बिल्वस्य बिल्वमध्यस्य यथा भेदो न कश्चन । तथाऽस्ति ब्रह्मजगतोर्न मनागपि भिन्नता ॥ १९ ॥
bilvasya bilvamadhyasya yathā bhēdō na kaścana | tathā’sti brahmajagatōrna manāgapi bhinnatā || 19 ||
Translation
As there is no difference at all between a bilva fruit and the inside of the bilva, so there is not the least difference between Brahman and the world.
Word by word
- bilvasya
- of a bilva fruit
- bilva
- of the bilva
- madhyasya
- of the inside
- yathā
- as
- bhēdō
- (bhedaḥ) difference
- na
- not
- kaścana
- any
- tathā
- so
- asti
- there is
- brahma
- Brahman
- jagatōr
- (jagatoḥ) and the world, between the two
- manāg
- (manāk) the least
- api
- even
- bhinnatā
- difference
Meaning
The bilva (wood-apple) has a hard shell, and the pulp within is the fruit itself. No one thinks the bilva and its inside are two things. So with Brahman and the world: the world is not something placed inside Brahman as a stone is placed in a box; it is Brahman's own inside, the same substance. The commentary takes this and the next verse together: there is no difference at all between the bilva and what fills it, and so no difference whatever between Brahman and the world.