For Eternal Beginners
यथा सर्वगतम् सौक्ष्म्यात् आकाशम् नोपलिप्यते ।
सर्वत्र अवस्थितो देहे तथा आत्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥ ३२ ॥
yathA sarvagatam saukSmyAt AkAzam nopalipyate |
sarvatra avasthito dehe tathA AtmA nopalipyate || 32 ||
यथ [yatha] Just as आकाशम् [AkAzam] space सर्वगतम् [sarvagatam] pervades all matter, न उपलिप्यते [na upalipyate] yet remains without getting attached to anything सौक्ष्म्यात् [saukSmyAt] by virtue of being subtle - तथा [tathA] so also आत्मा [AtmA] the Self सर्वत्र अवस्थितः [sarvatra avasthitaH] is constantly present देहे [dehe] in every body, न उपलिप्यते [na upalipyate] yet doesn’t get attached to any of their characteristics.
Every single object has space, no matter how small it is. Though space is associated with every object, it doesn’t get attached to the characteristics of any object. Space is subtle.
This is easily seen - even when a region of space is occupied by a very dirty object, there no dirt sticking to that space. When the object completely vacates it, that space remains unaffected.
Though the Self pervades the body, it doesn’t have any characteristics of the body.
Similarly, the Self is extremely subtle. It doesn’t get stuck with any characteristics of the body, though it has occupied all kinds of bodies - powerful, ordinary, big and small.