शून्यं नित्योदितं सूक्ष्मं निरुपाधि परं स्थितम् । तदा तदनु येनाऽस्य निकटेऽद्रिनिभं महः ॥ ३७ ॥
śūnyaṁ nityōditaṁ sūkṣmaṁ nirupādhi paraṁ sthitam | tadā tadanu yēnā’sya nikaṭē’drinibhaṁ mahaḥ || 37 ||
Translation
void, ever risen, subtle, without limiting adjuncts, supreme. Then, after that, by which a radiance like a mountain appears near it,
Word by word
- śūnyaṁ
- void
- nitya
- ever
- uditaṁ
- risen
- sūkṣmaṁ
- subtle
- nirupādhi
- without limiting adjuncts
- paraṁ
- supreme
- sthitam
- abiding
- tadā
- then
- tad
- (tat) that
- anu
- after
- yēna
- by which
- asya
- it
- nikaṭē
- near
- adri
- a mountain
- nibhaṁ
- like
- mahaḥ
- a radiance
Meaning
The first line finishes the description of Brahman: void in the sense of having no object in it, ever risen because its light never sets, subtle, free of the adjuncts that make one thing seem many. The second line begins the coming of a world. The commentary: then, at the beginning of creation, because of the ignorance of the jīvas full of their impressions and of the unseen merit and fault (adṛṣṭa) they carry, and because Brahman is knowing alone, something like a mountain shines near it as an object, something that cannot be kept off: the cosmic form (virāṭ), or the four-faced body, of which one can say "I". The world begins not with a deed of Brahman but with the unfinished business of beings.