Manava Dharmashastra 6.65

6.65

yogaścittavṛttisthairyaṃ yathā patañjalinā darśitam ( 1 | 2) | tenātmanaḥ kṣetrajñasya sūkṣmatāmanvavekṣeta | śarīrādau prāṇādau vā nātmabuddhiḥ kartavyā, kiṃ tarhi yogajena jñānātiśayena sarvebhya etebhyo'ntarbahisattvebhyo vyatirikto boddhavya ityevaṃparametat | na tu sthūlādivikalpā ātmanaḥ santi | yathā cottameṣu devādirīreṣvasyopapattiḥ, śarīrādhiṣṭhātṛtayā phalopabhogaḥ sarvagatasyāpi sataḥ, evamadhameṣu tiryakpretapiśācādiṣu | ekatvapakṣe paramātmavibhūtaya eva kṣetrajñā iti sthitiḥ | ataḥ paramātmano gatīranvavekṣetetyuktam |

By meditation he shall recognise the subtile character of the Higher Self, as also the possibility of its presence in all organisms, high and low.—(65)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘Meditation’—steadiness of the functioning of the mind, as described by Patañjali. By means of that, ‘he shall recognise the subtile character’ of the conscious entity in the body, the soul; and he shall not look upon either the body etc. or the life-breath etc, as the ‘Soul,’ which latter is to be understood, by the help of intuition born of meditation, as something different from all external and internal things;—this is what is meant by the text. Of the Soul, there are no grosser manifestations. And just as he can realise the ‘possibility of its presence’—in the higher organisms in the form of the bodies of the Gods and other such beings—i.e., the fact of its ensouling these bodies and pasting through experiences born therein, even though in reality it is omnipresent,—exactly in the same manner can one realise it also in the lower organisms, of lower animals, spirits, demons and so forth.

According to the philosophy of Monism, the souls in the organisms are only so many manifestations of the Supreme Self; and it is for this reason that the text has spoken of the man recognising the ‘t ransmigrations of the Higher Self.’—(65)

This verse is quoted in Yatidharmasaṅgraha (p. 35).

Comparative notes by various authors
Vaśiṣṭha (10.14).—‘He shall constantly seek in his heart the knowledge of the Supreme Soul.’

Yājñavalkya (3.64).—‘By contemplative meditation he shall seek to perceive the subtle soul residing within himself.’