body and drive off flies. If anybody asks you, “Do you remember the scratching, the driving off
of flies, when you were asleep?”, you will say, “No”. Similarly, even though a Jnani sees, he
does not see. He is always conscious of his Svarupa. If he likes, he can have a double
consciousness and turn his vision that side and this side also. His activities are like those of
children. Owing to the mental retentum - the force of the old Subha Vasanas and the Lesha
Avidya or trace of ignorance - his activities are kept up. Just as the tin in which asafoetida or
garlic had been kept emits the smell of these drugs even though the tin is washed several times
and water, this trace of Avidya remains in the Jivanmukta till Prarabdha wears away. He is not
doing actions at all from his own viewpoint. The bystanders think that the Jnani also is working.
But we have to admit that there is Lesha Avidya or a trace of ignorance, because we notice that
the Jnani also eats, bathes and answers calls of nature.
From "May I answer that" by Swami Sivananda (1987-1963). More Informations on Swami Sivananda: on the Website of Divine Life Society, Photographs of Swami Sivananda, German Pages on Swami Sivananda
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