4.22 – Awareness is changeless. It comes to know Its own intelligence through the forms appearing within it.

चितेरप्रतिसंक्रमायाः तदाकारापत्तौ स्वबुद्धि संवेदनम् ॥२२॥

chitteh apratisamkramayah tad akara apattau sva buddhi samvedanam

  • chitteh – of consciousness
  • apratisamkramayah – not changing; not progressing
  • tad – that
  • akara – form
  • apattau – happening; appearing
  • sva – of self; one’s self; one’s own
  • buddhi – the higher intellect; knowing; perceiving
  • samvedanam – knowing; feeling; sensation; perception

4.23 – Consciousness, colored by both the seer and that which is seen, can take on any form.

द्रष्टृदृश्योपरक्तं चित्तं सर्वार्थम् ॥२३॥

drastri drisya uparaktam chittam sarva artham

  • drastri – the seer; the perceiver; the witness
  • drisya – the seen; the heard; the perceivable
  • uparaktam – colored; influenced by
  • chittam – consciousness; field of consciousness; reflecting; mind; thought
  • sarva – all; every
  • artham – for the sake of; for the purpose of; objects; forms

4.24 – Even when consciousness is colored by countless psychic tendencies, its actions are always connected to, dependent on, and in service of Awareness.

तदसङ्ख्येय वासनाभिः चित्रमपि परार्थम् संहत्यकारित्वात् ॥२४॥

tad asankheya vasanabhih chittam api parartham samhatya karitvat

  • tad – that
  • asankheya – not calculable; countless; innumerable
  • vasanabhih – latent psychic impressions; strong psychic tendencies or inclinations
  • chittam – consciousness; field of consciousness; reflecting; mind; thought
  • api – even; also; too; though
  • parartham – for the sake of others; dependent on something else
  • samhatya – combined together with; connection
  • karitvat – caused to be done; effected

Commentary on Sutras 4.22—4.24:

Like an artist who pours herself into her painting and discovers hidden aspects of her being as they come through, Awareness pours itself into the world and comes to know itself through its forms.

Individualized expressions of Awareness interact with and influence each other. And Awareness Itself continuously animates them. Through this dynamic interplay, a soul can take on any form.

Those infinite varieties of form reflect back on Awareness, and It sees Itself in those reflections. And no matter how distorted those individualized expressions become or how lost they become in the maze of their conditionings and constructs, they still serve the purpose of reflecting back on Awareness.