महाभूतप्रकाशानामभावस्तम उच्यते । महाभूताभावजं तु तेनाऽत्र न तमः क्वचित् ॥ १६ ॥
mahābhūtaprakāśānāmabhāvastama ucyatē | mahābhūtābhāvajaṁ tu tēnā’tra na tamaḥ kvacit || 16 ||
Translation
Darkness is called the absence of the lights of the great elements; it is born of the absence of the great elements; therefore there is no darkness here at all.
Word by word
- mahā
- great
- bhūta
- elements
- prakāśānām
- of the lights
- abhāvas
- (abhāvaḥ) the absence
- tama
- (tamaḥ) darkness
- ucyatē
- is called
- abhāva
- absence
- jaṁ
- born of
- tu
- but
- tēna
- therefore
- atra
- here
- na
- not
- tamaḥ
- darkness
- kvacit
- at all
Meaning
The answer to the third question: why it is not darkness. Darkness is not a thing of its own; it is the absence of the elemental lights of sun and the rest, and it can only be where there are things of earth and the like that need another's light to be seen. The commentary: darkness is spoken of only in earth and the other elements; in self-luminous Brahman there can never be darkness, so "not darkness" is right. It adds that the particle tu here sets apart another darkness, the darkness that is māyā: the verse speaks of elemental darkness. Light and darkness are a pair within the world of elements. Brahman is not on either side of that pair, because it is not among the elements at all.