Verse 2.438

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

अविद्यासाक्ष्यपि प्रत्यक्सदाऽनस्तमितोदितः ।
अविद्यया व्यवहितस्तद्बलेनैव तद्वचः ॥ ४३८ ॥

avidyāsākṣyapi pratyaksadā'nastamitoditaḥ |
avidyayā vyavahitastadbalenaiva tadvacaḥ || 438 ||

English translation of verse 2.438:

Though the inward Self whose light ever shines and never sets is the witness of avidyā, it is nevertheless obstructed by avidyā. And we speak about that (obstruction) only on the strength of avidyā.

Notes:

The pure consciousness is helpful (sādhaka) to avidyā inasmuch as it serves as the locus (āśraya) of avidyā. It is what reveals avidyā. While the pure consciousness (svarūpa-jñāna) is not opposed to it, the consciousness delimited by the mind (antaḥkaraṇāvacchinna-caitanya) is opposed to it. In other words, the knowledge which arises through the mental mode (vṛtti-jñāna) removes ignorance, being opposed to it. That is why the inward Self is said to be the witness of avidyā.

We fail to know the inward Self which is always self-luminous by nature because of the obstruction of avidyā. How do we know, it may be asked, that avidyā is the obstruction which veils the real nature of the Self? The answer is that we come to know of this only through avidyā. When we say, for example, that “I am ignorant of the true nature of the Self,” we admit that ignorance is the veil which conceals the true nature of the Self (ātmano yathokta-lakṣaṇasyaivāvidyā-vyavahitatvaṃ avidyā- balādevocyate).