1.3.41
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.41
ज्योतिर् दर्शनात्
jyotir darśanāt
The line
The light is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), because Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is what the text is seen to discuss.
नेपालीमा
ज्योति ब्रह्म हो, किनकि पाठले चर्चा गरेको ब्रह्म नै देखिन्छ।
Where it sits
A new sentence inside the wider talk of the person and the heart. jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः) is not the light beyond heaven of 1.1.25, which was already settled. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) takes this light as the highest light the serene being approaches. Rāmānuja (रामानुज) reads the light as the light of the thumb-sized person, the light by which all else shines, and cites the same approaching of the highest light. Madhva takes the light as Viṣṇu (विष्णु)'s. The three agree it is not physical light.
Split: jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः) + darśanāt (दर्शनात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः) | nominative singular, neuter | light |
| darśanāt (दर्शनात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because of the seeing, because Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is what the text is seen to be about |
The phrases
The passage says the serene one, rising from this body, approaching the highest light, appears in his own form. The opponent says 'light' here has no context that would force brahman (ब्रह्मन्), and might be sunshine or the light of a world.
darśana (दर्शन) is the seeing of what the section is about. The section is about the self that is free of evil, the highest person. The highest light is that, not a lamp. Freedom from the body is said of the one who has come to this light. That freedom is not the fruit of approaching fire.
Sanskrit in this line
jyotiḥ (ज्योतिः) before d is recited jyotir. darśana (दर्शन) is neuter, ablative -āt (-आत्). Two words.
Say it back
Distinguish this light from the light of 1.1.25. This one is the light the serene one approaches.