Verse 12.122

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

प्रशासितारं सर्वेषामणीयांसमणोरपि ।
रुक्माभं स्वप्नधीगम्यं विद्यात् तं पुरुषं परम् ॥ १२२ ॥

praśāsitāraṃ sarveṣāmaṇīyāṃsamaṇorapi |
rukmābhaṃ svapnadhīgamyaṃ vidyāt taṃ puruṣaṃ param || 122 ||

The ruler of all, who is minuter than the minutest atom, bright like gold, amenable to dream-cognition,—him should one know as the Highest Puruṣa.—(122)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

‘Ruler’— Controller ‘of all’—from the Brāhmaṇa down to the Śūdra, and so on. The determining of the heat and other characteristics of Fire and other things,—the inner light in the Sun, the movement in the sky of the Sun and the Stars, etc.,—the laws regulating the operation of actions and their retribution,—all this is due entirely to the controlling power of the Being here referred to. This is what has been thus described—‘O Gārgī, it is under the sway of this Imperishable One, that, etc., etc.,” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 3.8.9);—and again, ‘That the Sun shines, and gives rain, the Moon gives light, Agni heats, Wind blows, and Death, the fifth, pursues men,’ etc., etc.

‘Minuter than the minutest atom’— What is generally regarded as the minutest thing conceivable,—e.g., the hundredth part of the hair-tip,—this Being is devoid of even that small dimension; as is described in the text—‘It is neither huge nor small’ (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 3.8.8.) where all qualities are negatived. This Being is cognisable only by means of an exceptionally keen intellect; but never by any. one who is not very expert, or who is not well-versed in the practice of meditation.—122