तद्वा अस्यैतदतिच्छन्दोऽपहतपाप्माभयं रूपम् ।तद्यथा प्रियया स्त्रिया संपरिष्वक्तो न बाह्यं किं चन वेद नान्तरम् ।एवमेवायं पुरुषः प्राज्ञेनात्मना संपरिष्वक्तो न बाह्यं किं चन वेद नान्तरम् ।तद्वा अस्यैतदाप्तकाममात्मकाममकामं रूपं शोकान्तरम् ॥४,३.२१ ॥
In plain words
This is his form beyond all desire, in which evil has been struck away and there is no fear. As a man embraced by a woman he loves knows nothing outside and nothing within, so this person, embraced by the Self of wisdom, knows nothing outside and nothing within. This is his form in which desire is fulfilled, in which the Self is the only desire and there is no desire, and which is beyond sorrow.
The commentators
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 9.234· bhāṣya
इदानीं योऽसौ सर्वात्मभावो मोक्षः विद्याफलं क्रियाकारकफलशून्यम्, स प्रत्यक्षतो निर्दिश्यते, यत्र अविद्याकामकर्माणि न सन्ति । तत् एतत् प्रस्तुतम्- 'यत्र सुप्तो न कंचन कामं कामयते न कंचन स्वप्नं पश्यति' इति, तदेतत् वै अस्य रूपम्- यः सर्वात्मभावः 'सोऽस्य परमो लोकः' इत्युक्तः- तत् ; अतिच्छन्दा अतिच्छन्दमित्यर्थः, रूपपरत्वात् ; छन्दः कामः, अतिगतः छन्दः यस्माद्रूपात् तत् अतिच्छन्दं रूपम् ;
In plain words
Now here is that state of being everything, which is liberation itself — the direct fruit of knowledge, with none of the results that action and its instruments produce. It is pointed to directly, right here, in the place where nescience, desire, and action simply do not exist. This is exactly the point already raised: 'where the sleeper wants nothing at all, and sees no dream at all' — this, indeed, is his true form, that very state of being everything already called 'his highest world.' That is what is meant. 'Beyond desire' means exactly that, beyond desire, because the word describes his form; chandas simply means desire; 'gone beyond' means desire has been left behind entirely; and the form from which desire has been left behind like that is exactly what 'beyond-desire' form means.
Close to the Sanskrit
Now, that state of being all, which is liberation — the fruit of knowledge, devoid of the fruit produced by action and its factors — is pointed out directly, namely where nescience, desire, and actions do not exist. This is exactly the point already raised: 'where the sleeper desires no desire whatsoever, sees no dream whatsoever' — this, indeed, is his form, which is the state of being all, called 'that is his highest world' — that is what is meant. 'Beyond desire' means beyond desire, since it qualifies the word 'form'; chandas means desire; 'gone beyond' means desire has been gone beyond; the form from which desire has gone beyond in this way is the beyond-desire form.
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam· Leaf 9.238· bhāṣya
प्रकृतः स्वयंज्योतिरात्मा अविद्याकामकर्मविनिर्मुक्त इत्यु- क्तम्, असङ्गत्यादात्मनः, आगन्तुकत्वाच्च तेषाम् । तत्र एवमाशङ्का जायते ; चैतन्यस्वभावत्वे सत्यपि एकीभावात् न जानाति स्त्रीपुंसयोरिव संपरिष्वक्तयोरित्युक्तम् ; तत्र प्रासङ्गिकम् एतत् उक्तम्— कामकर्मादिवत् स्वयंज्योतिष्ट्व- मपि अस्य आत्मनो न स्वभावः, यस्मात् संप्रसादे नोप- लभ्यते-इत्याशङ्कायां प्राप्तायाम्, तन्निराकरणाय, स्त्रीपुंसयो- र्दृष्टान्तोपादानेन, विद्यमानस्यैव स्वयंज्योतिष्ट्वस्य सुषुप्ते अग्र- हणम् एकीभावाद्धेतोः, न तु कामकर्मादिवत् आगन्तुकम्— इत्येतत् प्रासङ्गिकमभिधाय, यत्प्रकृतं तदेवानुप्रवर्तयति । अत्र च एतत् प्रकृतम्— अविद्याकामकर्मविनिर्मुक्तमेव तद्रूपम्, यत् सुषुप्ते आत्मनो गृह्यते प्रत्यक्षत इति ; तदेतत् यथाभूत- मेवाभिहितम्—सर्वसम्बन्धातीतम् एतद्रूपमिति ; यस्मात् अत्र
In plain words
The Self we have been discussing — self-luminous — has already been shown to be completely free of nescience, desire, and action, because nothing sticks to the Self itself, and because those three are only ever visitors passing through. But right here a doubt naturally arises: even granting that consciousness is its very nature, doesn't it fail to know anything in deep sleep simply because everything has merged into one — the way two people locked in an embrace notice nothing apart from each other? That, after all, is what was said earlier. And there, in fact, something was mentioned only in passing: that self-luminosity too might not really belong to the Self by nature, just like desire and action don't, since it isn't found in deep, dreamless sleep. That doubt had come up, and to answer it, using that very image of the embracing man and woman, it was shown that self-luminosity genuinely exists the whole time in deep sleep — it simply isn't noticed there, and only because everything has merged into one, never because self-luminosity itself comes and goes the way desire or action do. Having cleared up that side point, the text now picks back up the very thread it had actually been on. And here is that original thread: this very form — free of nescience, desire, and action — which is grasped directly as the Self's own in deep sleep, has now been described exactly as it truly is: 'this form stands beyond every relation whatsoever.' Because, here...
Close to the Sanskrit
The Self already under discussion, self-luminous, has been said to be completely freed from nescience, desire, and action, because of the Self's own non-attachment, and because these are adventitious to it. In this connection, a doubt of this kind arises: even granting that it has the nature of consciousness, because of becoming one, it does not know, like a man and a woman locked in embrace — so it was said. There, this was stated incidentally: self-luminosity too, like desire, action, and so on, is not the nature of this Self, since it is not apprehended in deep sleep — when that doubt had arisen, in order to remove it, by taking up the illustration of man and woman, the non-apprehension in deep sleep of self-luminosity, which nevertheless truly exists, is for the reason of becoming one, not because it is adventitious like desire, action, and so on. Having stated this incidental point, it now carries forward exactly the topic that was originally under discussion. And here this is the topic at hand: that very form, free indeed from nescience, desire, and action, which is directly apprehended as the Self's own in deep sleep — that, described exactly as it truly is, has been stated: this form is beyond all relation — since, here...