Chapter 15 - Verse 12

यदादित्यगतं तेजो जगद्भासयतेऽखिलम् ।
यच्चन्द्रमसि यच्चाग्नौ तत्तेजो विद्धि मामकम् ॥ १२ ॥

yadādityagataṃ tejo jagadbhāsayate’khilam .
yaccandramasi yaccāgnau tattejo viddhi māmakam .. 12 ..


That light which residing in the sun illumines the whole world, that which is in the moon and in the fire, that light do thou know to be Mine.
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Light : splendour. Mine : Viṣṇu’s.

Or, ’light’ may be understood to mean the light of consciousness (chaitanya).

(Objection) :—The light of consciousness exists in all alike, in the moving and unmoving objects : then why this qualification of light as ‘residing in the sun,’ etc?

(Answer) :—This objection does not apply here; for, the qualification may be explained on the ground that the better manifestation (of consciousness in the sun, etc.) is due to a higher proportion of Sattva. In the sun and other bodies (mentioned here) the Sattva is very brilliant and luminous; wherefore it is in them that the light of consciousness is better manifested. Hence the qualification; not that the light is a specific attribute of those bodies only. To illustrate it by an example from ordinary experience : A man’s face is not reflected in a wall, in a piece of wood or the like; but the same face is reflected in a miror in a greater or less degree of clearness, according as the mirror is more or less transparent.