तद्धावतोऽन्यानत्येति तिष्ठत् तस्मिन्न् अपो मातरिश्वा दधाति ॥ ४ ॥
anejad ekaṃ manaso javīyo nainaddevā āpnuvanpūrvamarṣat .
taddhāvato’nyānatyeti tiṣṭhat tasminn apo mātariśvā dadhāti .. 4 ..
Tap a word for its meaning
Anējat = not shaking, from the root ējr to shake. Shaking is moving, i.e., lapsing from its real state. (The Self is) free from it, i.e., is always of the same form. It is also one in all beings. manasō javīyaḥ = speedier than the mind which is characterised by desire &c. Wherefore these conflicting statements—that it is at once assuredly motionless and speedier than the mind? This is not wrong, for it can be justified (on the basis of the Self) being conditioned or unconditioned. In its original unconditioned form it is stated to be unmoving and one. (It is also possible to predicate motion of the Self) because it reflects (the features of) its conditioning mind which is the internal sense charaterised by desire and doubt. Since the mind, though residing here within the body can, in an instant, conceive of the distant Brahmaloka and the like, it is ordinarily taken as possessing great speed. When such mind, for instance reaches (in thought) Brahmaloka, with rapidity, the Self appears to have reached there already. Therefore it is said here ‘speedier than the mind’. devāḥ=senses such as the eye—so called because they illuminate. enat=this entity of the Self. na āpnuvan=did not reach, the mind being speedier than they. Since mental operation (always) intervenes, not even the semblance of the Self becomes perceivable by the Senses. [ 1 ] (And it is beyond the mind itself) because the Self is always in advance (of it) being all-pervading like space. (Now the verse) states that the Self, always [ 2 ] free from all features of transmigration, in its own unconditioned form and being altogether changeless, appears to the undiscriminating ignorant, as experiencing all the several modes of life due to limiting adjuncts and also as being many, i.e., one in each body. tat=(that). dhāvataḥ=speedily going. anyān.=mind, the organs of speech &c., which are all otherthan the Self. atyēti=seems to outstrip. The text itself indicates the sense of iva (seems) by tiṣṭhat which means ‘itself remaining immutable.’ tasmīn i.e. in virtue of the existence of the Self which is of the nature of eternal sentiency. mātariśvā=He who moves (śvayati) in the heavens (mātari); the Wind, the active principle in all creatures; on which are dependent all the aggregates of causes and effects and into which they are woven like warp and woof and which is also termed ‘the connecting thread’ and is the support of the whole universe. Such is mātariśvā. apah=functions [ 3 ] of things, such as flaming and burning of Fire, shining of the Sun, raining of the Cloud and so on. dadhāti=allots [ 4 ] ; or the word may mean ‘directs’ agreeably to texts like “Through fear of Him the wind blows &c.” (Tait: Up : II, viii, 1). The idea is that all changes of the nature of cause and effect take place only when the Self, the eternal sentiency and substrate of all, exists.
Not weary of repeating, the Veda states once again what has already been said in the previous verse—
[ 1 ]: The action of the senses presupposes the operation of the mind. The Self being beyond mind, is necessarily beyond the senses as well.
[ 2 ]: I read sarvadāpi instead of sarvavyāpi.
[ 3 ]: Apah in a secondary sense means ‘Sacrificial acts’ for most of them are performed with water, ghee and such other liquids. Hence, in what may be called a ’tertiary sense’ the term may be taken to denote all kinds of activity.
[ 4 ]: This implies an argument for the existence of an all-controlling Lord of the Universe.