Chapter 1 · Verse 17
न ते देहो न ते प्राणा न बुद्धिर्न च मानसम्
na te deho na te prāṇā na buddhir na ca mānasam
Where verse 3 said “I am not the body,” this verse shifts to “the body is not yours” — a subtle but important change. The earlier negation targeted the illusion of being the body; this one targets the illusion of possessing it. Both are forms of dehābhimāna, but they operate at different levels. The question “What, then, is yours?” is the turning point: if nothing in the body-mind complex belongs to you, what remains? Only the pure Witness (śuddha sākṣī), unblemished and apart from all appearances. This is what must be recognized — not as a philosophical conclusion but as a direct seeing.