संवित्कचनमेवाऽन्तर्यथा स्वप्ने जगद्भ्रमः । सर्गादौ ब्रह्मणि तथा जगत्कचनमाततम् ॥ १७ ॥
saṁvitkacanamēvā’ntaryathā svapnē jagadbhramaḥ | sargādau brahmaṇi tathā jagatkacanamātatam || 17 ||
Translation
As in a dream the delusion of a world is only the play of awareness within, so at the beginning of creation the play of the world is spread out in Brahman.
Word by word
- saṁvit
- of awareness
- kacanam
- the play
- ēva
- only
- antar
- (antaḥ) within
- yathā
- as
- svapnē
- in a dream
- jagad
- (jagat) of a world
- bhramaḥ
- the delusion
- sarga
- of creation
- ādau
- at the beginning
- brahmaṇi
- in Brahman
- tathā
- so
- jagat
- of the world
- ātatam
- is spread out
Meaning
The commentary: as the dream-world that the dreamer's inner faculty mistakes for real is only the unfolding of awareness, so at the beginning of creation this world is an unfolding in Brahman, and there is no thing called the world beyond Brahman. Another commentary: as in a dream the delusion of a world arises within the inner faculty through the play of awareness, so at the beginning of creation this delusion of a world pervades Brahman. The comparison is exact on one point: in a dream nothing comes from outside; the mountains and the people are made of the dreamer's knowing. The cosmic world is to Brahman as the dream is to the dreamer.