The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara explains the size of a thumb from the cavity of the heart, not as a real measure of the Self. Intentions, ego-consciousness, and bodily limitations make sun-bright consciousness appear as fine as the point of an awl; this minuteness belongs only to the Upādhis.

Śaṅkarānanda relates the size of a thumb to the luminous subtle body and thereby distinguishes the Jīva from the highest Lord. Saṅkalpa, ego-consciousness, and desires arise from the inner organ; light and joy point to the Self. The point of an awl signifies extreme rather than literal subtlety.

Nārāyaṇa locates the thumb-sized dweller in the heart within the inner space. Intentions and ego-consciousness belong to the Buddhi, while sun-like luminosity belongs to the Self. The two aspects explain why the Jīva appears as a conjunction of the conscious and unconscious and, at the same time, as exceedingly subtle.

Vijñānabhagavat calls the Self thumb-sized only because it appears in the lotus of the heart. As witnessing light, it illuminates the known and unknown; thinking and the sense of ‘I’ arise from mind and Ahaṃkāra. Even the size of an awl's point arises solely from the limitation imposed by the Buddhi.

The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara takes the image of the hundredfold-divided hair to indicate the scarcely conceivable subtlety of the subtle body. It does not describe the Self's actual size. It appears minute as Jīva; in its own nature, it is infinite.

Śaṅkarānanda stresses that the hundredth part of a hair divided a further hundred times can exist only in thought. The minuteness of the Jīva is likewise not literal. When Avidyā and its limiting coverings fall away, it is capable of identity with infinite Brahman.

Nārāyaṇa connects the extreme subtlety of the Jīva with two possibilities of infinity. Dependent on the Lord's boundless power, it can undergo infinitely many births; from the perspective of its all-pervading ground, it can likewise reach the reality of Brahman.

Vijñānabhagavat interprets the minute portion of a hair as an apparent limitation through Avidyā and other Upādhis. The Jīva is small only in this conditioned form. In its own nature, it remains the same non-dual and infinite ground of consciousness.

The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara denies that the Self has any sex, since in its own nature it is non-dual Brahman. Only upon assuming a female, male, or neuter body does the Jīva superimpose its attributes upon itself and think, ‘I am this body.’

Śaṅkarānanda distinguishes the sexless Jīva from its perishable bodies. The body assumed at any given time conceals its own nature and makes it the subject of the descriptions woman, man, or neuter. Linguistic and social classification thus concerns the covering, not the Self.

Nārāyaṇa presents the verse as a teaching about bodily characteristics: femaleness, maleness, and neutrality do not touch the Ātman. That it is nevertheless described in these terms is due solely to the respective body as a limiting Upādhi.

Vijñānabhagavat describes the Jīva as pure, undivided consciousness without sex. Through Avidyā, desire, and karma, it assumes bodies and appropriates their characteristics. The false judgements ‘I am a woman’, ‘I am a man’, ‘I was born’, or ‘I die’ arise in this way.

The Bhāṣya attributed to Śaṅkara has intention, touch, sight, and delusion generate karma. As it matures, this leads the Jīva into female, male, or neuter bodies and into divine, animal, or human forms. Food and water illustrate how a body thereby grows.

Śaṅkarānanda interprets sensory processes as offerings into the inner fire and food and water as conditions of bodily development. Birth, growth, and the other transformations are ascribed to the Self through Avidyā. Karma orders the changing forms of experience in waking and dream.

Nārāyaṇa lists mental intention, touch, sight, ritual action, and food and water as conditions of embodied experience. According to karma, the Jīva proceeds in stages to higher or lower births. The Dīpikā explicitly connects this with the Pañcāgni-Vidyā and the teaching of good and bad courses of life.

Using thoughts, touches, glances, sacrifices, and gifts, Vijñānabhagavat shows that the same action can produce merit or fault according to its object. These dispositions lead to divine, human, or animal bodies. The Jīva mistakenly takes itself to be the entire complex of body and senses.