Section 3.19 (nineteenth khaṇḍa) (four texts)

Upaniṣad text:

The Sun is Brahman,—such is the teaching; and its exposition is this: In the beginning, this was indeed non-existent; it became existent; it came into being; it became an egg; it lay for the period of one year; it broke open; then came the two halves of the egg-shell, one silver, one gold.—(1)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

The Sun is Brahman,—such is the teaching; and now its exposition is done, for the purpose of eulogising it.—In the beginning,—in its previous condition, (before it came in existence)—this—whole universe—was non-existent; i.e. it had its name and form undifferentiated, not that it did not exist at all. That this cannot be the meaning is shown by the Vedic Text which says ‘How could the existing come out of the non-existing?’, which negatives the view that the effect was absolutely non-existent, before it was produced.—

Objection:—“In the present text, it is definitely stated that all this was non-existent; so that it should be a matter of option, to accept this non-existence or the existence indicated by the text you have quoted”.—

Answer:—That cannot be; there can be no option in regard to the state of things, as there is in regard to actions.—“Then, how is it that the present text declares this to be non-existent?”—We have already explained that what is meant is that the Universe was undifferentiated as to Name and Form, and hence it was as if non-existent, and hence spoken of here as ‘non-existent.—“The Text uses the term eva, ‘indeed which serves to emphasise what is declared (which therefore cannot be taken in any figurative sense)”.—True, it is so; but what is emphasised is not the negation of existence, (but the absence of differentiation of Name and Form); as a matter of fact, the term ‘sat’, ‘Existent’, is found to be used in the sense of ‘differential ed Name and Form’ and this ‘differentiation of Name and form’ of the Universe is mostly dependent upon the Sun; for, if the Sun were not there, all this Universe would be one mass of darkness, and nothing could be known; hence the man ignorant of the ultimate truth speaks of the Universe, which is really existent, as ‘non-existent’, in the sentence which is meant to eulogise the Sun, for the purpose of showing that it is a fit object for being looked upon as Brahman. In common parlance things are spoken of as ‘existent’ only when the Sun is there; just as (obverse) it is said that—‘this royal dynasty, equipped with all good qualities, was indeed non-existent, while king Pūrṇavarman was not there.’ In fact, the present text is not meant to expound either the existence or non-existence of the Universe; it is meant only to expound the teaching that ‘the Sun is Brahman’; this is made clear by the fact that in the summing up (at the end of the Section), the Text is going to speak of ‘one who meditates upon the Sun as Brahman’.

It became existent; that which was spoken of as ‘nonexistent’ before coming into existence,—i.e. was as if stagnant, immobile, hence appearing to be non-existent—became existent,—i.e. slightly inclined towards producing positive effects, hence existent;—that is, it became mobile, and came into being,—having its Name and Form slightly differentiated, just like the seed growing into the sprout. Then gradually, it became larger and then it became an egg,—coming out of water.—The lengthened form ‘Āṇḍam’ is a Vedic anomaly (for the simple form ‘aṇḍam [aṇḍa]’)—This egg lay for the period of one year,—the measure of time known as ‘one year’; during all this time it lay entirely undifferentiated in form;—after that period of one year, it broke open; burst open, like birds’ eggs of the Egg thus broken up, there were two halves of the eggshell,—one silver and the other gold.—(1)

Upaniṣad text:

That which was silver is this Earth; that which was gold is Heaven; that which was the thick membrane became the Mountains; that which was the thin membrane became the Mist along with Clouds; what were the arteries became Rivers; that which was the abdominal fluid became the Ocean.—(2)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

Of the two halves of the Egg-shell, that which was the silver half is this Earth; that is, the lower half of the shell is represented by the Earth.—That which was the golden half is Heaven; that is, the upper half of the shell is represented by the Heavenly Region. That which was the thick membrane—which was the thick covering over the embryo, at the time that the egg burst into two parts,—this became the mountains.—That which was the thin membrane became the Mist—the frost—along with the clouds. Those that were the arteries of the embryo when born became the rivers.—That which was the abdominal fluid,—the fluid in the abdomen of the born embryo,—became the Ocean.—(2)

Upaniṣad text:

And what was born was the Sun. When he was born, shouts, loud and extensive, arose; as also all beings and desires. It is for this reason that whenever the Sun rises and sets, shouts, loud and exensive [extensive?], arise, as also all beings and all desires.—(3)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

And what was born,—in the form of the embryo in the said egg,—was the Sun. When this Sun was born, shouts—sounds—loud and extensive,—‘ulūlava’ standing for ‘urū-ravaḥ’; loud and extensive sounds,—arose. just as shouts arise on the birth of the first son of a king as also all beings—animate and inanimate—and all desires— of those beings; ‘Kāmāḥ’ ‘desires’, here stands for things that are desired, such as women, clothing, food and so forth. Inasmuch as on account of the birth of the Sun, the beings and the desired things came into existence,—even to-day,whenever the Sun rises and when he sets,—or ‘pratyāgama’ may be taken as rising again and again,—on that account, there arise all beings and all desires, and also shouts, loud and extensive. This phenomenon is well-known as happening at sun-rise.—(3)

Upaniṣad text:

Now, if any one, knowing this, meditate upon the Sun as Brahman, quickly will pleasant shouts approach him and will continue,-yea, will continue.—(4)

Commentary (Śaṅkara Bhāṣya):

If any one, knowing the Sun as endowed with the aforesaid greatness, meditate upon the Sun as Brahman, then he attains the same character as the Sun; and further there is a perceptible result also: Quickly—very soon—‘Yat’ is an adverb,—there approach him pleasant—agreeable—shouts. The pleasantness of the shouts etc., consists in this that in their enjoyment there is no element of sin.—They will approach him, and will also continue; there is not merely approach of the shouts, in fact, they continue to delight him, and bring pleasure to him,—The repetition is meant to indicate the end of the Discourse and also the great importance of the subject.—(4)

End of Section (19) of Discourse III

End of Discourse III.