द्युभ्वाद्यायतनं स्वशब्दात् ॥ १ ॥
dyubhvādyāyatanaṃ svaśabdāt || 1 ||
dyu-bhu-ādi-āyatanaṃ—The resting-place of heaven, earth, etc.; sva-śabdāt—on account of the word ‘Self’.
1. The resting-place of heaven, earth,, etc. (is Brahman) on account of the word ‘Self’ (or on account of the actual words of the Sruti) (designating this resting-place).
“In Him heaven, the earth, and the sky are woven, as also the mind with all the senses. Know that Self alone and leave off other talk ! He is the bridge of Immortality” (Mu. 2. 2. 5).
He who is spoken of as the abode, in whom the earth, heaven, etc. are woven is Brahman, on account of the term ‘Self’, which is appropriate only if Brahman is referred to in the text and not Pradhana or Sutratman. Or there are actual texts in which Brahman is spoken of as the abode by terms properly designating Brahman. For example :
“All these creatures, my dear, have their root, their abode, and their rest in the being” (Chh. G. 8. 4).
It may also mean Brahman because in the texts preceding and following this one, i.e. in Mu. 2. 1. 10 and 2. 2. 11, Brahman is spoken of,, and so it is but proper to infer that It is also referred to in the intervening text, which is under discussion.
From the text cited above, where mention is made of an abode and that which abides, and also from “Brahman indeed is all this” (Mu. 2. 2. 11) we are not to take that Brahman is of manifold, variegated nature, like a tree consisting of leaves, branches, etc. This would lead us to Pantheism, and Advaita does not uphold it. So in order to remove the possibility of such a doubt the passage under discussion, says, “Know Him alone, the Self” i.e. know the Self alone and not that which abides in it, which is merely a product of Nescience and has to be set aside as false.