Drg-Drshya-Viveka - 8

"The identification of the ego with the reflection of consciousness, the body, and the witness is of three kinds: natural, born of past actions, and born of ignorance respectively." - Verse 8

Excerpt From Commentary

Sahajam tadatmya - Consciousness is eternal and omnipresent, so its reflection too is potentially ever-present. The ego manifests itself under the influence of this reflection. There is a natural identification of the ego with the reflection, the instant the ego rises. Sunlight cannot help but be reflected in a pool of water. This identification is expressed as the notion of knowership (jnAtA). Knowing is a characteristic of thought and not the Self. For example, to know a pot, a 'pot thought' must take place in the mind. The inert thought cannot illumine itself. Sentiency is the characteristic of the reflection of Consciousness. The 'knower' is born due to a mutual superimposition of characteristics and is experienced as 'I know this'.

"The two: Existence-Consciousness aspect of the Self and the thought of the intellect, having combined due to indiscrimination, there arises the notion 'I know'. 

The Self has no modifications and the intellect has no Consciousness. The individual having thought himself limited, deludes into thinking 'I am the knower', 'I am the perceiver'." - From Atma Bodha

Karmajam tadatmya - To perform actions, man needs a body. To enjoy the results too, he needs a body. Results fructify at different times and they cannot be experienced by the same body always. The present body too is the result of the actions performed in the past. The ego identifies with this body and says 'I am a man/woman'. This identification is due to past actions. The ego is neither a man nor a woman. The body is only a mass of inert matter yet I think that the body is alive. The sentiency of the sentient ego is superimposed on the body, and the shape or color of the body on the ego.

Bhranti-janyam-tadatmya - Man considers himself to be a finite being. A feeling of incompleteness within creates a desire to become complete and perfect. Thinking that 'x' will make him complete, he desires objects. Desires creates agitations in the mind which prompt him to act in order to quieten the agitations. Actions yield results which when experienced create impressions (vasanas). Vasanas again create desires, agitations, actions, results. Thus man falls into a vicious circle of birth and death, all because of the notion that he is finite. Ignorance of our true Nature gives rise to this fundamental error. The Self is Infinite, Consciousness-Existence-Bliss. The ego is finite, inert and changing. The mutual superimposition of characteristics is due to non-apprehension of the Self. This delusion is the root cause of bondage.