However transient names and forms might be, the 'I' persists without being affected. Therefore, one has to know this omnipresent 'I' so that one can understand all that has to be known. He who has known it is the Jagadguru, (the World-Teacher), the Viswaguru, (the Teacher of all Beings), The Sadguru (The Teacher to be followed).

The body is but the container, the Upadhi, the sheath. Nevertheless, imposing differences and distinctions based on physical characteristics and material considerations, some are elevated as 'touchable' and some condemned as 'untouchable'; some are classified as 'high' and others as 'low'. Intellect cannot claim honour, and persons cannot claim to be Pundits, if studies are directed to the amassing of money or earning the wherewithal for a comfortable living; nor can skill and excellence in argumentative scholarship be worthy of reverential mention. Really, the word 'I' leads you to the Supreme Godhead, when you dive into its significance. 'That is you', 'That is I', 'I and that are One', this is what the great Vedic dictum, "Thath thwam asi - That thou art" - declares. That is the very core of all teaching, the grandest of counsels.

This sacred principle embodied in the 'I' is beyond the grasp of the most learned scholars, by means of lone inquiry, without guides and helpers. Only, the guides have to be those who are aware of the Truth and who are earnest in living the Truth. It is beyond the reach of scholarship, logic and grammar. Note that these are warnings administered by the Sruthis and the Smrithis.

Well. When one intends to learn in a general way about this 'I' and its implications, he can be told the secret in just three sentences: "I am active in day time, when I am awake; I sleep at night; I experience dreams when I sleep. Thus, acting and experiencing both day and night, I die". When one considers these statements of the individual, one can conclude that they are based on the individual's knowledge gained from this life. "The I begins, when I am born", he believes. But, did this 'I' exist before birth? If it had, how can an existing thing be said to be born? Even if this objection is ignored, how did it exist and where? Was it disembodied apart from name and form? Was it beyond the pale of the senses? Doubts such as these pursue the seeker in waves. It has to be understood clearly that the 'I' is not related or affixed to one object, thing, or being, to one name and form. Remember this when you identify and recognise the 'I' or arrive at the true answer to the question, 'Who am I'?, you have identified and recognised the entire Cosmos and its mysteries.