The knowing Self is neither born nor dies; it did not come from anywhere, nor did it become anyone. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, it is not slain when the body is slain.
न जायते म्रियते वा विपश्चि- न्नायं कुतश्चिन्न बभूव कश्चित् । अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥ १८॥
Two birds, companions bound together, cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruit; the other looks on without eating.
द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते । तयोरन्यः पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्त्यनश्नन्नन्यो अभिचाकशीति ॥ १॥
Just as 'I' is not the house, similarly, 'I' is not the body even. 'I' is in fact a spirit originating and flowing from God, a ramification of the divine entity. The value of human life or importance of the human body comes from the very realisation of this fact.
Whoever is ignorant of himself is yet more ignorant of other things; and inasmuch as a man is bound to know God, he must first know himself, in order that by rightly perceiving his own temporality he may recognize the eternity of God.
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