The root of this not-Āṭmā is Māyā. She appears in Brahman like clouds, etc., in the sky. She has no beginning but has an end. She is subject to proof and not-proof. She neither is; nor is not; nor is she a combination of both (Saṭ and Asaṭ). Her seat is indescribable. She has the varieties of differences as extolled by the wise. It is she that truly is not. Her nature is Ajñāna. She appears as Mūlaprakṛṭi, Guṇa-Sāmya (a state where the three Guṇas are found in equilibrium), 1 Aviḍyā (Nescience) and other forms, transforming herself into the form of the universe. Thus does a knower of Brahman cognize her.

Footnotes

13:1 This Upanishaḍ and the next form a glossary of some of the terms of Veḍānṭa. 'Sarva-Sāra' is the all-essence or quintessence.

13:2 They are the 5 organs of sense, the 5 organs of action and the 4 of Anṭaḥ-karaṇa (the internal organ), viz., Manas, Buḍḍhi, China and Ahaṅkāra. Each is animated by a Ḍevaṭā or intelligential principle.

17:1 This refers to that slumbering or latent state of the universe—called also Mahā-Sushupṭi when the Guṇas are in equilibrium; on re-awakening into activity when the Guṇas are disturbed, Mūlaprakṛṭi is called by the different names of Māyā, Aviḍyā, Ṭamas, etc.

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