Bhashya
एवम् उत्पत्तिकाले प्रागुत्पत्तेः ब्रह्मैवेति शक्यमवगन्तुम् ;यथा अग्नेः विस्फुलिङ्गधूमाङ्गाराच्चिषां प्राग्विभागात् अग्नि-रेवेति भवत्यन्येकत्वम् , एवं जगत् नामरूपविकृतं प्रागु-त्पत्तेः प्रज्ञानघन एवेति युक्तं ग्रहीतुम्- इत्येतदुच्यते-स यथा- आर्द्रैधाग्नेः आर्द्रैधोभिरिद्धोऽग्निः आर्द्रैधाग्निः,तस्मात् , अभ्याहितात् पृथग्धूमाः, पृथक् नानाप्रकारम् ,धूमग्रहणं विस्फुलिङ्गादिप्रदर्शनार्थम् , धूमविस्फुलिङ्गादयः,विनिश्चरन्ति विनिर्गच्छन्ति ; एवम्- यथायं दृष्टान्तः ; अरेमैत्रेयि अस्य परमात्मनः प्रकृतस्य महतो भूतस्य निश्वसित-मेतत्, निश्वसितमिव निश्वसितम् ; यथा अप्रयत्नेनैव पुरुष-निश्वासो भवति, एवं वै अरे ।किं तन्निश्वसितमिव ततो जा-तमित्युच्यते— यदृग्वेदो यजुर्वेदः सामवेदोऽथर्वाङ्गिरसः—चतुर्विधं मन्त्रजातम् , इतिहास इति, उर्वशीपुरूरवसोः सं-वादादिः— ‘उर्वशी हाप्सराः’ इत्यादि ब्राह्मणमेव, पुराणम्—‘असद्वा इदमग्र आसीत्’ इत्यादि, विद्या देवजनविद्या—वेदः सोऽयम्— इत्याद्या, उपनिषदः ‘प्रियमित्येतदुपासीत’इत्याद्याः, श्लोकाः ब्राह्मणप्रभवा मन्त्राः ‘तदेते श्लोकाः’ इत्या-दयः, सूत्राणि वस्तुसंग्रहवाक्यानि वेदे यथा— ‘आत्मेत्येवो-पासीत’ इत्यादीनि, अनुव्याख्यानानि मन्त्रविवरणानि,व्याख्यानान्यर्थवादाः, अथवा वस्तुसंग्रहवाक्यविवरणान्य-नुव्याख्यानानि— यथा चतुर्थाध्याये ‘आत्मेत्येवोपासीत’इत्यस्य यथा वा ‘अन्योऽसावन्योऽहमस्मीति न स वेदयथा पशुरेवम्’ इत्यस्य अयमेवाध्यायशेषः, मन्त्रविवर-णानि व्याख्यानानि— एवमष्टविधं ब्राह्मणम् ।एवं मन्त्र-ब्राह्मणयोरेव ग्रहणम् ; नियतरचनावतो विद्यमानस्यैव वेद-स्याभिव्यक्तिः पुरुषनिश्वासवत् , न च पुरुषबुद्धिप्रयत्नपू-र्वकः ; अतः प्रमाणं निरपेक्ष एव स्वार्थे ; तस्मात् यत्तेनोक्तं तत्तथैव प्रतिपत्तव्यम् , आत्मनः श्रेय इच्छद्भिः,ज्ञानं वा कर्म वेति ।नामप्रकाशवशाद्धि रूपस्य विक्रिया-वस्था ; नामरूपयोरेव हि परमात्मोपाधिभूतयोर्व्याक्रियमा-
In plain words
In the same way, even before the world comes into being, we can understand that everything really is Brahman alone. Think of fire: before sparks, smoke, embers, and flames break apart into their separate shapes, there is simply fire, one and undivided. In just the same way, the world, before it takes shape as name and form, is nothing but the one solid mass of consciousness. Here is how the text puts it: 'from a fire of damp wood' means a fire kindled with pieces of damp fuel. From that kindled fire, clouds of smoke drift out 'separately' — meaning in many different directions. Naming just 'smoke' is really shorthand for smoke, sparks, and everything of that kind rising together. 'Issue forth' simply means 'go out.' 'Thus' points back to this very picture. And now, dear Maitreyī, everything that comes from this vast Being we have been speaking of, the Supreme Self, is its breath — though 'breath' here is only a figure of speech: the way a person breathes without any effort at all, so it happens with this too. So what is it that arises from this Being like a breath? It is spelled out: the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, the hymns of Atharvan and Aṅgiras — together, the fourfold body of sacred verses. The old stories — like the tale of Urvaśī and Purūravas, 'Urvaśī indeed was a celestial nymph,' and so on — belong to the Brāhmaṇa portion. The ancient lore — passages like 'in the beginning this was non-being' and so on. The sciences — meaning the knowledge of gods and people, as in 'this very Veda is that knowledge.' The Upaniṣads — teachings like 'one should meditate on this as the dear.' The verses — meaning sacred lines drawn from the Brāhmaṇas, like 'these, then, are the verses.' The aphorisms — brief, condensed statements found in the Veda, such as 'one should meditate only on the Self.' The detailed glosses — explanations of the mantras. The commentaries — the explanatory passages that bring out their sense. Or, put another way, the detailed glosses can mean explanations of those condensed statements themselves — as, in the fourth chapter, everything that follows the line 'one should meditate only on the Self,' or the line 'that one is other, and I am other — whoever thinks this way does not really know, no more than an animal does' — that entire remainder of the chapter counts as the explanation, the commentary. In this way the Brāhmaṇa portion has eight parts. And all of it really comes down to just two things: mantra and Brāhmaṇa. The Veda already exists, fixed in its exact composition, and simply becomes manifest the way a person's breath does, without any deliberate mental effort behind it. That is why scripture, as far as its own meaning goes, depends on nothing outside itself. And so, whatever it declares must be accepted exactly as it stands, by anyone who truly wants their own highest good — whether what they seek is knowledge or right action. It is only because name becomes manifest that form takes on any state of change at all. For it is name and form themselves, once they become the limiting conditions of the Supreme Self, that, in being differentiated—
Close to the Sanskrit
Similarly, in the time of origination — that is, before origination — it is possible to understand that everything is Brahman alone; just as, before the differentiation of sparks, smoke, embers, and flames from fire, there is the oneness of fire alone, so the world, [as] modified into name and form, is rightly to be understood, before its origination, to be the solid mass of consciousness alone — this is now stated: 'It is like this: from a fire of damp fuel' — [meaning] a fire kindled with pieces of damp fuel is [called] a fire of damp fuel; from that fire which has been laid, clouds of smoke [issue] 'separately' — [meaning] 'in various ways'; the mention of 'smoke' is for the purpose of indicating sparks and so on, [so read it as] 'smoke, sparks, and so on'; 'issue forth' means 'go forth'; 'thus' — as this is the illustration; O Maitreyī, of this Supreme Self, the great Being already under discussion, this is the breath — a breath only in a manner of speaking; just as a person's breathing occurs without any effort at all, so indeed, O [Maitreyī, it happens here]. What is it that, like a breath, has arisen from it? — it is now stated: namely, the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, the Atharvāṅgirasas — the fourfold class of mantras; the Itihāsa, that is, the dialogue and so on of Urvaśī and Purūravas — '[passages such as] Urvaśī indeed was a celestial nymph' and so on — this is indeed a Brāhmaṇa passage; the Purāṇa — '[passages such as] this was non-being in the beginning' and so on; Vidyā [means] the lore of gods and men — '[passages such as] this Veda is that very [knowledge]' and so on; the Upaniṣads — '[passages such as] one should meditate on this as the dear' and so on; the verses [means] mantras arising from the Brāhmaṇas — '[passages such as] these, then, are verses' and so on; the aphorisms [means] condensed statements of subject matter as found in the Veda, such as 'one should meditate on the Self alone' and so on; the detailed explanatory glosses [means] explanations of the mantras; the commentaries [means] the explanatory (arthavāda) statements — or, alternatively, the detailed explanatory glosses [means] explanations of the condensed subject-matter statements — as, in the fourth chapter, of the statement 'one should meditate on the Self alone,' or of the statement 'that one is other, I am other; he who thinks thus does not know, as an animal [does not]' — this very remainder of the chapter [is the explanation]; [these] are the explanations of the mantras, the commentaries; thus the Brāhmaṇa portion is eightfold. Thus [in this whole enumeration] only mantra and Brāhmaṇa are meant. The manifestation of the Veda, which already exists possessing a fixed composition, is like a person's breathing, and is not preceded by any effort of a person's intellect; therefore scriptural authority is entirely independent with regard to its own meaning. Therefore, whatever has been declared by it is to be accepted exactly as it stands, by those who desire their own highest good — whether it be knowledge or action. For it is owing to the manifestation of name that form comes into a state of modification; for it is precisely name and form, which have become the limiting adjuncts of the Supreme Self, that, being differentiated—