तद्यथास्मिन्नाकाशे श्येनो वा सुपर्णो वा विपरिपत्य श्रान्तः संहत्य पक्शौ संलयायैव ध्रियते, एवमेवायं पुरुष एतस्मा अन्ताय धावति यत्र सुप्तो न कं चन कामं कामयते, न कं चन स्वप्नं पश्यति ॥ १९ ॥
tadyathāsminnākāśe śyeno vā suparṇo vā viparipatya śrāntaḥ saṃhatya pakśau saṃlayāyaiva dhriyate, evamevāyaṃ puruṣa etasmā antāya dhāvati yatra supto na kaṃ cana kāmaṃ kāmayate, na kaṃ cana svapnaṃ paśyati || 19 ||
19. As a hawk or a falcon flying in the sky becomes tired, and stretching its wings, is bound for its nest, so does this infinite being run for this state, where falling asleep he craves no desires and sees no dreams.
As a hawk or a falcon (Suparṇa), a swifter kind of hawk, flying or roaming in the external sky becomes tired, exhausted with undertaking different flights, and stretching its wings, is bound for, directs itself towards, its nest—lit. where it has a perfect rest—so does this infinite being run for this state, where falling asleep he craves no desires and sees no dreams. This last clause describes what is denoted by the word ‘state.’ The words ‘craves no desires’ shut out all desires of the dream and waking states without reservation, the negative particle having that all-inclusive force. Similarly with ‘and sees no dreams.’ The experiences of the waking state also are considered by the Śruti to be but dreams; hence it says, ‘And sees no dreams.’ Another Śruti passage bears this out: ‘He has three abodes, three dream states’ (Ai. III. 12). As the bird in the illustration goes to its nest to remove the fatigue due to flight, so the Jīva (self), connected with the results of action done by the contact of the body and organs in the waking and dream states, is fatigued, as the bird with its flight, and in order to remove that fatigue enters his own nest or abode, that is, his own self, distinct from all relative attributes and devoid of all exertion caused by action with its factors and results.
It may be questioned: If this freedom from all relative attributes is the nature of the Jīva, and his relative existence is due to other things, viz. the limiting adjuncts, and if it is ignorance that causes this relative existence through those extraneous limiting adjuncts, is that ignorance natural to him, or is it adventitious, like desire, work, etc? If it is the latter, then liberation is possible. But what are the proofs of its being adventitious, and why should ignorance not be the natural characteristic of the self? Hence, in order to determine the nature of ignorance, which is the root of all evil, the next paragraph is introduced.