Verse 1.1

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तमेकममलं ध्वस्तान्धकारं परं
निर्द्वैतं हृदि पद्ममध्यनिलयं निःशेषधीसाक्षिणम् ।
वेदान्तोपनिविष्टबोधविषयं प्रत्यक्तया योगिनां
भक्त्या तं प्रणीपत्य वेदशिरसो वक्ष्यामि सद्वार्तिकम् ॥ १ ॥

satyaṃ jñānamanantamekamamalaṃ dhvastāndhakāraṃ paraṃ
nirdvaitaṃ hṛdi padmamadhyanilayaṃ niḥśeṣadhīsākṣiṇam |
vedāntopaniviṣṭabodhaviṣayaṃ pratyaktayā yogināṃ
bhaktyā taṃ praṇīpatya vedaśiraso vakṣyāmi sadvārtikam || 1 ||

English translation of verse 1.1:

Saluting with devotion the supreme Brahman which is existence, knowledge, infinite, and one, which is free from impurity, which destroys ignorance, which is free from difference, which, being seated at the centre of the lotus-heart, is the Witness of all cognitions, which is the purport of the Vedānta, and which is realized as the innermost Self by those who are steady in knowledge, I begin this verse commentary on the Taittirīya Upaniṣad which strings together valid arguments.

Notes:

Sureśvara’s verse commentary on Śaṅkara’s bhāṣya on the Taittirīya Upaniṣad is known as Vārtika. A Vārtika is defined as a work which examines what is said (ukta), what is not said (anukta), and what is not well-said (durukta) in the original. It elucidates what is stated in the original text, Supplements it, and offers wherever necessary alternative interpretations. Sureśvara seeks to bring out the nature of the existent Brahman by stringing together valid arguments in his Vārtika.

The Upaniṣads have their purport in the non-difference of Brahman and Ātman as stated in the principal text (mahāvākya), tattvam asi. The word tat signifies through secondary sense (lakṣyārtha) Brahman. The secondary significance of the word tvam is Ātman. Brahman is of the nature of existence (satya [satyam]). It is consciousness (jñāna [jñānam]) which is self-luminous. It is infinite (ananta [anantam]) and eternal (nitya [nityam]), for it is not limited by time and space. It is not limited by any object, for there is nothing like it or unlike it; and so it is one (eka [ekam]). It is also free from internal difference. It is free from impurity (amala). It is the Supreme or the Highest (para [param]) which transcends cause-effect-relation. By realizing Brahman, ignorance (avidyā) is destroyed. It is free from all distinctions superimposed on it (nirdvaita [nirdvaitam]). The Self (Ātman) located in the centre of the heart is the Witness to all the cognitions which take place through mental modes (aśeṣabuddhivṛttīnāṃ sākṣibhūtam). Since the two words tat and tvam are in grammatical apposition, they refer to one and the same entity. So the principal text tattvamasi teaches the non-difference of Brahman and Ātman.