Bhashya
आत्मैवेदमग्र आसीत् ।ज्ञानकर्मभ्यां समुच्चिताभ्यां प्रजा-पतित्वप्राप्तिर्व्याख्याता; केवलप्राणदर्शनेन च— 'तद्वै-तल्लोकजिदेव' इत्यादिना ।प्रजापतेः फलभूतस्य सृष्टिस्थि-तिसंहारेषु जगतः स्वातन्त्र्यादिविभूत्युपवर्णनेन ज्ञानकर्म-णोर्वैदिकयोः फलोत्कर्षो वर्णयितव्य इत्येवमर्थमारभ्यते ।तेन च कर्मकाण्डविहितज्ञानकर्मस्तुतिः कृता भवेत्साम-तस्मात्, अहंनामाभवत्; तस्योपनिषदहमिति श्रुतिप्रद-र्शितमेव नाम वक्ष्यति; तस्मात्, यस्मात्कारणे प्रजापतावेवंवृत्तं तस्मात्, तत्कार्यभूतेषु प्राणिष्वेतर्हि एतस्मिन्नपि काले,आमन्त्रितः कस्त्वमित्युक्तः सन्, 'अहमयम्' इत्येवाग्रेउक्त्वा कारणात्माभिधानेनात्मानमभिधायाग्रे, पुनर्विशेषना-मजिज्ञासवे अथ अनन्तरं विशेषपिण्डाभिधानम् 'देवदत्तः''यज्ञदत्तः' वेति प्रब्रूते कथयति— यन्नामास्य विशेषपि-ण्डस्य मातापितृकृतं भवति, तत्कथयति ।स च प्रजापतिः,अतिक्रान्तजन्मनि सम्यक्कर्मज्ञानभावनानुष्ठानैः साधकाव-स्थायाम्, यद्यस्मात्, कर्मज्ञानभावनानुष्ठानैः प्रजापतित्वं प्र-तिपित्सूनां पूर्वः प्रथमः सन्, अस्मात्प्रजापतित्वप्रतिपित्सुसमु-दायात्सर्वस्मात्, आदौ औषत् अदहत् ; किम्? आ-सङ्गाज्ञानलक्षणान्सर्वान्पाप्मनः प्रजापतित्वप्रतिबन्धकारणभू-तान्; यस्मादेवं तस्मात्पुरुषः— पूर्वमौषदिति पुरुषः ।यथायं प्रजापतिरोषित्वा प्रतिबन्धकान्पाप्मनः सर्वान्,पुरुषः प्रजापतिरभवत्; एवमन्योऽपि ज्ञानकर्मभावनानुष्ठा-नवह्निना केवलं ज्ञानबलाद्वा ओषति भस्मीकरोति ह वै सःतम्— कम्? योऽस्माद्विदुषः पूर्वः प्रथमः प्रजापतिर्बुभूषतिभवितुमिच्छति तमित्यर्थः ।तं दर्शयति— य एवं वेदेति ;सामर्थ्याज्ज्ञानभावनाप्रकर्षवान् ।नन्वनर्थाय प्राजापत्यप्रति-पित्सा, एवंविदा चेद्दह्यते; नैष दोषः, ज्ञानभावनोत्कर्षा-भावात् प्रथमं प्रजापतित्वप्रतिपत्त्यभावमात्रत्वादुद्दहस्य ।उत्कृ-ष्टसाधनः प्रथमं प्रजापतित्वं प्राप्नुवन् न्यूनसाधनो न प्राप्नो-तीति, स तं दहतीत्युच्यते; न पुनः प्रत्यक्षमुत्कृष्टसाधनेने-तरो दह्यते— यथा लोके आजिसृतां यः प्रथममाजिसुप-सर्पति तेनेतरे दग्धा इवापहृतसामर्थ्या भवन्ति, तद्वत् ॥
In plain words
In the beginning, this universe was the Self alone. The attainment of Prajāpatihood through the combination of knowledge and ritual action has already been explained, as well as through the simple contemplation of prāṇa, as declared in passages like 'He indeed is the conqueror of worlds.' To illustrate the supreme excellence of the fruit yielded by Vedic knowledge and action—by describing the sovereign independence and lordship of Prajāpati who embodies that fruit—the scripture commences this discourse. Through this, praise is bestowed upon the meditation and ritual taught in the liturgical section. Consequently, he assumed the name 'I'; his esoteric name is simply 'I,' as the scripture itself reveals. Therefore, because such events transpired with Prajāpati, even today among living beings who are his offspring, when someone is asked 'Who are you?', he first answers 'I am this,' identifying himself with the primal causal self. Only afterwards, for one wishing to know his particular designation, does he state his specific personal name, such as Devadatta or Yajñadatta—the very name given to this individual body by his parents. That Prajāpati, during his earlier life as a spiritual seeker in past births, stood as the foremost among all candidates striving for creatorhood. Because of this, he was the very first to incinerate and burn away every trace of ignorance and attachment that stood as an obstacle to attaining Prajāpatihood. And because he burned away his impurities first, a person is etymologically termed a 'puruṣa' ('pūrvam auṣat'—he burned first). Just as that Prajāpati became the supreme Puruṣa and Prajāpati by burning away all obstructing sins, so too does any other wise aspirant, through the purifying fire of spiritual discipline or simply by the sheer power of knowledge, utterly eclipse and surpass anyone else who aspires to reach creatorhood ahead of him. The scripture points to this when it says: 'He who knows thus'—possessing superior meditative capacity. Should someone object that striving for Prajāpatihood brings ruin if one is thus 'burned' by a knower, we answer: there is no flaw here. The rival fails simply because he lacks the same depth of meditative realization and fails to secure creatorhood first. When an aspirant equipped with superior spiritual means attains Prajāpatihood ahead of one who has lesser means, he is said to 'burn' him. This does not mean literal physical burning; rather, it is just like a footrace in the ordinary world, where the runner who reaches the finish line first leaves all the trailing competitors behind, stripping them of their competitive edge as if they had been scorched.
Close to the Sanskrit
In the beginning this universe was the Self alone. The attainment of Prajāpatihood through combined knowledge and action has been explained, and also through the mere vision of prāṇa—by passages such as 'That one indeed is the conqueror of worlds'. In order to describe the pre-eminence of the fruit of Vedic knowledge and action through depicting the independence and other sovereign powers of Prajāpati who embodies that fruit, the text commences this section. And through this, the praise of the knowledge and action prescribed in the ritual section is accomplished. Therefore, he became named 'I'; his secret name is 'I', which name is just what the scripture revealed. Therefore, from the cause that such events occurred regarding Prajāpati, therefore among living beings who are his effects, even at this present time, when addressed and asked 'Who are you?', one first declares 'I am this'—having stated oneself through the identity of the causal self—and subsequently, for someone desiring to know the particular name, he next proclaims the specific personal name such as 'Devadatta' or 'Yajñadatta': he tells the name which is given to this specific body by his parents. And that Prajāpati, in past births during his stage as a spiritual aspirant, because he was the first and foremost among those desiring to attain Prajāpatihood from out of that entire group of aspirants, initially burned up—incinerated—all the impurities characterized by attachment and ignorance which served as obstacles to attaining Prajāpatihood. Because of this, a person is called 'puruṣa' because he burned things previously ('pūrvam auṣat'). Just as this Prajāpati, having burned away all obstructing sins, became the puruṣa and Prajāpati, in the exact same manner any other person also, by the fire of practicing knowledge, action, and meditation, or solely by the power of knowledge, truly burns and turns to ashes that person—whom? Whoever desires to become Prajāpati prior to or ahead of this wise man. The text illustrates this: 'He who knows thus'—possessing excellence in knowledge and meditation due to capacity. If an objection is raised that the desire for Prajāpatihood leads to harm if it is burned up by a knower, we reply: this is no fault, because of the absence of excellence in knowledge and meditation in the first aspirant, and because it is merely a matter of failing to attain Prajāpatihood first. An aspirant equipped with superior means, attaining Prajāpatihood first, while one with lesser means fails to attain it—he is spoken of as 'burning' the other. It is not that the other is physically burned by someone with superior means; just as in the world, in a race, whoever reaches the finish line first—by him the others are rendered as if burned and deprived of their capacity. Similarly.