वाग्भाभिर्ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्म भाति स्वप्न इवाऽऽत्मनि । यदिदं तत्स्वशब्दोत्थैर्यो यद्वेत्ति स वेत्ति तत् ॥ १ ॥
vāgbhābhirbrahmavidbrahma bhāti svapna ivā’’tmani | yadidaṁ tatsvaśabdōtthairyō yadvētti sa vētti tat || 1 ||
Translation
By the light of the words, the knower of Brahman shines as Brahman. What this world is shines in the Self as a dream does; whoever knows it through the words that rise from the Self's own scripture knows That.
Word by word
- vāg
- (vāk) of the words
- bhābhir
- (bhābhiḥ) by the light
- brahmavid
- the knower of Brahman
- brahma
- as Brahman
- bhāti
- shines
- svapna
- a dream
- iva
- as
- ātmani
- in the Self
- yad
- what
- idaṁ
- this
- tat
- that
- sva
- of the Self's own scripture
- śabda
- the words
- utthair
- (utthaiḥ) that rise
- yō
- (yaḥ) whoever
- vētti
- knows
- sa
- (saḥ) he
Meaning
The first verse of this part gives its purport in advance, and the commentary reads it in several ways, saying the Sanskrit commentators have done the same. In its first reading: when Brahman itself, through the unbroken mental state that the great saying "I am Brahman" produces, sees its own nature by the bright light of the Self, it shines as it truly is, ever free and full; it needs no other means for its freedom. The body, the senses and space, which are bondage, appear in the inner Self as the many things of a dream appear in the dreamer, and as dream bondage ends only on waking, so this ends only on knowing. It cites the Upaniṣad: Brahman alone was in the beginning; it knew itself as "I am Brahman" and so became all; whoever among gods, seers or men awoke to it became That. In another reading it adds that the world appears as an obstacle only to the one who does not know, and that knowing must be made firm by hearing again and again, since a sleeper does not wake at the first call of his name.