The jnanis think that your form is an upadhi of maya. They seek out the pure form of the jiva without contamination of maya. They seek out the jiva which takes birth Among countless species (ananta bhavam) in various bodies (antarbhave). How? By rejEcting that which is material, not spiritual (atat). What is necessary to understand this spiritual jiva? In order to reject everything material, one must first reject the false conception that one is a body. Next, the procedure is mentioned. As long as one does not reject the false idea that there is a snake present, how can a person understand that it is only a rope? Asango ‘yam purusah taking this stuti statement, the jiva thus has no connection with the gross and subtle bodies. Thus the jiva has no bodily suffering. Only by ignorance does the jiva believe he is a body. Can one know the pure jiva without rejecting everything related to the body, through knowledge that one is soul, not body? No, he cannot know the soul without rejecting.

The cause of ignorance is explained in this verse. O all-pervading Lord (ananta)! Because (hi) you are all pervading, those with discrimination (santaḥ) seek you (bhavantam) within the universe. They desire to attain you who have no faults and have all good qualities as Svayam Bhagavān. What do they do? They give up things other than you, since they are not satisfied. “The universe is a covering over me? How can they attain me there?” This is talk of the unintelligent. They know you as the effect which reflects a position of the qualities of you, the Lord, the ultimate cause. Not searching for spiritual or material forms, they search out the shelter of everything. An example is given of such people of ordinary discrimination. In giving up all the expansion forms, there is a method of concentrating on the individual. First, they reject the contamination of the bodies and attain the pure ātmā, the giver of consciousness to the body. This is the nirviśeṣa-brahman. But this is rejected by Dhruva: yā nirvṛtis tanu-bhṛtāṁ tava pāda-padma- dhyānād bhavaj-jana-kathā-śravaṇena vā syāt sā brahmaṇi sva-mahimany api nātha mā bhūt kiṁ tv antakāsi-lulitāt patatāṁ vimānāt The bliss for your servant available from meditating on your lotus feet or from hearing about your pastimes from the devotees is not available in your form of greatness known as Brahman, what to speak of the happiness for those who fall from the pleasures of Svarga.

The devotees seek you who exist, spreading inside and out. O unlimited lord (ananta)! You spread inside and outside everything. Do the devotees seek you only in their own bodies? No, not at all, but they also seek you outside. Why? They reject that which is false--ātma-tattva, known by non-devotees as asat. If they do not reject it, pure knowledge will not arise. That is expressed in the second half of the verse. Without rejecting that atat object (antareṇa), how can one accept the real object? The devotees first reject the false knowledge of the Lord, and think, “I am not the Lord. I am his servant.” Then they attain the Lord. Or atat can mean nirvāṇa. Without rejecting nirvāṇa which is atat one cannot attain the real object. Without rejecting the false snake, how can one realize the real snake? Or how do those in knowledge search for the Lord? They search in the lotus of their hearts (antar-bhave). They reject everything unless it is related to you. “By remembering the Lord, that happens automatically. Why should one attempt rejection?” Without rejecting the poison of the snake, without rejecting karma and jñāna, how can one perfect remembering the Lord?