गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

There is no fault in saying that the two sentences “the soul is consciousness"
and "the soul is conscious" mean the same thing. That is the meaning here. Why is
that? The sūtra explains: "It exists as long as the soul exists. There is no fault in
this, because it is clearly seen." The soul's consciousness exists for as long as the
soul exists. As long as the soul exists, the soul's consciousness will not be
destroyed. The soul exists eternally, without a beginning or end in time, and the
soul's consciousness also exists eternally. The sun may be given here as an
example. The sun is both light and the bringer of light. As long as the sun exists it
will have these two features, which are actually not different. In the same way the
soul is both consciousness and conscious.
Here someone may object: Is it not true that consciousness is born from the
modes of material nature? Is it not true that, because it does not exist in the state
of dreamless sleep, consciousness is not eternal? Is it not true that even when the
living entity is fully awake his consciousness is in fact created by a barrage of
various sense-objects?
If these objections are raised, the author of the sūtras replies in the following
words.
Sūtra 29
puṁstvādi-vat tv asya sato 'bhivyakti-yogāt
puṁstva—virility; ādi—beginning with; vat—like; tu—but; asya—of him;
sataḥ—of the existing; abhivyakti-yogāt—because of manifestation.
But like virility and other things it exists and then is manifest.
Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
The word "tu" (but) is used here to dispel doubt. The word "na" (It is not like
that) is understood in this sūtra. It is not true than consciousness is non-existent
in dreamless sleep and only exists in the waking state. Why is that? the sūtra
explains: "But like virility and other things it exists and then is manifest." In the
state of dreamless sleep the soul's consciousness exists in a dormant state, and in
the state of wakefulness that dormant consciousness becomes fully manifested.
Here the sūtra gives the example of virility. In childhood virility and other
qualities associated with it exist in a dormant state. Then, at the beginning of
adulthood, they become manifested. In the same way consciousness is dormant in
dreamless sleep and fully manifested in the waking state. This is described in the