न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावक: |
यद्गत्वा न निवर्तन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम || 6||
na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śhaśhāṅko na pāvakaḥ
yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama
na—neither; tat—that; bhāsayate—illumine; sūryaḥ—the sun; na—nor; śhaśhāṅkaḥ—the moon; na—nor; pāvakaḥ—fire; yat—where; gatvā—having gone; na—never; nivartante—they return; tat—that; dhāma—abode; paramam—supreme; mama—Mine
Translation:
Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the fire can illumine that (state of Paramatma), which having reached, (men) do not return (take birth again); That is My Supreme Abode.
Commentary:
The Sun, Moon and Fire illumine the material objects. The eye illumines the Sun; and the buddhi (intellect) illumines the eye; and Atma illumines the intellect (buddhi). So the whole universe including the shining objects like the Sun and the Moon, are illumined by perceiving senses and the intellect, which receive their light ultimately from Atma. So Atma is the light that illumines everything. All other things shine by the reflected light of Atma. In the Mundakopanishad this is clearly explained and proved (Na tatra suryo bhati).
Yad gatva na nivartante: Those who have reached the state of Atma do not again fall into the miserable pit of Samsara. From any other world in the universe, man has to return and take birth again. They have not the power to end sorrow. Only Paramatma has that power. The blessed state of Self-realisation, full of bliss, is Moksha. The same idea has been expressed in the previous verse also. (Yasmin gata na nivartanti bhuyah)
तद्धाम परमं is reference to परमात्मा as distinct from अक्षर which is objective referred to as तद्धाम परमं मम of VIII.21, the अक्षर is above अव्यक्त, but परमात्मा is above अक्षर as it includes both subject and object, Jiva as well as God. This is unadulterated by any sensual colouring or unaffected by mental imaginations, as this is beyond senses and mind, neither सगुण साकार nor सगुण निराकार, but निर्गुण beyond the senses.
From ‘Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna’ —
MASTER: “A man attains Brahmajnana as soon as his mind is annihilated. With the annihilation of the mind dies the ego, which says ‘I’, ‘I’. One also attains the Knowledge of Brahman by following the path of devotion. One also attains It by following the path of knowledge, that is to say, discrimination. The jnanis discriminate, saying, ‘Neti, neti’, that is, ‘All this is illusory, like a dream.’ They analyse the world through the process of ‘Not this, not this’; it is maya. When the world vanishes, only the jivas, that is to say, so many egos, remain.
“Each ego may be likened to a pot. Suppose there are ten pots filled with water, and the sun is reflected in them. How many suns do you see?”
A DEVOTEE: “Ten reflections. Besides, there certainly exists the real sun.”
MASTER: “Suppose you break one pot. How many suns do you see now?”
DEVOTEE: “Nine reflected suns. But there certainly exists the real Sun.”
MASTER: “All right. Suppose you break nine pots. How many suns do you see now?”
DEVOTEE: “One reflected sun. But there certainly exists the real sun.”
MASTER (to Girish): “What remains when the last pot is broken?”
GIRISH: “That real sun, sir.”
MASTER: “No. What remains cannot be described. What is remains. How will you know there is a real sun unless there is a reflected sun? ‘I- consciousness’ is destroyed in samadhi. A man climbing down from samadhi to the lower plane cannot describe what he has seen there.”
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 15 🔻 (20 Verses)
