translation by Prabhavananda / Isherwood (edited):
Wrapped in its five coverings, beginning with the physical, which are the products of its own Maya, the Atman remains hidden, as the water of a pond is hidden by a veil of scum.
When the scum is removed, the pure water is clearly seen. It takes away a man's thirst, cools him immediately and makes him happy.
When all the five coverings are removed, the pure Atman is revealed. It is revealed as God dwelling within; as unending, unalloyed bliss; as the supreme and self-luminous Being.
The wise man who seeks liberation from bondage must discriminate between Atman and non-Atman. In this way, he can realize the Atman, which is Infinite Being, Infinite Wisdom and Infinite Love. Thus he finds happiness.
The Atman dwells within, free from attachment and beyond all action. A man must separate this Atman from every object of experience, as a stalk of grass is separated from its enveloping sheath. Then he must dissolve into the Atman all those appearances which make up the world of name and form. He is indeed a free soul who can remain thus absorbed in the Atman alone.
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This body is the "physical covering". Food made its birth possible; on food it lives; without food it must die. It consists of cuticle, skin, flesh, blood, bone and water. It cannot be the Atman, the ever-pure, the self-existent.
It did not exist before birth, it will not exist after death. It exists for a short while only, in the interim between them. Its very nature is transient, and subject to change. It is a compound, not an element. Its vitality is only a reflection. It is a sense-object, which can be perceived, like a jar. How can it be the Atman-the experiencer of all experiences?
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THAT covering of the Atman which is called "the vital covering" is made up of the vital force and the five organs of action. The body is called "the physical covering". It comes to life when it is enveloped by the vital covering. It is thus that the body engages in action.
This vital covering is not the Atman-for it is merely composed of the vital airs. Air-like, it enters and leaves the body. It does not know what is good or bad for itself, or for others. It is always dependent upon the Atman.
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THE mind, together with the organs of perception, forms the "mental covering". It causes the sense of "I" and "mine". It also causes us to discern objects. It is endowed with the power and faculty of differentiating objects by giving them various names. It is manifest, enveloping the "vital covering"
The mental covering may be compared to the sacrificial fire. It is fed by the fuel of many desires. The five organs of perception serve as priests. Objects of desire are poured upon it like a continous stream of oblations. Thus it is that this phenomenal universe is brought forth.
Ignorance is nowhere, except in the mind. The mind is filled with ignorance, and this causes the bondage of birth and death. When, in the enlightenment of the Atman, a man transcends the mind, the phenomenal universe disappears from him. When a man lives in the domain of mental ignorance, the phenomenal universe exists for him.
In dream, the mind is emptied of the objective universe, but it creates by its own power a complete universe of subject and object. The waking state is only a prolonged dream. The phenomenal universe exists in the mind.
In dreamless sleep, when the mind does not function, nothing exists. This is our universal experience. Man seems to be in bondage to birth and death. This is a fictitious creation of the mind, not a reality.
The wind collects the clouds, and the wind drives them away again. Mind creates bondage, and mind also removes bondage.
The mind creates attachment to the body and the things of this world. Thus it binds a man, as a beast is tied by a rope. But it is also the mind which creates in a man an utter distaste for sense-objects, as if for poison. Thus it frees him from his bondage.
The mind, therefore, is the cause of man's bondage dage and also of his liberation. It causes bondage when it is darkened by rajas. It causes liberation when it is freed from rajas and tamas, and made pure...
The "mental covering", therefore, cannot be the Atman. It has a beginning and an end, and is subject to change. It is the abode of pain. It is an object of experience. The seer cannot be the thing which is seen.
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THE discriminating faculty with its powers of intelligence, together with the organs of perception, is known as the "covering of intellect". To be the doer is its distinguishing characteristic. It is the cause of man's birth, death and rebirth.
The power of intelligence that is in the "covering of intellect" is a reflection of the Atman, the pure consciousness. The "covering of intellect" is an effect of Maya. It possesses the faculty of knowing and acting. It always identifies itself entirely with the body, sense-organs, etc.
It has no beginning. It is characterized by its sense of ego. It constitutes the individual man. It is the initiator of all actions and undertakings. The states of waking and dreaming belong to this "covering of intellect". It experiences joy and sorrow.
Because of its sense of "I" and "mine", it constantly identifies itself with the body, and the physical states, and with the duties pertaining to the different stages and orders of life.
This "covering of intellect" shines with a bright light because of its proximity to the shining Atman. It is a garment of the Atman, but man identifies himself with it and wanders around the circle of birth, death and rebirth because of his delusion.
The Atman, which is pure consciousness, is the light that shines in the shrine of the heart, the center of all vital force. It is immutable, but it becomes the "doer" and "experiencer" when it is mistakenly identified with the "covering of intellect".
The Atman assumes the limitations of the "covering of intellect" because it is mistakenly identified with that covering, which is totally different from itself.
This man, who is the Atman, regards himself as being separate from it, and from Brahman, who is the one Atman in all creatures. An ignorant man, likewise, may regard a jar as being different from the clay of which it was made.
By its nature, the Atman is forever unchanging and perfect. But it assumes the character and nature of its coverings because it is mistakenly identified with them. Although fire is formless, it will assume the form of red-hot iron.
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THE "covering of bliss"' is that covering of the Atman which catches a reflection of the blissful Atman itself. Nevertheless, this covering is a creation tion of our ignorance. Its nature consists of the various degrees of happiness which are experienced when a desired object is gained. Its blissful nature is spontaneously felt by righteous men when they reap the reward of their good deeds. It expresses that joy which all living beings may experience without making any effort towards it.
The "covering of bliss" is fully revealed to us in the state of deep sleep. It is partially revealed in the waking and the dreaming states, when any desirable object is being enjoyed.
This "covering of bliss" cannot be the Atman, for the following reasons: it has limitations; it is an effect of Maya; its joyful nature is experienced as the result of good deeds; it is of the same kind as the other coverings, which are all products of Maya.
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IF WE reason and meditate on the truth of the scriptures, transcending all the five coverings of ignorance, we realize the ultimate Existence-which which is the Atman, the witness, the infinite consciousness.
The Atman is self-luminous, distinct from the five coverings. It is the witness of the three states of consciousness. It is existence, changeless, pure, ever-blissful. It is to be realized by the man of discrimination as the Atman within himself.
