Third Adhyaya, Eleventh Khanda (6 mantras)

Mantra 3.11.1.

1. Then rising from that (solar orb) He goes up (to Vaikuṇṭha Loka). Having reached that high place, He neither rises nor sets, but remains in one manner, stationary in that middle period (i.e., throughout Pralaya).—176.

[Note.—Ūrdhvaḥ (Ūrdhva)—above, i.e., to the Vaikuṇṭha Loka. The word gaccati must be supplied to complete the sense. The whole sentence means: Then (at the time of Pralaya) the Lord called Āditya leaves the solar orb and goes up to Vaikuṇṭha.]

Mantra 3.11.2.

2. And on this there is this verse. (Brahmā says) “In Him, verily, there is no fault. He neither rises nor sets. O Devas! there is no doubt in it. I swear by this truth. Through the grace of the Supreme Brahman may 1 never get want of prosperity.”—177.

Mantra 3.11.3.

3. And indeed to him who knows thus this secret Doctrine of Brahman, the sun never rises nor sets. For him there is perpetual day.—178.

Mantra 3.11.4.

4. This Madhu Vidyā Viṣṇu taught to Viriñci, who taught it to Svāyambhuva Manu, who told it to his descendants. Because the father told this doctrine of Brahman to his eldest son, Uddālaka Āruṇi.—179.

Mantra 3.11.5.

5. Therefore, the father may tell this doctrine of Brahman to his eldest son or to his beloved pupil, but not to anybody else.—180.

Mantra 3.11.6.

6. Even if he were to give to him (teacher) the whole sea-girt earth, full of treasure, yet this doctrine is greater than that in value, yea greater than that in value.—181.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

In the previous Khaṇḍas, it was taught how to meditate on the Lord Hari as Madhu (honey) under the name of Āditya or the sun, as He rises daily from the East and changes the directions of his motion during the twenty-four hours. Those Khaṇḍas also showed how the Lord as sun, while setting in one place was really giving light in another place; and though in every latitude the day was really of 24 hours, yet the amount of the heat and light received was less in higher latitudes. This rising and setting of the sun lasts so long as the creation lasts: does this go on in Pralaya, or Cosmic dissolution? The present Khaṇḍa answers that question and shows that in Pralaya, the Lord abandons the solar orb, and withdraws himself to a higher world called Vaikuṇṭha, where there is perpetual day.

So in the Deva Śruti.—Now the Lord Viṣṇu dwelling in the sun, is called Āditya, because He is the first (ādi) cause; or because He draws in (ādāna) within Himself all the Devas. He goes up (abandoning) the solar orb: and reaching the Vaikuṇṭha world He neither rises nor sets. During the whole period of Pralaya, He remains alone. O Devas, there is no doubt in it. Through that True Brahman, may I never get want of prosperity! (I am telling you the truth and swear by Brahman.) Thus addressed Brahmā, the Four-faced, to the Devas, in days of yore.

He who knows this Secret Doctrine (Vidyā) has perpetual day (because Mukta)—because to a Released Soul dwelling in the Highest Heaven of Vaikuṇṭha, there is no rising or setting of the sun.

The Lord Viṣṇu imparted this knowledge to Viriñci. Viriñci told it to Manu Svāyambhuva, Manu told it to his descendants.

If one were to fill with gems the whole of this earth and its seven oceans, and were to give that to his Teacher, yet it would be but little return to the Master—for the debt to the Spiritual Teacher is hard to discharge.

The Devas only are competent to meditate on One Nectar each: Brahmā is able to meditate on all the five Nectars, others are fit only to get a theoretical knowledge of this meditation, for they are not Adhikārīs of this meditation which belongs exclusively to the Deva creation. So far the Deva Śruti.

The phrase—“brahmaṇā pareṇa ma virādhisi”—means “may I, through the grace of the Adorable Lord, never get want of increase.”