Vedantasara-12.
111. Consciousness associated with this aggregate of gross bodies is called Vaisvanara and Virat on account of its identification with all bodies, and from its manifestation in diverse ways respectively.
112. This aggregate gross body of his is called the alimentary sheath (Annamayakosa) on account of its being a modification of food, and is said to be in the waking state on account of its being the medium for the enjoyment of gross objects.
113. Consciousness associated with the individual gross body is designated as Visva on account of its entering the gross body etc., without giving up its identification with the subtle body.
114. This individual gross body of his (of the Jiva) is also called the alimentary sheath on account of its being a modification of food, and is said to be in the waking state.
115. Both Visva and Vaisvanara at that time, perceive the gross objects, viz., sound, touch, colour, taste and smell respectively through the five sense-organs, such as the ears etc., controlled respectively by (the presiding deities, viz.,) the Quarters (Dik), Air (Vayu), Sun, Varuna and the two Asvins. They also perform the functions of speech, acceptance, walking, excretion and enjoyment respectively through the five organs of action, such as the tongue etc., controlled respectively by Fire, Indra, Vishnu, Yama and Prajapati. They also experience uncertainty, determination, personality and remembrance, respectively through the four inner organs, viz., mind, intellect, egoism and memory (Chitta) controlled respectively by the Moon, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. Witness such Sruti passages as: “Whose place is the waking state, who is conscious of the external world” (Mand. Up. 3).
116. Here also the individual and collective gross bodies are identical as before, like the trees and the forest, or like the quantities of water and the lake; and so are Visva and Vaisvanara, which are respectively associated with those bodies, identical, like the spaces enclosed by the trees and the forest, or like the reflections of the sky in the quantities of water and the lake.
117. Thus has the gross phenomenal universe evolved from the five compounded elements.
118. The sum total of the gross, subtle and causal worlds makes a Vast Universe as the sum total of smaller forests makes a vast forest, of a collection of smaller lakes makes a vast expanse of water.
119. Consciousness associated with this, from Vaisvanara to Isvara is also one and the same, as the space enclosed by a number of smaller forests is the same as that enclosed by the big forest of which they form part, or as the sky reflected in different smaller lakes is the same as that reflected in the vast expanse of water which they form.
120. Consciousness, unassociated with any adjuncts (Upadhis) whatsoever, when not discriminated – like the red-hot iron-ball – from the Vast Universe and the Consciousness associated with it, becomes the direct import of the (great) Vedic dictum, “All this is verily Brahman” (Ch. Up. III-14-1) and when discriminated from them it becomes the implied meaning of that text.
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