Yoga Sutras of Patanjali translated by Yogi Kalinath - Chapter 2, Verse 17

Pada 2, Sutra 17

Sanskrit Verse

Drastr-drshyayoh sanyogo heya-hetuh

Translation

The correlation between the Seer (the True Self / Purusha) and the seen (Prakriti) is to be ended.

Interpretation

The True Self is the One Within that witnesses all things, the Witness Consciousness, the Atman, the Purusha, the Seer. Identifying the Seer with phenomenal existence is the source of suffering. As humans we suffer from a misidentification complex—disparate (and desperate) selves trying to veer for attention and supremacy. In fact this aggregate of phenomenal selves called the ego or the ‘I-maker’ (Ahamakara) that we take as real is vacuous of true substance and vacuity itself. In Reality only the Seer, the Atman is Eternal and Immortal. Its Essence is Sat—Existence, Cit—Knowledge/Unwavering Consciousness, Prem-Anandam—Love Bliss. Everything else is the ever-changing canvas of the Universe offering diversity purely for the Entertainment of the Atman.