Dṛg-dṛśya Vivekaḥ 1: Perceiver & Perceived
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2020-05-24

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Ājñā-cakra

This opening verse gives the essence of Dṛg-dṛśya Vivekaḥ.

rūpaṁ dṛśyaṁ locanaṁ dṛk tad dṛśyaṁ dṛk tu mānasaṁ |d
ṛśyādhīvṛttayassākṣī dṛg-eva na tu dṛśyate ||

“Form is perceived, and the eye is the perceiver. It (the eye) is perceived, and the mind is its perceiver. The mind with its modifications is perceived, and the Witness (Self) is verily the perceiver. But it (the Self) is not perceived [by any other].”

The direct and immediate phenomenological knowledge of Ātman, Brahman or Self is the means of attaining Liberation. The meaning of the Vedic Mahā-vakya tat tvam asī—“Thou art That (Brahman)”—enables one to realise the goal of life. 

The meaning of “Thou art That” is correctly grasped by understanding the sense of the words contained in the statement. The first five ślokas of Dṛg-dṛśya Vivekaḥ explain the significance of Thou.

This śloka explains the relationships of perceiver and perceived among the components of Thou: Self (the Witness), mind, senses and the world:

Form means all objects of sense perception, including thoughts and the world.
Eye stands for the organs of perception, such as nose, ears etc. The eye and other knowledge-acquiring senses are perceivers only relative to sense objects, because they are themselves perceived by the mind.

Mind: the sense organs cannot perceive their objects unless the mind is attached to them. In deep sleep the sense organs do not perceive anything because the mind ceases to perceive them. This will be explained in detail.

Modifications of the mind include buddhi, citta, antaḥkāraṇa, ahaṅkāra, upādhi, vāsana etc. These concepts are all described in previous video series. Actually mind is not a single entity, but merely an aggregate of various types of avidyā superimposed on Self.

Perceiver: The mind is controlled by the conscious Self. It follows the Self’s attention and will. For example, if we fail to notice something because our attention is wandering we say, “My mind was elsewhere; I did not see.” — Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad 1.4.3

Brahman or the innermost Self is the only real subject or perceiver. Everything else is an object, insentient and inert. If a perceiver of Brahman is sought, the enquiry will end in a recursive infinite regression, because only Self can perceive Itself by being aware of Its awareness. 

The gross sense objects, senses and mind are insentient because they are products of avidyā (ignorance), which is itself insentient. Therefore they are only objects; their perception or subjectivity is only apparent. 

The Self is the ultimate and only actual Seer, because no other sentient entity or seer is found to exist. Thus, knowledge of the Knower—the Witness or the Self—is never absent. Self is always realized; but because knowledge of Self is covered by superimposition of ignorance, from the point of view of the mind and senses it appears that one is bound by saṁsāra. 

Download Dṛg-dṛśya Vivekaḥ: https://ia902803.us.archive.org/34/items/04DrgdrsyaVivekaNikhilananda/04Drgdrsya%20Viveka%20Nikhilananda.pdf

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