The works of Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam

Verse 217

आराममस्य पश्यन्ति न तं पश्यति कश्चनेति ।तं नायतं बोधयेदित्याहुः ।दुर्भिषज्यं हास्मै भवति यमेष न प्रतिपद्यते ।अथो खल्वाहुर्जागरितदेश एवास्यैष इति यानि ह्येव जाग्रत्पश्यति तानि सुप्त इत्यत्रायं पुरुषः स्वयं ज्योतिर्भेवति सोऽहं भगवते सहस्रं ददाम्यत ऊर्ध्वं विमोक्षाय ब्रूहीति ॥ १४ ॥

In plain words

People can see the garden he has built out of his visions, but no one at all can see him. 'Do not wake a man from deep sleep' — that is what people say. It becomes hard to treat, that passage he cannot find his way back through. And still others say: this dream is simply his own waking world, because whatever a man sees awake, that same man goes on seeing asleep. Either way, this much stands: the person here is, by his own nature, a light. I give you a thousand cows, venerable teacher. From here on, speak to me only of liberation, said Janaka.

Close to the Sanskrit

People see the garden he has made, but no one at all sees him. 'Let one not waken him when he is deeply asleep' — so they say. It becomes hard to cure for him, the passage which this one does not re-enter. Now, indeed, others say: this is precisely his domain of waking — because whatever a man sees while awake, that same man sees while asleep. In this connection, this person is himself a light. I give a thousand to the venerable one; from this point onward, speak to me about liberation, so said Janaka.