रूपाण्येव यस्यायतनं हृदयं लोको मनो ज्योतिर्यो वै तं पुरुषं विद्यात्सर्वस्यात्मनः परायणं स वै वेदिता स्यात् ।याज्ञवल्क्य वेद वा अहं तं पुरुषं सर्वस्यात्मनः परायणं यमात्थ ।य एवायमादर्शे पुरुषः स एषः ।वदैव शाकल्य तस्य का देवतेति ।सत्यमिति होवाच ॥बृह. ३,९.१५ ॥
In plain words
"He whose dwelling is forms, whose world is the heart, whose light is the mind — he who knows that person, the highest goal of every self, would truly be a knower, Yājñavalkya." "I do know that person, the highest goal of every self, of whom thou speakest. He is the person in a mirror. Speak on, Śākalya. Which is his deity?" "Life," he said.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
रूपाण्येव यस्यायतनम् । पूर्वे साधारणाणि रूपाण्युक्तानि इह तु प्रकाशकानि विशिष्टानि रूपाणि गृह्यन्ते ; रूपाय- तनस्य देवस्य विशेषायतनं प्रतिबिम्बाधारमादर्शादि ; तस्य का देवतेति- असुरिति होवाच ; तस्य प्रतिबिम्बाख्यस्य पुरुषस्य निष्पत्तिः असोः प्राणात् ॥
In plain words
Forms alone are his home — but not just any forms. Before, we meant colour in general; here we mean something that catches light and throws it back, a mirror, still water, anything a face can appear in. What god does this reflected person answer to? Breath, he says. Because that flicker of an image in a mirror only comes to life through the breath behind it.
Close to the Sanskrit
'Forms alone are his abode' — earlier, the forms mentioned were the general ones; here, however, particular luminous forms are meant. The special abode of the deity whose abode is form is a support for reflection — a mirror and the like. Of him, what is the deity? — 'Breath', he said; for the arising of this person called 'reflection' is from the breath.