Texts 12-13
prakṛti-stho ’py asaṁsakto
yathā khaṁ savitānilaḥ
vaiśāradyekṣayāsaṅga-
śitayā chinna-saṁśayaḥ
pratibuddha iva svapnān
nānātvād vinivartate
prakṛti — in the material world; sthaḥ — situated; api — even though; asaṁsaktaḥ — completely detached from sense gratification; yathā — just as; kham — the sky; savitā — the sun; anilaḥ — the wind; vaiśāradyā — by most expert; īkṣayā — vision; asaṅga — through detachment; śitayā — sharpened; chinna — cut to pieces; saṁśayaḥ — doubts; pratibuddhaḥ — awakened; iva — like; svapnāt — from a dream; nānātvāt — from the duality of variety of the material world; vinivartate — one turns away or renounces.
Although the sky, or space, is the resting place of everything, the sky does not mix with anything, nor is it entangled. Similarly, the sun is not at all attached to the water in which it is reflected within innumerable reservoirs, and the mighty wind blowing everywhere is not affected by the innumerable aromas and atmospheres through which it passes. In the same way, a self-realized soul is completely detached from the material body and the material world around it. He is like a person who has awakened and arisen from a dream. With expert vision sharpened by detachment, the self-realized soul cuts all doubts to pieces through knowledge of the self and completely withdraws his consciousness from the expansion of material variety.
According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, a self-realized soul cuts all doubts to pieces by direct experience of his true spiritual identity. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is Lord Kṛṣṇa, and there is no possibility of any existence separate from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Such expert knowledge cuts all doubts to pieces. As stated here, prakṛti-stho ’py asaṁsaktaḥ: like the sky, the sun or the wind, one who is self-realized is not entangled, though situated within the material creation of the Lord. Nānātva, or “material variety,” refers to one’s material body, the bodies of others and the unlimited paraphernalia for bodily sense gratification, both physical and mental. By awakening to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one completely retires from illusory sense gratification and becomes absorbed in the progressive realization of the soul situated within the body. As revealed in the example of the two birds in a tree, both the individual soul and the Personality of Godhead are completely separate from the gross and subtle material bodies. If one turns one’s face to the Lord, recognizing one’s eternal dependence on Him, there will be no further suffering or anxiety, even though one is still situated within the material world. The unlimited experiences of material objects only increase one’s anxiety, whereas perception of the Absolute Truth, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, immediately brings one to the platform of peace. Thus one who is intelligent retires from the world of matter and becomes a fully self-realized Kṛṣṇa conscious person.