Consciousness brahman illumines everything without exception, which is elaborated in the next verse.
svayamantarbahirvyāpya bhāsayannakhilam jagat |
brahma prakāśate vahniḥ prataptāyasapiṇḍavat || 62 ||
Having pervaded the entire world inside and outside, brahman shines by itself, illuminating the entire world. Just like a heated iron ball.
Any visible object has to be illuminated by light. And being illumined, it has to be pervaded by light. Similarly, anything that is known / evident is illumined and pervaded by consciousness. Consciousness ātmā, antar vyāpya - having pervaded inside, it illumines and pervades the mind. The mind which was originally inert, becomes sentient because it is pervaded by consciousness. This illumination is direct, thus the mind is directly known by me. And once the mind gets consciousness, this particular consciousness goes out through the sense organs, bahiḥ vyāpya - having pervaded outside, pervading objects and illumining the external world indirectly, making them known.
vahniḥ prataptāyasapiṇḍavat - just like a heated iron ball. Before it was heated, the iron ball couldn’t be seen if it was kept in a dark room. When the iron ball is heated by fire, itself becomes visible, and at the same time it illuminates the surroundings. In this manner, brahma svayam prakāśate - brahman shines by itself, and bhāsayannakhilam jagat - illuminating entire world.
Some people might still have doubt that duality is there because there are brahman who is pervading and the pervaded objects. Thus, the next verse is resolving this doubt.
jagadvilakṣaṇam brahma brahmaṇo ‘nyanna kiñcana |
brahmānyadbhāti cenmithyā yathā marumarīcikā || 63 ||
Brahman is distinct from the world, yet anything is not different from brahman. If anything appears to be different from brahman, it is mithyā. Just like mirage is seen in the desert.
Here ācārya points out the peculiar relationship between satyam and mithyā. For example, the relationship between the rope and the snake. Those peculiar relationships are:
When we want to reveal the rope, we say the snake you are seeing is really a rope alone. That snake is a temporary appearance - mithyā and the rope is permanent - satyam.
But once the rope is revealed, we say rope is different from snake alright, but the mithyā snake is not different from the satyam rope. Why? Because the snake doesn’t have existence different from the rope.
Whereas rope is different from snake. Why? Because rope has independent existence. Even without the snake, the rope exists.
This is possible because they don’t have the same degree of reality.
Therefore jagadvilakṣaṇam brahma - brahman is different from the world. Brahman has distinct nature compared to the world, it is imperceivable, changeless, permanent, self-evident, but on the other hand the world is perceivable, changes, impermanent, and not self-evident. Since the contradictions are there, legitimately we think there are two entities. But it is not so. brahmaṇo ‘nyanna kiñcana - nothing exists different from brahman. brahmānyadbhāti cenmithyā - if anything appears to be different from brahman, it is mithyā. Therefore the entire world is only mithyā names and forms that depend on satyam brahman to exist. yathā marumarīcikā - just like when mirage is seen in a desert land, seems like there are two things, one is dry land and another one is wet mirage. But mirage is only an appearance of desert, it is mithyā which can’t be counted separately.
Even though experiences are many, the knower of the truth knows it is only one. This idea is elaborated in the next verse.
dṛśyate śrūyate yadyad brahmaṇo ‘nyanna tadbhavet |
tattvajñānācca tadbrahma saccidānandamadvayam || 64 ||
Whatever is seen and heard would not be different from brahman. Because of the knowledge of reality, one sees the world as brahman which is existence, consciousness, happiness, and non-dual.
yadyad dṛśyate - whatever is seen, and yadyad śrūyate - whatever is heard, represent any type of experience, including what is in the mind, brahmaṇo ‘nyanna tadbhavet - would not be different from brahman. Why? Because nothing exists apart from brahman, just like the pot doesn’t have existence on its own apart from clay. Why can’t we say it has its own existence? Because if pot has existence on its own, it will never lose its existence. The fact that the pot appears and disappears, itself shows that it doesn’t have an existence of its own. This is presented in Gītā chapter 2 verse 16, “there is no existence for unreal and there is no non-existence for the real. The truth of these two are seen by the seer of truth.” Therefore tattvajñānācca - because of the knowledge of reality, one sees the world as tadbrahma - that brahman which is saccidānandamadvayam - of the nature of existence, consciousness, happiness and non-dual.
From verse 65 to 68, the vision of a wise person and the result of the knowledge of reality are presented.
sarvagam saccidātmānam jñānacakṣurnirīkṣate |
ajñānacakṣurnekṣeta bhāsvantam bhānumandhavat || 65 ||
One who has eyes of wisdom appreciates very well the self as existence-consciousness everywhere. One who doesn’t have eyes of wisdom doesn’t see brahman. Just like a blind doesn’t see the effulgent sun.
For jñānacakṣuḥ - one who has eyes of wisdom, nirīkṣate - there is appreciation of saccidātmānam - the self as existence consciousness sarvagam - everywhere. Whenever the mind goes, there is samādhih - seeing oneness. He doesn’t need a particular form to appreciate Īśvara, since he sees Īśvara in all forms. Whereas for ajñānacakṣurnekṣeta - one who doesn’t have eyes of wisdom doesn’t see brahman. andhavat - just like a blind person doesn’t see bhāsvantam - effulgent bhānum - sun.
Change doesn’t happen in the external world, but change happens in the perception of the person who has owned up this knowledge.
This is a huge difference between a wise person and ignorant person, since how a person lives one’s life depends on the knowledge one has.
In Gītā chapter 2 verse 69 says that “the reality where a wise person is totally awake, is night (total ignorance) for an ignorance person. Whereas this duality world where an ignorance person is totally awake, taking it as reality, is night (not real) for a wise person.”
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