Devanagari
बुद्धीन्द्रियार्थरूपेण ज्ञानं भाति तदाश्रयम् ।
दृश्यत्वाव्यतिरेकाभ्यामाद्यन्तवदवस्तु यत् ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
buddhīndriyārtha-rūpeṇa
jṣānaṁ bhāti tad-āśrayam
dṛśyatvāvyatirekābhyām
ādy-antavad avastu yat
Synonyms
buddhi
—
of intelligence
;
indriya
—
the senses
;
artha
—
and the objects of perception
;
rūpeṇa
—
in the form
;
jṣānam
—
the Absolute Truth
;
bhāti
—
manifests
;
tat
—
of these elements
;
āśrayam
—
the basis
;
dṛśyatva
—
because of being perceived
;
avyatirekābhyām
—
and because of being nondifferent from its own cause
;
ādi
—
anta — vat — which has a beginning and an end
;
avastu
—
is insubstantial
;
yat
—
whatever .
Translation
It is the Absolute Truth alone who manifests in the forms of intelligence, the senses and the objects of sense perception, and who is their ultimate basis. Whatever has a beginning and an end is insubstantial because of being an object perceived by limited senses and because of being nondifferent from its own cause.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahman manifests in the forms of intelligence, the senses and the objects of sense perception, and it is their ultimate basis. Whatever has a beginning and an end is insubstantial because of being an object perceived by limited senses and because of being nondifferent from its own cause.
The state of being one with Brahman in ātyantika-pralaya by those desiring impersonal liberation is now described. That oneness with Brahman that they desire will be produced when there is realization of the insubstantiality of the world of duality, which is an effect of Brahman. Thinking boldly in this way, they say this world is illusory. That is explained in nine verses. That Brahman (jṣānam) appears in the form of intelligence, senses and objects, since they are transformations of the śakti of Brahman. What is this Brahman? It is the shelter of intelligence, senses and objects of this world since it is their cause. Neuter gender of aśrayam is poetic license. What is produced in this world as intelligence has a birth and a destruction. Though this is perceived as real, from the spiritual point of view it is not real since the world does not last forever. Two other reasons are given for the unreality of the world: it is visible and it is not different from its cause (avyatirekha). Because of these two reasons, the world is considered unreal.
The methodology is as follows. Because the world is visible, and because it has a beginning and end, and because it is not different from its cause, it is like a golden earring (compared to gold, its source). From the spiritual point of view the world is insubstantial.
Even if one maintains that the material world is illusory, following the later descriptions of things related to Brahman being similarly cit and non-different from Paramātmā (cit-sama ātmavat) in verse 29, there should be visible, spiritual variety. Otherwise the reasoning will be erroneous. Śruti says tāsāṁ madhye sākṣād brahma gopāla-purī: among all these abodes, the residence of Gopāla is directly the Absolute Truth. (Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad) Man-niketaṁ tu nirguṇam: my abode is beyond the guṇas. (SB 11.25.25) Nirguṇo mad-apāśrayaḥ: a worker who has taken shelter of me is understood to be transcendental to the modes of nature. (SB 11.25.26) By these words of the Lord it is understood that though the abode and other spiritual objects are visible, they are eternal, since they are beyond the guṇas.
Purport
The word
dṛśyatva
indicates that all subtle and gross material manifestations are made visible by the potency of the Supreme Lord and again become invisible, or unmanifest, at the time of annihilation. They are therefore in essence not separate from the source of their expansion and withdrawal.