Devanagari
नात्मनोऽन्येन संयोगो वियोगश्चासत: सति ।
तद्धेतुत्वात्तत्प्रसिद्धेर्दृग्रूपाभ्यां यथा रवे: ॥ ४६ ॥
Verse text
nātmano ’nyena saṁyogo
viyogaś casataḥ sati
tad-dhetutvāt tat-prasiddher
dṛg-rūpābhyāṁ yathā raveḥ
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
ātmanaḥ
—
for the self
;
anyena
—
with anything else
;
saṁyogaḥ
—
contact
;
viyogaḥ
—
separation
;
ca
—
and
;
asataḥ
—
with that which is insubstantial
;
sati
—
O discriminating one
;
tat
—
from it (the self)
;
hetutvāt
—
because of originating
;
tat
—
by it (the self)
;
prasiddheḥ
—
because of being revealed
;
dṛk
—
with the sense of vision
;
rūpābhyām
—
and visible form
;
yathā
—
as
;
raveḥ
—
for the sun .
Translation
O intelligent lady, the soul never undergoes contact with or separation from insubstantial, material objects, because the soul is their very origin and illuminator. Thus the soul resembles the sun, which neither comes in contact with nor separates from the sense of sight and what is seen.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O intelligent lady, the soul never undergoes contact with or separation from insubstantial, material objects, because the soul is their very origin and illuminator. Thus the soul resembles the sun, which neither comes in contact with nor separates from the sense of sight and what is seen.
KB 10.54.46
“This contact of the living entity with the material manifestation has neither integration nor disintegration. My dear chaste sister-in-law, the spirit soul is, of course, the cause of this material body, just as the sun is the cause of sunlight, eyesight and the forms of material manifestation.”
The example of the sunshine and the material manifestation is very appropriate in understanding the living entity’s contact with the material world. In the morning the sun rises, and the heat and light gradually expand throughout the whole day. The sun is the cause of all material shapes and forms, for it is due to the sun that integration and disintegration of material elements take place. But as soon as the sun sets, the whole manifestation is no longer connected to the sun, which has passed from one place to another. When the sun passes from the eastern to the western hemisphere, the results of the interactions due to the sunshine in the eastern hemisphere remain, but the sunshine itself is visible in the western hemisphere. Similarly, the living entity accepts or produces different bodies and different bodily relationships in a particular circumstance, but as soon as he gives up the present body and accepts another, he has nothing to do with the former body. Similarly, the living entity has nothing to do with the next body he accepts. He is always free from the contact of this bodily contamination.
Purport
As explained in the previous text, the conditioned soul ignorantly assumes himself to be the material body and thus rotates in the cycle of birth and death. In fact, matter and spirit are co-energies of the original source of everything, the Supreme Lord, who is the Absolute Truth.
As Lord Kṛṣṇa explains in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(7.5)
,
jīva-bhūtāṁ mahā-bāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat.
The material world is sustained by the living beings’ desire to exploit it. The material world is like a prison. Criminals are determined to commit crimes, and thus the government finds it necessary to maintain a prison system. Similarly, the Supreme Lord maintains the material universes because the conditioned souls are determined to rebel against Him and try to enjoy without His loving cooperation. Thus here the phrase
tad-dhetutvāt
is used to describe the soul, meaning that the soul is the cause of matter assembling itself into a material body. The term
tat-prasiddheḥ
indicates that the soul is the cause of the body’s being perceived, and the same term also indicates that this fact is well known to the enlightened.
Besides its given meaning, the word
ātmanaḥ
in this verse may indicate the Supreme Soul, in which case the term
tad-dhetutvāt
indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa expands His personal potency and thus manifests the material universe. Since the Lord exists eternally in His pure, spiritual body, He never becomes material, as indicated here.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Because the atma is covered by the body, the body is perceived as the atma. Actually however, the atma is not affected by the body. Nor is the paramatma affected by the jiva.
First this verse can be explained as referring to the jivatma and matter. There is no permanent contact of the soul with the material body which is impermanent, having a beginning and end. Because there is no contact then there is no separation. How does this take place? The jivatama acts as the source of manifestation of the body. Because the jiva is the manifester of the material body, it is not contaminated by it. How can the manifester be contaminated by that which it manifests?
Referring to paramatma and jiva, the verse can be explained as follows. The paramatma (atmanah) has no contact with the jiva (anena) or his impermanent body (asata), because the paramatma is the source of manifestation of the jiva and his body by his very nature as God. Paramatma is never contaminated by either the jiva or the body manifested from him. The manifester is never contaminated by the manifested.
In both cases, the example of the sun applies.The sun has no contamination from the eye or form manifested from it. The sun is the paramatma, the eye is the jiva and the form is the body.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The jīva has no connection with matter. Consequently it has no disconnection with matter. It has no connection with matter because in the three phases of time, jīva does not touch (asataḥ) matter. The reason is given. The jīva is the cause of matter’s energy (prasiddheḥ) since it is has a consciousness. If that is so, how can the jīva touch matter? An example is given. The sun, a devatā by birth, unfailing during day and night, does not have connection or disconnection with the eye (sense organ) and form (sense object), the two śaktis which reveal or hide the sun, since it never contacts them. O intelligent Rukmiṇī (sati)!
There is another meaning. Let that be! Since you are the eternal Lakṣmī of Kṛṣṇa, you have no relationship with Rukmī. Then he speaks this verse. You (ātmanaḥ) have no connection or disconnection with Rukmī. “Why is this not well known?” You are the supreme Lakṣmī, the cause. Lakṣmī has fame because of your form. She becomes famous from the power of your glance when you appear on earth. “If I am related to him, why do I have no connection or disconnection with him?” Then the example of the sun, eye and form is given.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
First a logical example is given. There is no separation from the body or senses (anyena). Since the separation depends on a previous connection, connection is also non-existent. The previous verse stated that the body was imposed on the ātmā. Thus the body is also false. O pure woman! You have no relationship with purity or impurity. An example is given. The sun has no relation with or separation from the eye or form. Why? The sun is the cause of form and the eye just as the ātmā is the cause of the senses. Being the effects they are negated. Thus they do not exist: they have a beginning and end.