyed the existent, blissful Self, should discard the entire world, just as one throws away the empty shell of a tender coconut after having enjoyed the sweet water of the fruit.
कदाचिदात्मा न मृतो न जायते न क्षीयते नापि विवर्धतेऽनवः । निरस्तसर्वातिशयः सुखात्मकः स्वयम्प्रभः सर्वगतोऽयमद्वयः ॥ ३५॥
This Self is never born, never grows up, never decays, and never dies. It is not new; that is, it is most ancient, devoid of all attributes of the equipments. It is blissful, self-effulgent, all pervading and one without a second.