The knot is destroyed

The next mantra presents the result of owning up the true nature of the entire universe as the self.

yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye'sya hṛdi śritāḥ |

atha martyo'mṛto bhavatyatra brahma samaśnute ||2-3-14||

When all desires which are based on his heart wear off, then, the mortal becomes

immortal. He attains Brahman here (itself).

atra brahma samaśnute - he attains brahman here (itself), means that the result of brahmajñānam is jīvanmukti (freedom while living). Thus, the śraddhā for śruti is verified here and now. This freedom is not physical freedom, because this body still depends upon the external world for food, clothing, shelter etc. There is no total freedom for this body. The freedom referred to here is the mental freedom from problems of saṁsāra (life of becoming), which is expressed in the form of desire, anger, greed, arrogance, jealousy, fear, etc. where I struggle to change the situation, attaining what I desire and get rid of what I don’t (desire to have). This desire to change is called kāmā. It all started from ignorance of the true nature of ātmā and identification with anātmā, therefore, I feel there is always something lacking in my life, because of the limitation of anātmā. This ignorance leads to seeking fulfilment, and the sense of lack is expressed in the form of a constant struggle to remove my limitations. This struggle is called kāmaḥ; and moksa is the freedom from this struggle to end.

When brahman is known as oneself, yadā sarve pramucyante kāmā ye'sya hṛdi śritāḥ - all desires in the mind wear off, even including the desire for mokṣa. Jñānī has no desire even for mokṣa, because he knows he is never bound, and he is ever fulfilled. atha martyo'mṛto bhavati - then the mortal becomes immortal, he becomes free from the cycle of mortality, indicates vidhehamukti (freedom from the cycle of rebirth). Truly speaking, the mortal does not become immortal, because it is impossible for the finite to become infinite. The one who thought he was mortal now knows that he has always been immortal. Travel from mortality to immortality is the journey from ignorance to knowledge; it is not a physical journey, but a cognitive journey. The journey is from the notion that I am mortal to the knowledge that I am immortal.

atra brahma samaśnute - he attains brahman here (itself), when I drop the notion that brahman is away from me and knowing that brahman is myself (aham brahma asmi).

The results of self-knowledge continues.

yadā sarve prabhidyante hṛdayasyeha granthayaḥ |

atha martyo'mṛto bhavatyetāvaddhyanuśāsanam ||2-3-15||

When all the knots of the heart are completely destroyed here (itself), then, the

mortal becomes immortal. This much alone is the teaching.

In the previous mantra, the benefit was presented as the destruction of desire; and in this mantra, śruti says: the knot of ignorance in the mind is destroyed. The knot of ignorance that has been there (beginning-less) cannot be undone; it must be cut by the cutter of knowledge, so the product of ignorance like desire, karma, punya-pāpa, and rebirth, can’t be revived. This knot joins ātmā and anātmā together, thus I associate myself with the body-mind-complex. This I-ness is destroyed for good because the identification with body-mind-sense-complex is cut through knowledge. The real cutting is impossible, because there is no real knotting. Frankly speaking, there is no problem when consciousness identifies with the body; only because of that, the body is able to transact. The problem is that I take the mortality of the body to be my mortality. Therefore, yadā sarve prabhidyante hṛdayasyeha granthayaḥ - when the ignorance of the true nature of the self is totally destroyed, then atha martyo'mṛto bhavati - the mortal jīva becomes immortal. When I identify with the body, I claim the body’s mortality as my mortality. When I see I am brahman, I own up my immortal self.

Yamarāja says etāvaddhyanuśāsanam - that this much alone is his teaching that response to naciketa’s question in the third boon.