abiding within itself (within the ahamkara), as the mirror manifests the
image abiding within it. But the essentially non-intelligent ahamkara
evidently cannot 'manifest' the self-luminous Self. As has been said
'That the non-intelligent ahamkara should manifest the self-luminous
Self, has no more sense than to say that a spent coal manifests the Sun.'
The truth is that all things depend for their proof on self-luminous
consciousness; and now you maintain that one of these things, viz. the
non-intelligent ahamkara--which itself depends for its light on
consciousness--manifests consciousness, whose essential light never
rises or sets, and which is the cause that proves everything! Whoever
knows the nature of the Self will justly deride such a view! The
relation of 'manifestation' cannot hold good between consciousness and
the ahamkara for the further reason also that there is a contradiction
in nature between the two, and because it would imply consciousness not
to be consciousness. As has been said, 'One cannot manifest the other,
owing to contradictoriness; and if the Self were something to be
manifested, that would imply its being non-intelligent like a jar.' Nor
is the matter improved by your introducing the hand and the sunbeams
(above, p. 38), and to say that as the sunbeams while manifesting the
hand, are at the same time manifested by the hand, so consciousness,
while manifesting the ahamkara, is at the same time itself manifested by
the latter. The sunbeams are in reality not manifested by the hand at
all. What takes place is that the motion of the sunbeams is reversed
(reflected) by the opposed hand; they thus become more numerous, and
hence are perceived more clearly; but this is due altogether to the
multitude of beams, not to any manifesting power on the part of the hand.

What could, moreover, be the nature of that 'manifestation' of the Self
consisting of Intelligence, which would be effected through the ahamkara?
It cannot be origination; for you acknowledge that what is self-