Verse 2.396

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

तत्रानन्दमयो यस्माल्लक्ष्यते राहुचन्द्रवत् ।
मानुषादधि यत्रेदं सुखं निष्ठां प्रपद्यते ।
उत्कृष्यमाणं क्रमशस्तद्ब्रह्मासीति बोधयेत् ॥ ३९६ ॥

tatrānandamayo yasmāllakṣyate rāhucandravat |
mānuṣādadhi yatredaṃ sukhaṃ niṣṭhāṃ prapadyate |
utkṛṣyamāṇaṃ kramaśastadbrahmāsīti bodhayet || 396 ||

English translation of verse 2.396:

Therein is manifested the ānandamaya, like Rāhu which is manifested in the moon. “You are that Brahman wherein this happiness of human beings rising higher and higher by degrees reaches the culmination”—thus the teacher should instruct the disciple.

Notes:

The self formed of bliss (ānandamaya) is manifested in the intellect. The different forms of bliss such as joy. enjoyment, and so on are the manifestations of the supreme undifferentiated bliss which is Brahman. If the different kinds of happiness are arranged in a hierarchy, the highest bliss which is unsurpassable is Brahman-Ātman. The ānandamaya self which is manifested in the intellect is a pointer to the undifferentiated bliss which is Brahman. Brahman which is undifferentiated, which is free from any distinctive attribute, cannot be cognized anywhere else except in the intellect. We are aware of the existence of Rāhu only at the time of the eclipse when it is supposed co seize the moon or the sun. Just as the knowledge of Rāhu arises from its association with the moon or the sun, so also the knowledge of Brahman arises because of its association with, or manifestation in, the intellect. Why is it, it may be asked, that Brahman is manifested only in the vijñānamaya or the intellect and not in any other sheath? The intellect alone which is proximate to the Self and which has the power of illumination can reflect the Self, and not any other sheath.