Chapter 11 Shloka 12
दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता।
यदि भा: सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मन:।।१२।।
Sanjay says:
If a thousand suns burst forth in the sky, their combined effulgence would hardly approach the splendour of that Supreme Lord.
Little one, listen to what Sanjay says! “Even the combined effulgence of a thousand suns could not match the luminescence of the Lord.”
Comparing the Lord with the sun
Sanjay seems to be saying:
a) What befitting simile can I give of that divine, incomparable Essence, when none exists!
b) How can I explain the effulgence of that celestial Essence and Its infinite form?
c) How can the Infinite be defined by limited words and yet remain boundless?
d) With what shall I compare the luminescence of that Supreme One who is Light Itself?
e) Perhaps the only simile that might somewhat describe the radiance of that Supreme Purusha, would be that of thousands of suns rising simultaneously.
f) How can I bind the Incomprehensible Essence in thought?
Little one! That Eternal Essence, that Light of Spirituality, cannot be compared with anything in existence other than a simile. That which is indestructible cannot be described by the destructible. No number of suns can compare with that Supreme Effulgence, for they are but a fraction of the creation of Brahm.
The secret of Advaita or Non-duality
Little one, understand this carefully. In the tenth chapter the Lord has explained “All is I”; He has placed before us a method whereby we can meditate on that Truth. Whoever comes before you, if you interact with him knowing him to be imbued with the Lord Himself, you will gradually practice the maxim ‘Vaasudevam Idam Sarvam’ – ‘All this is Vaasudeva’ (‘Vaasudeva’ is an epithet of the Lord).
In this chapter, the Lord is displaying everything ‘within Himself’. Thus He is clarifying that whatsoever exists, exists within the Atma.
If you too renounce the body idea and the body related intellect and let yourself be absorbed in the Atma, you too will perceive the world as existing within you. The world will retain no other meaning for you. Naught shall exist without you.
The Lord speaks here of complete Advaita or non-duality. Just as the dream faculty of the dreamer conjures up an entire dream sequence, taking the form of all the characters of the dream, enacting each one’s part, similarly this entire creation is the dream sequence of the Atma. Then, just as when the person awakens from his dream, the dream faculty along with all the characters it created is reabsorbed into his consciousness, so also the entire world is reabsorbed into the Atma.
This is the truth that the Lord is trying to explain.
