The Self Bestows Self-Knowledge
नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो
न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन ।
यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यः
तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूꣳ स्वाम् ॥ २३॥
nāyamātmā pravacanena labhyo
na medhayā na bahunā śrutena .
yamevaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyaḥ
tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūgͫ svām .. 23..
This Atman cannot be attained by the study of the Vedas, or by intelligence, or by much hearing of sacred books. It is attained by him alone whom It chooses. To such a one Atman reveals Its own form.
Commentary:
Nāyam ātmā pravacanena labhyaḥ: Disquisition, argumentation, verbosity and academic investigation cannot enable us to know this Atman. Na medhayā: By intellectuality this Atman cannot be known. Na bahunā śrutena: By immense learning we cannot know this.
How will we know it? Another intricate passage comes here, which is interpreted in two ways by the universalists and the dualists. How do we know this, then? Yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ. The devotees, the Vaishnavas, say only that person who is chosen by the Ultimate Being can attain to that glorious state. God has to choose us as a fit person to know Him, and we have to wait until He chooses us. So our destiny is in His hands, not entirely in our hands. People say that man is the master of his own destiny. The Vaishnava devotees do not believe this. God is the master of the destiny of everybody; we are not the masters. We are helpless people, and therefore only he knows the Ultimate Reality, the Atman, whom the Atman chooses. Whom the Atman chooses, only that person will know the Atman. This is the devotee’s interpretation of this verse: yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ.
But Acharya Sankara has another interpretation. He does not bring in the factor of division between God and devotee. He wants to unite them both. So his interpretation is that it is known by the seeker who seeks it as non-different from his own self, it is known by the knower only, it is sought by the one who seeks, and it is the attainment of That which itself is the seeker of That. Here the path and the goal are identical. The path which leads to the goal is itself the goal. If the path is totally different from the goal, it cannot lead to the goal. A cannot be B; this is the law of contradiction in logic. If the path is different from the goal—if A is different from B—it shall always be different. So, Acharya Sankara says that the one who seeks That is itself That, and finally it is That which seeks itself. This interpretation is read into this passage: yamevaiṣa vṛṇute, tena labhyaḥ. Tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām: In the case of that blessed one, the Atman reveals itself.
Swami Vivekananda Says —
This Atman is not to be attained by the study of the Vedas, nor by the highest intellect, nor by much learning. Whom the Atman seeks, he gets the Atman; unto him He discloses His glory.[Source]
This Atman is not to be realised by the power of speech, nor by a vast intellect, nor by the study of their Vedas.” This is a very bold utterance. …the sages were very bold thinkers, and never stopped at anything. You will remember that in India these Vedas are regarded in a much higher light than even the Christians regard their Bible. Your idea of revelation is that a man was inspired by God; but in India the idea is that things exist because they are in the Vedas. In and through the Vedas the whole creation has come. All that is called knowledge is in the Vedas. Every word is sacred and eternal, eternal as the soul, without beginning and without end. The whole of the Creator’s mind is in this book, as it were. That is the light in which the Vedas are held. Why is this thing moral? Because the Vedas say so. Why is that thing immoral? Because the Vedas say so. In spite of that, look at the boldness of these sages whom proclaimed that the truth is not to be found by much study of the Vedas. “With whom the Lord is pleased, to that man He expresses Himself.
But then, the objection may be advanced that this is something like partisanship. But at Yama explains:[Source]
