yaṁ paśyati na paśyantaṁ
yaṁ paśyati na paśyantaṁ
cakṣur yasya na riṣyati
taṁ bhūta-nilayaṁ devaṁ
suparṇam upadhāvata
Worship the uncontaminated Lord residing in all beings, who is the friend of the jīva, and who, though seeing all things, is not seen, and whose knowledge is never destroyed.
“If the Lord dwells everywhere in the universe, why do we not see him?” One does not see the Lord who sees all. “When a pot is destroyed, one’s knowledge concerning the pot is destroyed. When the universe is destroyed, does the Lord’s knowledge of the universe get destroyed?” The Lord’s jñāna-śakti (cakṣuḥ), emanating from his svarūpa, is never destroyed. Śruti says svābhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca: the Lord has intrinsic power of knowledge, strength and action. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8) Similarly the sunlight is not destroyed when the objects it reveals are destroyed. The Lord dwells in all beings (bhūta-nilayam), is free from contamination, is bright (devam), and is the friend of the jīva (suparṇam). Śruti says dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyaḥ: there are two birds dwelling together as friends. (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.1) Upadhāvata means “please serve.”
|| 8.1.12||
na yasyādy-antau madhyaṁ ca
svaḥ paro nāntaraṁ bahiḥ
viśvasyāmūni yad yasmād
viśvaṁ ca tad ṛtaṁ mahat
He has no beginning, middle or end. He does not consider that anything belongs to him or to anyone else. He has no inside and no outside. From him arise the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. He is the form of the universe. He is the permanent truth with eternal form, the perfect Brahman.
This verse explains the pervasive feature of the Lord. From the Lord (yasmāt) the creation, maintenance and destruction (amūni) arise. His form is the universe (yat viśvam). Because he is permanent, he is truth (ṛtam) and the perfect Brahman (mahat). This describes the eternal nature of the Lord’s form.
|| 8.1.13||
sa viśva-kāyaḥ puru-hūta-īśaḥ
|
