Bhashya
ननु अत्र कथं पुरुषः स्वयं ज्योतिः ? येन जागरित इवग्राह्यग्राहकादिलक्षणः सर्वो व्यवहारो दृश्यते, चक्षुराद्यनु-ग्राहकाश्च आदित्याद्यालोकाः तथैव दृश्यन्ते यथा जाग-रिते— तत्र कथं विशेषावधारणं क्रियते— अत्र अयं पुरुषःस्वयं ज्योतिर्भवतीति ।उच्यते— वैलक्षण्यात् स्वप्नदर्शनस्य ;जागरिते हि इन्द्रियबुद्धिमनआलोकादिव्यापारसंकीर्णमा-त्मज्योतिः ; इह तु स्वप्ने इन्द्रियाभावात् तदनुग्राहकादित्याद्या-लोकाभावाच्च विविक्तं केवलं भवति तस्माद्विलक्षणम् ।ननुतथैव विषया उपलभ्यन्ते स्वप्नेऽपि, यथा जागरिते ; तत्रकथम् इन्द्रियाभावात् वैलक्षण्यमुच्यत इति ।शृणु—
In plain words
But wait -- how can this person himself be light? In a dream you still find the whole world of subject and object, seer and seen, exactly as in waking; the sun and every other light that helps the eye see still seem to shine there too. So what gives you the right to draw such a sharp line and say: here, in dream, the person himself turns out to be light? Here is the answer: dream-perception really is different. In waking, the self's own light gets tangled up with the senses, the intellect, the mind, and outer light, all working together -- you can never quite see it plainly, on its own. But in dream there are no senses at work, and none of the outer lights that depend on them either -- so that same light stands alone, unmixed, purely itself. That is exactly what makes dream different. But, someone presses further, objects still show up in dream just as they do in waking -- so how can you call it different just because the senses happen to be missing? Listen, and you'll see.
Close to the Sanskrit
But here, how is the person himself light? Since the whole range of activity characterized by object, subject, and so on is observed in dream just as in waking, and the very lights of the sun and the like that assist the eye and the other senses are seen exactly as they are seen in waking — how, then, is the special distinction made here, that in this case the person himself becomes light? It is said [in reply]: because of the distinctiveness of dream-perception. For in the waking state, the self's light is entangled with the operation of the senses, the intellect, the mind, external light, and so on; but here, in dream, because of the absence of the senses, and because of the absence of the external lights of the sun and the like that assist them, it becomes isolated, alone — and that is why it is distinct. But, [an objector says,] objects are apprehended in dream too, just as in waking; how, then, can distinctiveness be asserted there merely because of the absence of the sense organs? Listen —