कज्जलान्न यथा कार्ष्ण्यं शैत्यं च न यथा हिमात् । पृथगेवं भवेद् बुद्धं जगन्नास्ति परे पदे ॥ १० ॥
kajjalānna yathā kārṣṇyaṁ śaityaṁ ca na yathā himāt | pṛthagēvaṁ bhavēd buddhaṁ jagannāsti parē padē || 10 ||
Translation
As blackness is not apart from lamp-black, and as cold is not apart from snow, so it should be understood: there is no world in the supreme state.
Word by word
- kajjalān
- (kajjalāt) from lamp-black
- na
- not
- yathā
- as
- kārṣṇyaṁ
- blackness
- śaityaṁ
- cold
- ca
- and
- himāt
- from snow
- pṛthag
- (pṛthak) apart
- ēvaṁ
- so
- bhavēd
- (bhavet) it should be
- buddhaṁ
- understood
- jagan
- (jagat) world
- nāsti
- there is not
- parē
- in the supreme
- padē
- state
Meaning
The commentary: as blackness is not known apart from lamp-black, and cold apart from snow, so in the supreme state, Brahman, there is no world grasped as separate. Another commentary: as blackness from lamp-black and coolness from snow are not separate, so no world is separate from the supreme state. The examples move closer to the point than the bracelet did. A bracelet can at least be melted down; but one cannot take the black out of lamp-black or the cold out of snow and keep either. The world is to Brahman as such a quality is to its bearer: not a thing laid on top of it.