भूजलाद्युपमानश्रीः साकारान्ता समा न सा । ब्रह्मत्वाकाशविशदं तस्याऽन्तस्थं तथैव तत् ॥ २१ ॥
bhūjalādyupamānaśrīḥ sākārāntā samā na sā | brahmatvākāśaviśadaṁ tasyā’ntasthaṁ tathaiva tat || 21 ||
Translation
The beauty of comparisons such as earth and water ends in form; it is not the same here. Brahman is clear as space, and what lies within it is just so.
Word by word
- bhū
- earth
- jala
- water
- ādi
- and the rest
- upamāna
- of comparisons
- śrīḥ
- the beauty
- sākāra
- in form
- antā
- ends
- samā
- the same
- na
- not
- sā
- it
- brahma
- Brahman
- tu
- but
- ākāśa
- as space
- viśadaṁ
- clear
- tasya
- its
- antasthaṁ
- what lies within
- tathā
- so
- ēva
- just
- tat
- that
Meaning
An objection to the last images: earth lying in water is not seen as water, and water in a pot is not seen as a pot; why then should the world in Brahman be Brahman? The commentary answers: the examples you bring, earth, water and the like, are not equal to the case but unequal, for they always appear with form; Brahman is formless like space, and the world dissolved in the formless Brahman is formless like it. Every image taken from things limps at this point, and Vasiṣṭha says so: they are bright, but their brightness stops at the edge of form.