यथा सर्वगतं सौक्ष्म्यादाकाशं नोपलिप्यते । सर्वत्रावस्थितो देहे तथात्मा नोपलिप्यते ॥
yathā sarvagataṃ saukṣmyādākāśaṃ nopalipyate | sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate ||
Translation
Just as space, being all-pervading, is not tainted because of its subtlety — even so the Self, pervading all of the body, is not tainted.
Interpretation
The akasha (space) simile: space pervades all things — it is inside every room, every vessel, every pore — yet space is not tainted by anything that exists within it. Sewage flows through space; space is not polluted. The sun shines in space; space is not brightened. Space is unaffected by all that occurs within it. Similarly, the atman pervades the entire body (sarvatraavasthito dehe) yet is not tainted (na upalipyate) by any of the body's conditions, pleasures, pains, illnesses, or actions. This is the freedom of the Self — not from experience but from being defined or stained by experience.