तावानस्य महिमा ततो ज्यायांश्च पूरुषः । पादोऽस्य सर्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवीति ॥ ३.१२.६ ॥
tāvānasya mahimā tato jyāyāṃśca pūruṣaḥ | pādo’sya sarvā bhūtāni tripādasyāmṛtaṃ divīti || 3.12.6 ||
6. Its glory is like this. But the glory of the puruṣa [i.e., Brahman, who fills the whole world] is still greater. All creatures constitute one quarter of him. The remaining three quarters are nectar in heaven.
Word-for-word explanation:
Tāvān, like this; asya mahimā, its glory; tataḥ jyāyān ca puruṣaḥ, that [i.e., the glory] of the puruṣa [i.e., Brahman, who fills the whole world] is still greater; pādaḥ asya sarvā [i.e., sarvāṇi] bhūtāni, all things constitute one foot [or, quarter] of him; tripād asya, [the remaining] three feet [or, quarters] of him; amṛtam divi, are like nectar in heaven.
Commentary:
Brahman has been described as the gāyatrī, having four feet (or, quarters) and being sixfold. This is just figurative, however. Brahman is Brahman and there is no way of describing it. In reality, it is without name and form, beyond thought and speech. It is the Absolute.
Brahman can be conceived as both the cause and the effect. As the cause (karaṇa) nothing can be predicated about it; it is nirupādhika, without attributes. As the effect (kārya) it is sopādhika, with attributes. Similarly, the gāyatrī is said here to have four quarters and six parts. These are attributes used to help a disciple understand. As the Pañcadaśi says (verse II.58), ‘Niraṃśe api aṃśam āropya….’ (that is, parts are superimposed on that which has no parts in order to explain what cannot be described).
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER: “Well, can you tell me why Keshab Sen has changed so much lately? He used to come here very often. He learnt here how to bow low before a holy man. One day I told him that one should not salute a holy man as he had been doing. Harish says rightly: ‘All the cheques must be approved here. Only then will they be cashed in the bank.'” (Laughter.)
M. listened to these words breathlessly. He began to realise that Satchidananda, in the form of the guru, passes the “cheque”.
MASTER: “Do not reason. Who can ever know God? I have heard it from Nangta, once for all, that this whole universe is only a fragment of Brahman.
“Hazra is given to too much calculation. He says, ‘This much of God has become the universe and this much is the balance.’ My head aches at his calculations. I know that I know nothing. Sometimes I think of God as good, and sometimes as bad. What can I know of Him?” …..
MASTER: “Who can ever know God? I don’t even try. I only call on Him as Mother. Let Mother do whatever She likes. I shall know Her if it is Her will; but I shall be happy to remain ignorant if She wills otherwise. My nature is that of a kitten. It only cries, ‘Mew, mew!’ The rest it leaves to its mother. The mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen and sometimes on the master’s bed. The young child wants only his mother. He doesn’t know how wealthy his mother is, and he doesn’t even want to know. He knows only, ‘I have a mother; why should I worry?’ Even the child of the maidservant knows that he has a mother. If he quarrels with the son of the master, he says: ‘I shall tell my mother. I have a mother.’ My attitude, too, is that of a child.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)