- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

It was stated that this âtman concealed in all living beings does not shine but is seen by the subtle intellect. What is the obstacle to the subtle intellect seeing the âtman, in the absence of which the âtman can be seen? This valli is begun for the purpose of showing why it is not seen; for it is only when the cause of the obstacle to the attainment of good is known, that it is possible to attempt to remove it and not otherwise. Parânchi ] which go out; khâni ] the senses; the ear and the rest are indicated illustratively by this word khâni. These senses go outward to enlighten their objects, such as sound, etc., as they are of this nature; Paramêsvara has damned them. Who is that? The self-existent, the lord of all, because he alone is always independent and never dependent on others. Therefore, the perceiver sees the external objects which are not the âtman, such as sound, etc., and not the âtman within. Though this is the nature of the world, some discerning man, like turning back the current of a river, sees the âtman within (pratyagâtman) the âtman which is pratyak; it is to denote the pratyak (the inner spirit) that the word âtman is technically used in the world and not to denote any other; and even according to its etymology, it is that alone which the word âtman denotes; for, according to the smriti which declares the derivative meaning of the word âtman, what pervades, what absorbs, what enjoys objects here and what makes the continuous existence of this universe is, therefore, called the âtman. The word ‘aikshat’ meaning ‘saw’, here means ‘sees’; for the tense is not strictly observed in the Vêdâs. How he sees is explained. With his eyes turned with all his senses, the eye, the ear and the rest diverted from all objects. Thus prepared, he sees pratyagâtman; for it is not possible for the same man to be intent on external objects and go to see the pratyagâtman. Why again the intelligent man with such great efforts and by restraining his senses from their natural activity sees the pratyagâtman, is explained. Being desirous to secure immortality, i.e., eternal existence for his âtman. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

The natural tendency to see external objects which are not atman is the cause of the obstacle, i.e., ignorance, to the realisation of the âtman. Being, opposed to it, the desire of enjoyments pertaining to this world and to the next, external to self and held up by ignorance, is another obstacle. The realisation of the âtman being impeded by ignorance and desire, men with little intelligence pursue only external objects of desire. By that cause, they get into the meshes of widespread, i.e., omnipresent death, i.e., the combination of ignorance, desire and karma. Meshes] that which binds, consisting in the possession and deprivation of the body, the senses, etc. The meaning is that they fall into a continuous stream of manifold misery, such as birth, death, old age, sickness, etc., This being so, the intelligent, knowing the certain immortality of concentration in the pratyagâtman (the immortality of the Dêvâs and the rest is uncertain; but this consisting in concentration in the pratyagâtman is certain, because it does not increase or suffer diminution by karma); i.e., knowing this constant and unshakable immortality, the knowers of Brahman do not covet any, among the ephemeral objects here, i.e., in samsâra full of misery, because these objects are opposed to the realisation of the pratyagâtman. The drift is that they rise above the desires of sons, wealth and worlds. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

How is that to be known, other than the knowledge of which Brâhmins do not crave anything. This is explained. By which, i.e., the âtman whose nature is intelligence; all the world clearly knows form, taste, smell, sounds, touches and the pleasurable sensations due to the commingling of the sexes. It may here be objected that the experience of the world is not in the form ‘I know by the âtman distinct from the body, etc.’; but that all the world thinks in the form ‘I, the combination of the body, etc., Know.’ Not so; even the combination of the body, etc., not being distinguishable in its nature from sounds and the rest and being in the nature of a knowable, it is not reasonable to attribute the nature of knower to it; for if the combination of the body, etc., being no other than form, etc., could perceive other forms, etc., even external forms, etc., may perceive their own and (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

This shows that he who was pointed as the pratyagâtman and Isvara is the âtman of all. Yah ] some seeker after emancipation. Pûrvam ] first. Tapasah ] from the Brahman defined as knowledge, etc. Jâtam ] created or produced, the first-born of Brahman, i.e., Hiranyagarhha. ‘Born before whom’ is explained. Adbhyah pûrvam ] before the five elements, including water; not before water alone; ajâyata ] was born. This first-born who having created the bodies of the Dêvâs, etc., entered the âkâs of the heart of every living thing and is there seated, perceiving sounds, etc., Bhûtêbhih means Bhûtâh or elements in the nature of cause and effect. Who sees him seated with them: who sees thus. See this alone, i.e., Brahman the subject of our present discussion. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Dêvatâmayî ] in the form of all the Dêvatâs. Prâpena ] as Hiranyagarbha; is born] from the highest Brahman; aditi ] so called, because she eats as it were sounds, etc.; her] who as before entered the heart and is there seated, the text describes her. Who was born along with bhûtâs or living creatures. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Again, the sacrificial fire lodged in the upper arani and the lower arani, the eater of all offerings and the fire within the body; which are well-maintained by the ritviks and yôgins, respectively, as the foetus is well-maintained in the world by pregnant women, by means of food, drink, etc., not condemned. Moreover, fit to be worshipped, i.e., eulogised and adored every day by those who follow Karma and by those who follow yôga, in sacrifices and at heart; jâgrivadbhih, who are by nature on the alert, i.e., watchful. Havishmadbhih, by those having offerings such as ghee, etc., and by those having contemplation and meditation. This verily is that—that Brahman now treated of. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Moreover, that prâna from which the sun rises and that where alone the sun every day sets, that prana. i.e., the Adhidaiva and the Adhyâtma aspect of Atman as the gods and speech, etc., as the senses enter into, while they last, as spokes in a wheel. Even he is certainly Brahman. That is this Brahman, the âtman of all. None certainly passes beyond that] none ceasing to be of the nature of that becomes other than that. This verily is that. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

This is said in order that the doubt may not arise in anybody; that what exists in all from the Brahma down to the immovable and appears, being subject to particular conditions, as something other than Brahman and subject to samsâra, he is different from the highest Brahman. What indeed is here subject to conditions of causes and effects and appears to the ignorant as possessing the attributes of sâmsâra, he is indeed the Brahman there centred within the body, in his nature dense with eternal knowledge and devoid of the attributes of all samsâra; again, what there is centred with self is itself here subject to conditions of name, form, cause and effect and is no other. This being so, he who here deluded by ignorance, which consists in seeing difference by the nature of the conditions sees in the Brahman which is one, a variety, thinking thus ‘I am other than the highest Brahman and the highest Brahman is other than I’, goes from death to death, i.e., is again born and dies; so, one should not see thus. The drift of the text is that one should see thus. ‘I am indeed the Brahman, the one unalloyed intelligence, all-pervading, filling all space like the âkâs’. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Before attaining the knowledge of the oneness, by the mind purified by the sâstrâs and by the preceptor, this unalloyed essence of the Brahman should be attained in the form ‘There is the Brahman alone, nothing else exists.’ When attained, ignorance, the cause of the perception of difference being removed, there is not even the slightest difference here, i.e., in the Brahman. But he who does not give up...[missing text]. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

But how becomes the âtman of a thinker who has acquired knowledge, whose perception of difference due to conditions has been destroyed, and who knows the âtman pure, dense with knowledge unalloyed, and one without a second, is explained. As water pure poured into pure becomes of the same quality, not otherwise, the âtman also of the thinker becomes the same, Oh Gautama. Therefore, leaving the perception of difference induced by bad logic and the erroneous notion of no-here-after, the perception of the one-ness of the âtman inculcated by the Vêdâs, a better well-wisher than thousands of mothers and fathers should be anxiously respected by those whose pride has been quelled. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

As Brahman is not easily knowable, this if commenced for the purpose of ascertaining the entity of the Brahman, again by another method. City] being like a city, this body is called a city, because we find in it the appendages of a city such as gatekeepers, their controllers, etc.; a city with all its appendages has been found to exist, for an owner independent of it and not mixed up with it; similarly, from its resemblance to a city, the body, a bundle of many appendages, must exist for an owner occupying the place of a king and not mixed up with it; and this city named body has eleven gates; seven in the head, and three lower down including the navel and one at the top of the head; whose this is, i.e., of the unborn] of the âtman not subject to modifications such as birth, etc., occupying the place of the king and dissimilar in its properties to the city; avakra chêtasah: whose chetah, i.e., knowledge is not crooked and eternally existent like the splendour of the sun and uniform, i.e., of the Brahman occupying the place of the king; contemplating on that Paramêsvara, highest Lord, the owner of the city; for the word anushthânam here means the contemplation of him leading to sound knowledge or realisation of him contemplating on him, as living equally in all things, one does not grieve, being freed from all desire; fearlessness being attained by knowing him, there being no occasion for grief, whence could he fear? Even here, he becomes freed from the ties of desire and karma induced by ignorance and being thus freed, he becomes free, i.e., does not enter a body again. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

And he the âtman does not live in the city of one body alone; but he lives in all cities. How hamsah ] one who moves; suchishat ] dwelling in heaven as the sun. Vasuh, one who animates all; dwells in the inter-space, as wind; hôtâ ] fire, according to the sruti ‘fire indeed is hôtâ;’ Vêdishat ] dwelling in Vêdi or earth, according to the srutis ‘ this Vêdi is the supreme nature of earth,’ etc. Atithih ] sômah. Durônasat ] dwelling in Durôna, i.e., vessel; or a Brâhmin dwelling in the house (Durôna) as a guest (atithih); nrishat ] dwelling in men; Varasat ] dwelling in betters, i.e., the Devas. Ritasat dwelling in rita, i.e., truth or sacrifice; Vyômasat dwelling in Vyôma, i.e., âkâsa, Abjâh ] those born in water, in the form of conch, mother of pearl, whale, etc.; gojâh ] those born of the earth in the form of corn, grain, etc.; ritajâh, those born in the form of appendages ta sacrifice; adrijâh ] those born of mountains in the form of rivers, etc.; though the âtman of all, he is ritam, i.e., of unchanging nature. Brihat, great, being the cause of all; even when the sun alone is described by the mantra, even then, from the fact that the sun is accepted as âtman in his nature, there is no conflict in this commentary. The meaning of the mantra is that the âtman of the universe is only one and all-pervading and there is no difference in the âtman. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

In realising the existence of the âtman an evidence is offered—Upwards] from the heart. Prâba ] the wind, whose function is connected with breath. Unnayati ] leads upwards. Similarly casts the apâna downwards. The word yah (who), should be supplied to complete the sentence. Him seated in the middle, i.e., in the âkâs of the lotus of the heart, with the light of knowledge clearly shining in the intellect and worthy of worship, all the Dêvâs, i.e., the senses, the eyes and the rest propitiate, by bringing in the perceptions of form, etc., as the subjects please the king, by offerings, i.e., they are uninterruptedly active on his account. The drift of the text is that there is another on whose behalf and by whom is directed all the activity of the winds and the senses. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Again, of this âtman in the body, visramsamânasya ] escaping. Dehinah ] embodied. The meaning of the word visramsamâna is explained by the expression dêhât vimuchyamânasya (being free from the body); what here remains? nothing of the whole lot of prâna, etc., remains. Here] in the body; the âtman, on whose leaving the body, all this lot of effects and causes becomes in an instant enervated, destroyed and defunct, as in the case of the inhabitants of a city, when the lord of the city, is driven out of it, has been established to be some other than all this. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

The theory may be urged ‘that the body becomes destroyed only by the exit of prana, apâna, etc., and not by the exit of the âtman distinct from these; for, man lives only by prana and the rest’. This is not so; not by prâna, not by apâna, not by the eyes, etc., does a mortal having a body live. These acting jointly for the benefit of some other cannot be the source of life. The existence of houses, etc., composite in their nature, has not been seen in the world to be undirected by some other not connected with them, for whose benefit they exist; so also, it should be in the case of the combination of prâna and the rest. Therefore, it is by some other alone, dissimilar to the combination of prâpa and the rest, all these combined maintain their life. On which âtman, dissimilar to those combined, the really existent and the highest, these two prâna, and apâna combined with the eyes and the rest, depend and for the benefit of whom (not so combined) prâna, apâna and the rest perform their functions in combination, he is established to be other than they. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

I will now explain to thee again this secret ancient Brahman by whose knowledge cessation of all samsâra results and not knowing which, how after death the âtman travels in samsâra. Listen, Oh Gautama. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Into wombs, combined with semen virile. Some ignorant fools go to take a body. The meaning is that the jîvas having a body enter the womb. Others, yet inferior after death, become immoveable, such as trees and the rest; ‘according to their karma, means according to karma performed by them, i.e., by the form of karma performed by them, in this birth. Similarly also , ‘ according to their knowledge,’ i.e., according to the nature of knowledge acquired by them. The meaning is that they take a body corresponding to them; for, another sruti says ‘they are born according to their knowledge.’ (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

What was pledged in ‘I will explain the secret Brahman’ is now explained. This Purusha who wakes, i.e., does not sleep, when all, i.e., when prâna and the rest are asleep, creating by ignorance whatever was desired, i.e., objects of perception, such as woman and the rest, is certainly pure; and that is the Brahman. There is no other secret Brahman. It is that alone which is said to be immortal, i.e., deathless in all the sâstrâs. Moreover, the worlds, earth and the rest, all depend on the Brahman, that being the cause of all worlds. None passeth beyond that, etc., as already explained. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

As the knowledge of the oneness of the âtman, though supported by authority and often reiterated, is not firmly grasped by the intellect of perverse-headed Brahmins, whose mind is shaken by the intellect (arguments) of many logicians, the sruti, being anxious to inculcate it, says again and again: as fire, though one, bright by nature, having entered the world (Bhuvanam meaning world, because all bhavanti, i.e., are born there) in respect of everything to be burnt assumes separate shapes; so, being one only, the internal âtrnan of all, having entered all bodies such as fire in logs, etc., being extremely subtle, assumes forms responsive and is also without them all, like the âkâs, in his own unmodified nature. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

So, another illustration (is offered by ‘as wind though one’, etc.). The analogy is complete, as he enters all bodies as prâtta and takes forms corresponding to every form. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Seeing that if one be the âtman of all, he may be regarded as subject to the grief of samsâra, this is said. As the sun benefiting the eye by its rays and manifesting even unclean things such as urine, ordure, etc., though being the eye of all, the world seeing them is not tainted with sins and other blemishes due to seeing unclean things, etc., and by stains caused by physical contact with unclean objects so the one internal âtman is not tainted with the misery of the world, being outside that; for, the world by ignorance superposed on the âtman, suffers misery arising from desire and karma. But that is not really in the âtman, just as, the serpent, silver, water and dirt superposed on the rope, mother-of-pearl, barren spot and the sky, respectively, do not really exist as blemishes in the rope, etc.; from the superposition, by false notion, they are perceived as blemishes in the true objects connected (by the notion); the true objects are not tainted by such blemishes because they are external to the false notion so superposed. Thus the world having superposed on the âtman, the false notion of deed, agency and fruits like the notion of the serpent (on the rope), suffers the misery of birth, death, etc., due to that. But the âtman, though the âtman of all the world, is not tainted by the misery of the world arising from the superposition of a false notion. Why? being external. Because he is like the rope, etc., external to the false notion superposed on him. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Moreover, he, the lord of all, all-pervading, independent, is one (there is none other equal to him or greater than he); vasî ] under whose control all the universe is; because he is the internal âtman of all; for, he makes himself though one, of the nature of unalloyed pure knowledge, diverse by the differences of impure conditions of name, form, etc., by his mere existence, having unthinkable powers. Âtmastham ] clearly perceived in the form of knowledge, in the conditioned intellect, in the âkâsa of the heart, within the body; for, the body is not the supporter of the âtman, he being formless as the âkâsa. He is like the face reflected in the mirror. To those discerning persons who perceive this lord, this âtman, all their external activities being checked in accordance with the teaching of the preceptor and the âgamâs and realise him directly, to those who have become lords of all, belongs the eternal bliss, i.e., delight in self and not to the undiscerning others, whose intelligence is engrossed by external objects, though the bliss is their own âtman, which in the case of the latter is concealed by ignorance. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Again, deathless among mortal things, conscious among the conscious, such as Brahma and other living beings. As the power of burning in water and the rest, which are not fire in themselves, is due to fire, so, the intelligence of others is due to the intelligence of the âtman; again, he, omniscient and lord over all, dispenses to those having desire, i.e., to those in samsâra, according to their respective karma, the fruits of karma and desired objects, according to his grace, himself one, to many, without effort. To such intelligent men as see him seated in their selves, eternal peace accrues, not to others, i.e., to those who do not see so. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

That bliss of the knowledge of the âtman which is indescribable, highest and which, though beyond the speech and mind of men, under the sway of Prakriti, they, the Brâhmins freed from all desire, describe as this, i.e., as something directly perceived; how; i.e., by what process shall I know that bliss: i.e., realise it as thus perceivable by my intelligence, as the sanyâsins freed from desire, do? Is that which is luminous of itself an object clearly perceivable by our intelligence or not? (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

The reply here is that it shines and is perceived as shining. The sun, though the enlightener of all, does not shine in the Brahman, being his âtman, i.e., the sun does not illumine the Brahman. Similarly, the moon and the stars do not; nor do these lightnings illumine. How could this fire, perceivable by us? Why say much? All these, the sun and the rest who shine, shine only after him, the lord of all; as water, firebrand, etc., from their contact with fire, burn after the burning fire and not by their own inherent virtue. It is by his light only, that all this, the sun and the rest shine. This being so, that Brahman alone shines and shines variously. From the various kinds of light possessed by its effects, the self-luminosity of the Brahman is inferred. It is not possible for one to impart to another luminosity, which one does not possess, because pots, etc., are found incapable of illumining other objects and the sun and the rest, luminous in their nature, are found capable of that. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

As in the world, the ascertainment of the root of a tree is made by ascertaining the nature of the tula (panicle of the flower), this sixth valli (part) is begun with the object of ascertaining the nature of the Brahman, the source (of the samsâra tree,) by ascertaining the nature of the effect, the tree of samsâra. Root up, having its root up, i.e., ‘that highest place of Vishnu’ is its root, this tree of samsâra, extending from the avyakta to the immoveable, has its root up, i.e., in Brahman. It is vriksha (tree), so called, because it is felled; this tree consisting in manifold miseries of birth, decay, death and grief, etc., changing its nature every moment, like jugglery, waters of the mirage, a city formed by the clouds in the sky, etc.; because like these perceived only to vanish ultimately, non-existent like a tree, sapless like the stem of the plantain tree, the subject of several doubtful alternatives in the intellects of many hundreds of sceptics, not ascertained to be what it really is by seekers after truth, receiving its sap from its source, i.e., the highest Brahman ascertained by Vêdânta, growing from the seed of ignorance, desire, karma and avyaktam, having for its sprout hiranyagarbha—the combination of the power of knowledge and activity of the lower Brahman, having for its skandha (trunk), the various subtle bodies of all living things, possessed of the pride of stature from the sprinkling of the waters of desire, having for its tender buds the objects of intelligence and the senses, having for its leaves the srutis, the smritis, logic, learning and instruction, filled with the lovely flowers of sacrifice, gift, penance and many other deeds, having various tastes such as the experience of joy and sorrow, having endless fruits on which living beings subsist, with its roots well grown, i.e., (tendencies of the mind) entwined and fastened firm by the sprinkling of the waters of desire for the fruits, with the nests built by birds, i.e., all living beings from Brahma downwards in the seven worlds beginning with that called satya, reverberating with the tumultuous noise arising from dancing, singing, instrumental music, joking, clapping on the shoulders, laughing, pulling, crying, exclaiming ‘leave me,’ ‘leave me,’ etc., induced by mirth and grief, produced by the happiness and misery of living beings and felled by the unresisted sword of the realisation of the Paramâtman proved by the Vêdânta, this tree of Samsâra, always shaking by its nature to the wind of desire and karma, like the asvattha tree, having its branches, i.e., heaven, hell, the world of beasts and prêtâs, etc., downwards, existing from time immemorial, because having no beginning. That which is the root of this tree of Samsâra is indeed pure, bright, i.e., resplendent, the intelligence of âtman; that indeed is Brahman, being greater than all; that indeed is described as immortal in nature, being true; any other than that is a mere matter of speech, modification, name and falsehood and therefore subject to death. On that, i. e., on the Brahman absolutely true, do all the worlds, false like the city of clouds in the sky, waters of the mirage and jugglery (mâya) and perceived as non-existent by the knowledge of the absolute truth, depend during their birth, stay and absorption. None, i.e., no modification passes beyond that, i.e., Brahman, as the thing made, such as pot, etc., does not pass beyond the mud, etc. This verily is that. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

If it be said that Brahman, the source of the world, by knowledge of which men are said to become immortal, does not exist and that all this has come out of nothing, it is not sound; all this universe, the highest Brahman existing, moves; and having come out of that alone, acts regularly. This Brahman, the cause of the origin, etc., of the universe is mahatbhaya, i. e., great and terrible. It is like the thunderbolt uplifted; as, at the sight of the master with the thunderbolt raised in his hand, the servants regularly keep his commands, so this world, with its lords and with the sun, moon, planets, constellation and stars, etc., regularly and without a moment's respite obeys the law. This is the drift. Those who know this, this highest Brahman, the witness of all the modifications of one’s mind, become immortal. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

How the world lives from fear, of him, is explained. The fire burns from fear of him, the lord of all; the sun shines from fear; from fear, Indra and Wind; and Death, the fifth, runs; for, if Brahman did not exist as controller of the competent protectors of the world, like one with the thunderbolt uplifted in his hand, their well-regulated activity, as that of the servants trembling from fear of the master would not be possible. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

If he is able to know and knows even during life, this Brahman} the cause of fear, before the falling of the body, then he becomes freed from the bond of Samsâra. If he is not able to know, then, i.e., from want of that knowledge, he becomes able to take, i.e., he takes a body in earth and other worlds, where those who are fit to be created, are created. Therefore, before the falling of the body, attempt should be made to realise the âtman; for the realisation of the âtman even here will be clearly horrible as that of a face reflected in a mirror; not in other worlds except the Brahmalôka; and that is hard to reach. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

How is explained. As one in the world sees his own image reflected in a mirror very distinctly, so the realisation of the âtman in one's intelligence, when spotless like a mirror, becomes clear. As in dreams, the perception is indistinct and produced, i.e., (obscured) by the reminiscences of the waking state, so indistinct is the realisation of the âtman in the world of the manes, being engrossed in the enjoyment of the fruits of karma. As the image of one's self reflected in water is seen indistinctly, with the various parts not defined, so is the realisation of the âtman in the world of the Gandharvâs certainly indistinct. Thus, it is inferred from the authority of the sâstrâs, even in other worlds, it is only in one, the Brahmalôka, that it is very distinct, as that of light and shadow and that (Brahmalôka) is hard to attain requiring as means, a combination of very special karma and knowledge, i.e., (worship). The drift, therefore, is that one should attempt to realise the âtman even while here (in this world). (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

How is he to be known and what avails it to know him are explained. Of the senses, such as the ear, etc., separately originating from their causes, the âkâsa, etc., for perceiving their respective objects, knowing their distinctness, i.e., dissimilarity of their nature to the nature of the âtman extremely pure, untainted, and all intelligence; and also the rising and setting, i.e., the creation and absorption of the senses, to depend on the waking and sleeping states and that the âtman has neither beginning nor end, the intelligent man does not grieve. The eternally identical nature of the âtman never changing, there can be no cause of grief. So also another sruti says ‘The knower of the âtman crosses grief.’ (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

As the senses have been stated to be distinct from the âtman, he cannot be externally perceived; because he is the internal principle of all. How it is so, is explained. Beyond the senses, is the mind, etc., As arthâs (rudiments) here are of the same class with the senses, they are included in the word Indriya. The rest as previously explained. The word saiva here denotes ‘intellect.’ (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Beyond the Avyaktam is Purusha all-pervad-ing, being the cause of all âkâsa, etc., which is all-pervading. Devoid of linga ] that by which anything is reached (known) is linga such as intellect, etc. That does not exist in him; so he is devoid of linga. The meaning in effect is devoid of all the attributes of samsâra. Him knowing, both from the preceptor and the sâstrâs, the mortal, even during life, is freed from the knots of the heart, such as ignorance, etc., and even when the body falls, attains immortality. This clause is connected with the previous one thus. He is the Purusha beyond the Avyaktam, etc. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

[Missing in the text] (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

If the Brahman could be perceived by the operation of the intellect, etc., it can be specifically apprehended as this or that. When the intellect, etc., cease to act, Brahman which is not cognised, in the absence of the cause of cognition, does certainly not exist; for, it is only when anything is perceived by the instruments of cognition, it is reputed in the world to exist; and the contrary is said to be non-existing; and, therefore, yôga is useless; or, the Brahman not being known should be known as non-existing. If it is thus urged, it is thus replied ‘true not by speech, not by mind, not by the eye, not by other senses, could he be known; still, though devoid of any attributes, being known as the origin of the universe, he certainly exists; for, that into which effects are absorbed must certainly exist; for, here also, this effect traced back in the ascending series of subtlety leads only to the conviction of something as existent (in the last resort).’ The intellect, even in the ultimate analysis of all the objects of perception, is still pregnant with a belief in the existence of something; for, the intellect is our authority in the comprehending of the real nature of existence and non-existence. If the universe had no existing cause, then the effect (the world) being inseparably connected with non-existence would be apprehended as nonexisting. But this is not so; it is perceived as existing only as pot, etc., made of earth, is perceived in combination with earth. Therefore, the cause of the world, the âtman, must be known as existing. Wherefore? In any other than him who believes in existence, follows the drift of the agâmâs and is possessed of faith, i.e., one who argues that there is no âtman, the source of the universe, and that all this effect not connected with any cause is absorbed into nonexistence and who thus sees perversely, how can that Brahman be truly known? The meaning is it cannot at all be known. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Therefore, having abandoned the theory of those who argue for non-existence, the âtman should be known as existing, as productive of effects and conditioned by intelligence. But when the âtman is devoid of that and subject to no modification (an effect has no existence independent of the cause); as the sruti says ‘a modification is a mere matter of speech and name; that it is mud is alone true,’ then, is the true nature of the âtman unconditioned, devoid of indicative marks, and incapable of being thought of, as existent or non-existent. In that nature also, ‘the âtman should be known’ follows. Of these two] of the conditioned and the unconditioned, i.e., known as existence and its true nature; the genitive case has the froce of Nirdhârana, i.e., determining; of the âtman previously known as merely existent] of the âtman known by the belief in its existence produced by its limitations, i.e., its perceived effects. Afterwards, the real nature of the âtman subject to no condition, different from both the known and the unknown, i.e., the manifested universe and the prakriti, one without a second, and indicated by the srutis ‘ not this, not that, etc.,’ ‘not gross, not subtle, not short ‘in the invisible, bodiless, supportless, etc.,’ faces him who had previously realised it as existent. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

When of the person thus seeing the truth, all desires, which were clinging to the intellect of the knower before he attained the knowledge, fall off from want of anything else to be desired (for intellect and not the âtman is the seat of desires, and also from another sruti which says desire, volition, etc.), then the mortal (he was so before he attained the knowledge), subsequently to the acquisition of knowledge, becomes immortal, death consisting in ignorance, desire and karma being destroyed, and becomes Brahman even here (there being no necessity of going, death resulting in a going having been destroyed) like fire extinguished, all bondage being destroyed. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

When again, the up-rooting of all desires takes place is explained. When all the ties of the heart of one, while yet alive, i.e., all the modifications of the intellect due to ignorance which are in the nature of fast-bound knots are destroyed; when the ties of the heart, i.e., such as the beliefs ‘I am this body,’ ‘this is my wealth,’ ‘I am happy or miserable,’ etc., are destroyed by the rise of the contrary belief in the identity of the Brahman and the âtman, in the form ‘I am certainly Brahman not subject to Samsâra’ the desires which originate in those ties are destroyed to their very root; then the mortal becomes immortal. Thus much alone—the doubt that there is more should not be raised—is the instruction. Of all the Vedântâs’ should be supplied to complete the sentence, (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

It has been stated that there is no going; for, the knower who has attained the knowledge that the âtman is the all-pervading Brahman devoid of all attributes and who has untied all the knots due to ignorance, &c., and who has become Brahman even while alive; because, says the sruti ‘ he attains Brahman here’ and also says another sruti ‘ his prânâs do not go out.’ ‘Being Brahman, he attains Brahman; but, for those who attain Brahmalôka by the knowledge of the lower Brahman and by other kinds of worship and for those of an opposite kind who whirl in samsâra this special way is pointed out, with a view to eulogise the fruits of the knowledge of the higher Brahman now treated of; moreover, the knowledge of the agni has been made the subject of a question and a reply and this mantra is begun also for the purpose of stating the process by which the fruit of that knowledge is attained. Here, nerves, one hundred in number, and one other named sushumnâ branch out from the heart of man. Among them, the one named sushumnâ has gone out piercing the head. At the moment of death, one should control the âtman in the heart and make it join that nerve, nâdi; going up by that nerve, one goes through the orb of the sun and attains relative immortality; according to the smriti permanency till the absorption of the elements is spoken of as immortality; or, he attains absolute immortality along with Brahma, in due course of time, having enjoyed incomparable pleasures in the Brahmalôka. At the time of death, the other nerves travel diverse ways, i.e., they become the cause of one, being born again in samsâra alone. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

Now the sruti says this, for the purpose of concluding the drift of all the vallis. The Purusha of the size of a thumb, the internal âtman, as previously explained, is seated in the heart of all men. One should draw him out, i.e., separate him from one’s own body; ‘like what’ is explained. As the stalk within the grass, from the grass boldly with self-composure. Him, so drawn out from the body, one should know as Brahman previously described, pure, immortal and mere intelligence. The repetition and the use of the particle ‘iti’ are to show that the Upanishad ends here. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

This conclusion of the story intended to eulogise knowledge is now stated. Nachikêtas having obtained from Death by the granting of boons, the knowledge of the Brahman imparted as above said and also all the instruction about yôga with its fruits, attained Brahman, i.e., became immortal. How? Being already freed from vice and virtue and from desire and ignorance. Not merely Nachikêtas alone but even another who like Nachikêtas, knows the âtman and realizes its true nature unconditioned and within all, and not its form which is not within all. Who knows the nature of the âtman, as thus stated, such knower also; ‘being untainted becomes deathless, by attaining Brahman’ should be supplied to complete the sentence. (Ⅴ)

- Shri Shankaracharia commentary :

This sânti (expiatory prayer) is stated here for the purpose of removing all faults incurred by the disciple and preceptor, in the course of receiving, and imparting knowledge respectively, and caused by dereliction of rules due to oversight or excitement. Let him protect us both by illumining the nature of knowledge. Who? He alone, the Lord of all, revealed by the Upanishads. Again, let him protect us both, by revealing the fruits of such knowledge. Let us together acquire the strength produced by knowledge. Moreover, may what is studied by us, who are bright, be well studied! Or may what is studied, i.e., acquired by study, by us, be very potent! May we, disciple and preceptor, never hate each other, owing to blame incurred by us, by improper recital or instruction due to oversight! The repetition three times of ‘Peace,’ as ‘Peace! Peace! Peace!’ is for averting all evil. The word Om is to show that the Upanishad ends here. (Ⅴ)