न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं
नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः ।
तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वं
तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति ॥ १०॥
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃ
nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto’yamagniḥ .
tameva bhāntamanubhāti sarvaṃ
tasya bhāsā sarvamidaṃ vibhāti .. 10..
The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, not to speak of this fire. When He shines, everything shines after Him; by His light everything is lighted.
Commentary:
Light of lights is this Brahman. The Sun and the Moon do not shine there. Within the golden sheath of the intellect of the human being, this Pure Consciousness scintillates like a spark which is without smoke and without any kind of limitation or location, the purest of purities, the Light of lights. That is beheld by those people who have known the Atman as identical with the light that they behold in other bodies also. The whole world will look like a mass of radiance to the jivanmukta purusha. If we gaze at the Sun for some time, we will see dark spots as if the Sun is everywhere, because of the effect produced by the force of its light on the eye. Likewise is the jivanmukta purusha’s perception of the Atman. It does not mean that he sees the Atman only within himself, and he sees people moving about outside. It is not like that. He sees himself present and moving in all bodies. It is a cosmic experience, incapable of articulation in ordinary words of language, and the less said about it the better.
A devotee first paid’ his respects to Swami Shivananda and then went to the Shrine. At this the Swami said: “That is not proper. First one should go to the Shrine and worship the Lord and then come here. ‘With His light all this shines’: ‘He shining, everything else shines.’ These trees, plants, flowers, devotees, myself, and everything belong to Him. Their existence depends on His existence. Apart from Him nothing exists. He is Existence Absolute. In Him exists this manifoldness particularized by names and forms as various objects-as Hari, Râma, the sun, the moon, etc. Because He exists, these depending on Him exist. He is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. If exist-ence has no knowledge it is no existence at all. What is Existence is knowledge. Again, where there are existence and knowledge, there is bliss also. For what is misery? It is the absence of real knowledge. So where there is knowledge there is no misery but bliss.” (Source: Spiritual Talks by the First Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna)
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- The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings-not to speak of this fire. He shining, everything shines after Him. By His light all this is lighted. (Katha Upanishad 2.2.15)
- 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. (BG 15.6)
- The light that is in the sun and illumines the whole universe, the light that is in the moon and is likewise in fire— know that light to be Mine. (BG 15.12)
- The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings-much less this fire. He shining, everything shines after Him. By his light all this is lighted. (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.14)