A successful teaching takes place

Even though preyas will keep people in the realm of samsāra, still most people commit to this type of path. Therefore yamaraja praises those who choose śreyas, and the entire lineage of self-knowledge.

śravaṇāyāpi bahubhiryo na labhyaḥ śṛṇvanto’pi bahavo yam na vidyuḥ |

āścaryo vaktā kuśalo’sya labdhā āścaryo jñātā kuśalānuśiṣṭaḥ ||1.2.7||

For many (people) this (ātmā) is not available even for listening. Despite listening, many do not understand this (ātmā). The one who reveals and attains (ātmā) is a wonder. The one who is instructed by this competent teacher and owns up this self is indeed a wonder.

Majority of people are interested in possessing security and enjoyment. A small percentage of them understand the limitation of those possessions, and thus pursue dharma. And only a fraction of them understand that dharma can only deliver heaven or a better life, but not moksa. Among those who desire moksa, many do not know the correct means, because they are confused by many paths of yoga like karma, bhakti, raja, etc. We get confused and hop from one path to another. Thus yamaraja says śravaṇāyāpi bahubhiryo na labhyaḥ - even for listening about, self-knowledge is not available for many people, only a few people follow the path of knowledge. And śṛṇvanto’pi bahavo yam na vidyuḥ - among those who are listening to śruti, many would not understand, since they are not refined by karma-yoga attitude and other values which help them gain qualifications.

Since this subject matter is subtle, it is impossible to understand by self-study, thus one should get a śrotriya teacher who knows the method of communication used by śruti. This competent teacher has the key to reveal the meaning of the teaching, because of his ability to communicate what is uncommunicable. Such a srotriya teacher who even owns up brahman as him-self (brahmanistha) is a wonder - āścaryo vaktā kuśalo’sya labdhā.  And at last, yamaraja says āścaryo jñātā kuśalānuśiṣṭaḥ - it is indeed a wonder being instructed by such a competent teacher, and owns up the self. This mantra shows that one can get self-knowledge only through an unbroken link of teacher - student lineage.

How does a successful teaching take place ? The next mantra explains.

na nareṇāvareṇa prokta eṣa suvijñeyo bahudhā cintyamānaḥ ｜

ananyaprokte gatiratra nāsti aṇīyān hyatarkyamaṇupramāṇāt ||1.2.8||

This (ātmā) is taught by an incompetent person, can’t be understood very well, being speculated in many-fold manner. When (ātma) is revealed by one who is not different (from it), there is no misunderstanding about (it). Because ātmā is subtler than the size of an atom and not available for reasoning.

Self-knowledge is not like common knowledge, where the object of knowledge is objectified by us. Ātma is not available for objectification, thus it is uncommunicable by using conventional method. Something is communicable should either has jāti - species, guna - attribute, kriya - action, or sambandha - connection with another object. But ātmā doesn’t have any of them. Thus to communicate such ātmā, requires an extraordinary teacher who knows ātmā himself.

Whereas na nareṇāvareṇa prokta eṣa suvijñeyo bahudhā cintyamānaḥ - when ātmā is taught by an incompetent person, who identifies himself as a limited individual, it can’t be understood very well, because this self is speculated in many ways. Ātmā is taught variously, as existence, non-existence, doer, non-doer, etc. In this manner ātmā is speculated by people with different views, while the true nature of ātmā is not known.

So how can this ātmā be understood very well?

ananyaprokte gatiratra nāsti - wrong understanding is not there when ātmā is taught by a teacher who sees oneself as no different from brahman. Thus knowledge imparted by a person who sees ātma as oneself like a clear like daylight, will be free of doubt.

Second interpretation for ananyaprokte - when ātmā is revealed as none other than oneself, then there will not be other wrong understanding. That is only one right understanding that “everything here is brahman alone, and that brahman is me.” Since there is only one ātmā, nothing else is there to limit me.

Thus the third interpretation of the same sentence is when gati has the meaning of going, it means that traveling in the life samsāra will not be there for one who is taught as non-dual ātmā by a competent teacher.