ब्रह्मैवेदममृतं पुरस्ताद् ब्रह्म पश्चाद् ब्रह्म दक्षिणतश्चोत्तरेण ।
अधश्चोर्ध्वं च प्रसृतं ब्रह्मैवेदं विश्वमिदं वरिष्ठम् ॥ ११॥
॥ इति मुण्डकोपनिषदि द्वितीयमुण्डके द्वितीयः खण्डः ॥
brahmaivedamamṛtaṃ purastād brahma paścād brahma dakṣiṇataścottareṇa .
adhaścordhvaṃ ca prasṛtaṃ brahmaivedaṃ viśvamidaṃ variṣṭham .. 11..
.. iti muṇḍakopaniṣadi dvitīyamuṇḍake dvitīyaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ..
That immortal Brahman alone is before, that Brahman is behind, that Brahman is to the right and left. Brahman alone pervades everything above and below; this universe is that Supreme Brahman alone.
Commentary:
In that realm of eternal light, there is no radiance of the Sun. This brilliance of the Sun which is so intolerable to our eyes is like a shadow cast by that eternal light. Just as candle flames do not shine before the light of the Sun, so also the Moon, the stars, fire, and all the luminaries of the world do not shed their light in that eternal radiance. There is no Sun or Moon, no stars, no lightning, no fire or any kind of illumination that we can think of. All these illuminations are external, but this great eternal light is internal, and that is the difference. The internal light is brighter than the external light. Actually, the light of the Sun and the light of anything that illumines objects in this world is a frequency of radiation, and they look like a light that illumines objects only when the frequency of the emanation from the object that sheds the light is equivalent in ratio to the frequency of the structure of our perceptive organs. There are higher frequencies and lower frequencies of radiation, and we do not see them. More intense forms of light cannot be seen with the eyes, and very low frequencies also cannot be seen. We cannot see heaven because it is in a higher frequency, and we cannot see hell because it is in a lower frequency. We are in the middle. Anyway, the objective lights of the Sun, the Moon, and so on, do not play any role in that realm of eternal daylight.
Na tatra sūryo bhāti, na candra-tārakam, nemā vidyuto bhānti, kuto’yam agniḥ: All the luminaries borrow light from that Eternity, as it were. A fraction of the intense incalculable frequency of the eternal radiance is responsible for the lights that are considered as great lights in this world.
Jyotiṣām jyotih: That is the light of all lights. There are lights in the world, no doubt, but that is the light of even these lights. Due to the light of that Eternal Being, everything shines. We are able to cognise the presence of things on account of the radiance that emanates from within us. We do not know things in the world because of sunlight. Sunlight cannot create knowledge, because it is inert in its nature. The awareness that there is an object, this world, cannot arise merely by shedding a ray of sunlight on it. Who is responsible for the knowledge, which is the light shed on the objects? It is our Self consciousness. Self consciousness is the greatest light, and it does not require an external light for it to perform its functions. All this world is illumined by this great internal light which is universal light: tasya bhāsā sarvam, idaṁ vibhāti.
Brahmaivedam amṛtam purastād brahma, paścād brahma, dakṣinataś cottareṇa, adhaścordhvaṁ ca prasṛtam brahmaivedaṁ viśvam idaṁ variṣṭham (2.2.12): Where is this eternal Brahman? How far is it from us? It is this eternal, immortal Brahman that is shining in front of us. It is this eternal Brahman that is at the back of us. It is this eternal Brahman that is to our right side. It is this eternal Brahman that is to our left side. It is this very Brahman that is above. It is this very Brahman that is below. Everywhere it is spreading itself out, and the whole universe is its radiance.
Brahmaivedaṁ viśvam idaṁ variṣṭham: The plenum of felicity, which is Bhuma, the Absolute, manifests itself as this plenum of this world. All the light, and all the joy, and all the perfection that we apparently see in things in this world are little titbits.
Mātrām upajīvanti (B.U. 4.3.32), says the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. We can imagine how many joys there are in this world. We can count them all. We can enumerate all the millions and millions of avenues of joy that can be experienced in this world, and we can enumerate the most intense form of joy that we can experience in this world, but all this put together is only a jot, a spoonful, as it were, of the Brahman bliss. Matra: It is less than a spoonful, and the whole universe of joy is sustained by that little drop of Brahman bliss. It is that bliss that is sustaining us. If joy were not to be in this world, who would be able to live in this world even for a few minutes? If joy were not to be there in breathing, who would breathe? If joy were not to be there in mere existence, who would like to exist? There is joy in this very space itself; otherwise, we will not feel happy by finding accommodation in space.
We will find this Brahman manifest from all directions in various shapes and forms causing us, bringing about before us, sources of joy. There is nothing in this world which cannot give us happiness some time or the other. There are things in this world which are objects of our neglect. We do not consider their existence at all. There are so many trees in the forest. What does it matter to us? Let them be there. There is so much water is flowing in the Ganga, but it does not matter to us. There are so many hills; what does it matter? They do matter. A time will come, a condition will arise in which we will find that even a straw will give us support when we are drowning in the flood of this world. A mouse saved a lion, and a straw can protect us. There is nothing that cannot protect us, cannot sustain us, cannot give us joy and support some time or the other, in one condition or the other, because of the fact that Brahman is spread out in all things.
