Verse 3.85

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

देवेभ्यः पूर्वमेवाहं नाभिरस्म्यमृतस्य च ।
कारणत्वाद्भवेन्नाभिर्मन्निष्ठा वाऽमृतात्मता ॥ ८५ ॥

devebhyaḥ pūrvamevāhaṃ nābhirasmyamṛtasya ca |
kāraṇatvādbhavennābhirmanniṣṭhā vā'mṛtātmatā || 85 ||

English translation of verse 3.85:

“I am even earlier than gods. Also, I am the navel (middle part) of immortality. I am the navel, because I am the cause (of immortality), or because liberation is dependent on me.”

Notes:

This verse explains the śruti text pūrvaṃ devebhyo amṛtaśya nābhāyi, which, like the earlier texts, expresses what the knower of Brahman conveys in great amazement.

It was stated in the previous verse that the knower of Brahman as Brahman, existed even prior to the world constituted by the five elements (ṛtasya bhūtapañcakasya prathamajaḥ). It is now mentioned that the knower of Brahman, as Brahman, existed even prior io Indra and other gods (devebhyoḥ pūrvam). The two words ṛtam (bhūtapañcaka [bhūtapañcakam]) and deva (jīva) contained in the Upaniṣad are significant. The former refers to the upādhi which serves to limit as it were the pure Brahmanconsciousness, while the latter refers to the jīvas. The idea intended to be conveyed here is that Brahman-Ātman is prior to the manifestation of jīvas and the world.

The second line of the verse explains how Brahman-Ātman is the navel of immortality. The word amṛta may be understood in two senses—in the sense of immortal and also in the sense of liberation. Taking the word in the first sense, it is said that Brahman-Ātman is the cause, the support, of immortality. In the latter sense, liberation constitutes the essential nature of Brahman; and the jīva attains liberation by realizing its inward Self to be none other than Brahman.