श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । चिन्मात्रं चेतनं विश्वमिति यज्ज्ञातवानसि । न किञ्चिदेव विज्ञातं भवता भवनाशनम् ॥ ६ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | cinmātraṁ cētanaṁ viśvamiti yajjñātavānasi | na kiñcidēva vijñātaṁ bhavatā bhavanāśanam || 6 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: If what you have understood is that the universe is consciousness alone in the sense of something conscious, then you have understood nothing at all that ends becoming.
Word by word
- cinmātraṁ
- consciousness alone
- cētanaṁ
- something conscious
- viśvam
- the universe
- iti
- (marks what is understood)
- yaj
- (yat) what
- jñātavān
- have understood
- asi
- you
- na
- not
- kiñcid
- (kiñcit) anything
- ēva
- at all
- vijñātaṁ
- understood
- bhavatā
- you
- bhava
- becoming
- nāśanam
- that ends
Meaning
The commentary draws the distinction. "Consciousness" here is not "one who is conscious" but consciousness itself, knowing as such. Everyone knows the world as a place where conscious beings live; no one, without teaching, knows it as consciousness, as Brahman. That is why teaching is needed. To know that there are conscious beings ends nothing; to know that there is only consciousness ends becoming (bhava).