1. One must must discern the difference between Self and non-self using discrimination. Analyze this properly and firmly retain the understanding of this analysis in your being.
2. Analyze what is Self and what is non-self. The explanation of this will now be given. Please listen attentively.
3. The four categories of living things, the four types of speech, and the 8.4 million species of living beings as described in the ancient mythological books (Puranas) are in existence now.
4. There are many types of bodies that are seen in the universe. Who is the Self in them? This must be determined with certainty.
5. It is the Self that sees through the eyes, listens through the ears, and tastes with the tongue. This is evident right now.
6. The Self smells through the nose, touches with the body, speaks with the voice, and understands the words.
7. Alert and moving, the Self is active everywhere. It is the Self alone that is the activity of the sense organs.
8. It is the Self that moves the legs, moves the hands, raises and lowers the eyebrows, and blinks the eyes, and it is the Self that speaks, giving indications about itself.
9. It is the Self alone that is courageous or shy, and that scratches, coughs, vomits, spits, drinks and eats.
10. It is the Self the controls the body. It makes the body expel urine and feces. It is the Self that establishes mental states and dispositions as well as exists without mental states and activity. It is the Self alone that both explains and interprets.
11. It is the Self that listens, sees, smells, tastes and recognizes many things, as well as feels contentment and fear.
12. It is the Self that knows happiness, humor, boredom, worry, the body, and the identification with body, which is like a fleeting shadow. It is the Self alone that suffers the many various ailments that afflict living beings.
13. It is the Self that holds a liking for objects, and that acts in good ways and bad ways among the people. It is the Self that protects one’s own possessions and people and beats or kills others who are not one's own.
14. When there is war, it is the Self that acts through all of the bodies on both sides, killing and being killed.
15. It is the Self that comes, goes, resides, and acts in all bodies, and it is the Self alone that laughs, cries, repents, and becomes powerful or unfortunate, depending on one's affairs and corresponding activities.
16. It is the Self alone that is cowardly, strong, educated, bold, just, and arrogant.
17. It is the Self that is patient and courageous, generous as well as miserly, stupid as well as clever, and out of control as well as tolerant.
18. It is the Self that is joyful in both knowledge and ignorance, and that pervades everywhere.
19. It is the Self that sleeps, wakes up, sits, walks, runs, makes others run, swings, carries weight, and establishes relationships with relatives and friends.
20. It is the Self that reads religious texts and explains their meanings. It keeps the beat, carries the rhythm, and begins to sing. And it is the Self alone that indulges in arguments unnecessarily.
21. If the Self is not active in the body, then that body is but a dead corpse in this world of animate and inanimate things. It is in connection with the body that the Self does all things.
22. If the body is without the Self, or the Self is without the body, both are basically of no use. Therefore the union of the body with the Self has come into existence.
23. The body is ephemeral and the Self is eternal. This is seen by utilizing the subtle activity of discriminating between what is Eternal and what is ephemeral. This is understood by the Jnanis.
24. The one who possesses or wields the body is called the jiva, or individual. The one who possesses the universal body is called the "Light of the Universe," or Shiva. It is the Self, the Supreme Lord (Ishwara), that wields all four bodies of the jiva and the four bodies of Shiva.
25. That one God, Ishwara, is beyond the three gunas, and is in the primal form of God that is half masculine and half feminine. From there the entire expanse of the visible world has come into existence.
26. Careful investigation and clear seeing is required here. There is nothing that can really be considered to be masculine or feminine, only something that is in the form of subtle movement is actually experienced.
27. From the beginning to the end, from Brahma and the other gods to the ant and human beings, this Self, Ishwara, is the wielder of all bodies. The wise understand this by utilizing the power of discrimination to discern the Eternal from the ephemeral.
28. That which is gross (the body and physical world) disappears quickly while that which is subtle (Consciousness) has a longer lasting duration. However, there is an even more subtle discrimination between the ephemeral and Eternal which will be explained later on.
29. Going beyond the gross and the subtle bodies, the causal and the great causal bodies (the four bodies of the jiva) must be left behind. Going further, the gross visible world and the subtle body of the universe must also be dissolved with the power of discrimination.
30. Beyond that, after leaving behind the causal body of the universe, one's state becomes established in the fourth body of the universe which is the Primal Illusion. In order to become withdrawn from that state, to become stateless, please listen to the explanation that follows.
31. The discernment between the Self and non-self has now been explained, and the Self, as movement, or the active principle, has been experienced. In the next sub-chapter, the investigation into Essence and non-essence (Saraasara) will be explained.