(मधुब्राह्मणम्) इयं पृथिवी सर्वेषां भूतानां मधु ।अस्यै पृथिव्यै सर्वाणि भूतानि मधु ।यश्चायमस्यां पृथिव्यां तेजोमयोऽमृतमयः पुरुषो यस्चायमध्यात्मं शारीरस्तेजोमयोऽमृतमयः पुरुषोऽयमेव स योऽयमात्मा ।इदममृतमिदं ब्रह्मेदं सर्वम् ॥२,५.१ ॥
In plain words
This earth is the honey of all beings, and all beings are the honey of this earth. And the shining, immortal person who is in this earth, and the shining, immortal person here in the body — he is this Self. This is the immortal, this is Brahman, this is all.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 8.342· avatāraṇikā
यत् केवलं कर्मनिरपेक्षम् अमृतत्वसाधनम्, तदुक्त- म्यमिति मैत्रेयीब्राह्मणमारब्धम्; तच्च आत्मज्ञानं सर्वसं- न्यासाङ्गविशिष्टम् ; आत्मनि च विज्ञाते सर्वमिदं विज्ञातं भवति ; आत्मा च प्रियः सर्वस्मात् ; तस्मात् आत्मा द्रष्ट- व्यः ; स च श्रोतव्यो मन्तव्यो निदिध्यासितव्य इति च दर्शनप्रकारा उक्ताः ; तत्र श्रोतव्यः, आचार्यागमाभ्याम् ; मन्तव्यः तर्कतः ; तत्र च तर्क उक्तः- 'आत्मैवेदं सर्वम्' इति प्रतिज्ञातस्य हेतुवचनम् आत्मैकसामान्यत्वम् आत्मैकोद्भ- वत्वम् आत्मैकप्रलयत्वं च ; तत्र अयं हेतुः असिद्ध इत्या- शङ्क्यते आत्मैकसामान्योद्भवप्रलयाख्यः ; तदाशङ्कानिवृत्त्य- र्थमेतद्ब्राह्मणमारभ्यते । यस्मात् 'परस्परोपकार्योपकारकभूतं जगत्सर्वं पृथिव्यादि, यच्च लोके परस्परोपकार्योपकारक- भूतं तत् एककारणपूर्वकम् एकसामान्यात्मकम् एकप्रलयं च दृष्टम्, तस्मात् इदमपि पृथिव्यादिलक्षणं जगत् पर- स्परोपकार्योपकारकत्वात् तथाभूतं भवितुमर्हति-, एष ह्यर्थः अस्मिन्ब्राह्मणे प्रकाश्यते । अथवा 'आत्मैवेदं
In plain words
Earlier the text told us there is one means to freedom that needs nothing else -- not even ritual -- and that is knowing the Self. That is why this whole section on Maitreyī was written, and why it comes bound to complete renunciation. Know the Self, and you have known everything; nothing is dearer than it. So the Self must be seen directly -- and that seeing happens in three moves: hearing the teaching, reasoning it through, and dwelling on it in meditation. Hearing comes from a teacher and from scripture; reasoning is how we test it. And the reasoning behind 'the Self alone is all this' rests on three claims: that the Self is the one common nature in everything, the one source everything rises from, and the one end everything returns to. Someone could object that this is just asserted, not proven. This section exists to answer exactly that doubt. Look at the world: everything in it helps something else and is helped in turn -- and whenever we see that kind of mutual give-and-take, it always turns out to trace back to one cause, one shared nature, one shared ending. So this world, too, built the same way out of earth and the rest, earns the same conclusion. That is the whole point this section is about to show. Or, put differently: 'the Self alone is all this
Close to the Sanskrit
That which alone, independent of ritual action, is the means to immortality -- that has been stated. With this [in view] the Maitreyī-Brāhmaṇa was begun; and that knowledge of the Self is qualified by [being accompanied by] complete renunciation as its limb. And when the Self is known, all this is known; and the Self is dearer than everything; therefore the Self is to be seen. And it is to be heard, reflected upon, and meditated upon -- these were stated as the modes of realization. Among these: it is to be heard through teacher and scripture; it is to be reflected upon through reasoning. And there, the reasoning stated was: for the thesis proposed, 'the Self alone is all this,' the statement of reason is the Self's being the single universal, the single origin, and the single dissolution [of everything]. There it is suspected that this reason -- called 'single universal, origin, and dissolution' -- is unestablished. To remove that suspicion, this brāhmaṇa is begun. Because: the entire world, beginning with earth, is characterized by mutual helping and being helped; and whatever in the world is characterized by mutual helping and being helped is observed to have a single prior cause, a single common nature, and a single dissolution; therefore this world too, characterized by earth and the rest, because of its being characterized by mutual helping and being helped, deserves to be of that same nature -- this indeed is the point illuminated in this brāhmaṇa. Or else, [the thesis] 'the Self alone is this
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 8.343· bhāṣya
सर्वम्' इति प्रतिज्ञातस्य आत्मोत्पत्तिस्थितिलयत्वं हेतु-मुक्त्वा, पुनः आगमप्रधानेन मधुब्राह्मणेन प्रतिज्ञातस्य अ-र्थस्य निगमनं क्रियते ; तथाहि नैयायिकैरुक्तम्-'हेत्वपदे-शात्प्रतिज्ञायाः पुनर्वचनं निगमनम्' इति । अन्यैर्व्याख्या-तम्-आ दुन्दुभिदृष्टान्तात् श्रोतव्यार्थमागमवचनम्, प्रा-ञ्चाद्युब्राह्मणात् मन्तव्यार्थम् उपपत्तिप्रदर्शनेन, मधुब्राह्मणेन तु निदिध्यासनविधिरुच्यत इति । सर्वथापि तु यथा आग-मेनावधारितम्, तर्कतस्तथैव मन्तव्यम् ; यथा तर्कतो मत-म्, तस्य तर्कागमाभ्यां निश्चितस्य तथैव निदिध्यासनं क्रि-यत इति पृथक् निदिध्यासनविधिरनर्थक एव ; तस्मात् पृथक् प्रकरणविभागः अनर्थक इत्यस्मदभिप्रायः श्रवणमन-ननिदिध्यासनानामिति । सर्वथापि तु अध्यायद्वयस्यार्थः अस्मिन्ब्राह्मणे उपसंह्रियते ॥
In plain words
Having given the reason for that claim -- that the Self is where everything comes from, rests in, and returns to -- the text now uses the Madhu-Brāhmaṇa, which leans heavily on scripture, to bring the argument home. That is exactly what logicians call a conclusion: restating the thesis once the reason has been given. Some teachers read the structure differently: up through the drum simile is for hearing the teaching, the section on the directions is for reasoning it through, and the Madhu-Brāhmaṇa is for meditating on it. But truthfully, it doesn't work that way in neat separate boxes. Whatever scripture settles, reason has to confirm the same way; and whatever reason settles, once scripture and reason agree on it, that is exactly what gets meditated on. So a separate rule just for meditation adds nothing. Carving the text into separate sections for hearing, reasoning, and meditating is, to my mind, beside the point -- all three are really doing the same work throughout. Either way, this section is where the teaching of these two whole chapters comes together.
Close to the Sanskrit
Having stated the reason for the thesis proposed -- 'the Self alone is all this' -- namely the Self's being the origination, subsistence, and dissolution [of everything], now, by the Madhu-Brāhmaṇa, which is predominantly scriptural, a conclusion of the proposed point is made. For thus it has been said by the logicians: 'The restatement of the thesis after the mention of the reason is the conclusion.' Others have explained it thus: up to the drum-simile, [there is] scriptural statement for the purpose of what is to be heard; from the section beginning with the eastern [quarter], [there is matter] for the purpose of reflection, through the demonstration of reasoning; while by the Madhu-Brāhmaṇa, the procedure for meditation is stated. In any case, however: whatever is ascertained by scripture must likewise be reflected upon by reasoning; and whatever is concluded by reasoning, once settled by both reasoning and scripture, is meditated upon in that same way -- so a separate injunction for meditation is simply pointless. Therefore a separate division into sections is, in our view, pointless -- for hearing, reflection, and meditation alike. In any case, the meaning of the two chapters is gathered up in this brāhmaṇa.
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 8.345· bhāṣya
विद्येत्युच्यते ; इदं सर्वम्— यस्मात् ब्रह्मणो विज्ञानात्सर्वं भवति ॥
In plain words
This is what we mean by knowledge: once Brahman is realized, everything else is realized along with it -- which is exactly why the verse says, 'this is everything.'
Close to the Sanskrit
This [teaching] is called knowledge. [As for] 'this is everything' -- [it is said] because, from the realization of Brahman, everything comes to be [known].