तद्धैतद्घोर् आङ्गिरसः कृष्णाय देवकीपुत्रायोक्त्वोवाचापिपास एव स बभूव सोऽन्तवेलायामेतत्त्रयं प्रतिपद्येताक्षितमस्यच्युतमसि प्राणसंशितमसीति तत्रैते द्वे ऋचौ भवतः ॥ ३.१७.६ ॥
In plain words
Ghora Āṅgirasa taught this to Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī, and said, "He became free of thirst." At the last hour let a man take refuge in these three: "Thou art the unfailing, thou art the unfallen, thou art the sharp edge of the breath." On this there are these two verses of the Ṛc:
The commentators
Chāndogyopaniṣadbhāṣyam· bhāṣya
तद्वैतत् यज्ञदर्शन घोर नामत, आङ्गिरम गोत्रत, कृष्णाय देवकीपुत्राय शिष्याय उक्त्वा, उवाच तदेतन्त्रयम् इत्यादिब्यवहितेन सम्बन्ध । स च एतद्दर्शन श्रुत्वा अपि पश्यन्ति । आशाब्द उत्सृष्टानुबन्ध पश्यन्तीत्यनेन सबध्यते, कि तज्ज्योति पश्यन्ति, वासरम् अह अहरिव तत् सर्वतो व्याप्त ब्रह्मणो ज्योति , निवृत्तचक्षुषो ब्रह्मविद् ब्रह्मचर्या दिनिवृत्तिसाधनै शुद्धान्त करणा आ समन्तत ज्योति पश्यन्तीत्यथ । पर परमिति लिङ्गव्यत्ययेन, ज्योतिष्पर त्वान्, यत् इध्यते दीप्यते दिवि द्योतनवति परस्मिन्ब्रह्मणि वर्तमानम् येन ज्योतिषेद्ध सविता तपति चन्द्रमा भाति विद्युद्द्योतते ग्रहतारागणा विभासन्ते । किं च, अन्यो मन्त्र- दृगाह यथोक्तज्योति पश्यन्-उद्वय तमस अज्ञानलक्षणा- त परि परस्तादिति शेष , तम्सो वा अपनेतृ यज्ज्योति उत्तरम्-आदित्यस्थ परिपश्यन्त वयम् उत् अगन्म इति व्यवहितेन सबन्ध , तज्ज्योति स्व स्वम् आत्मीयमस्मद्धृदि स्थितम्, आदित्यस्थ च तदेक ज्योति , यत् उत्तरम् उत्कृष्टत रमूध्वतर वा अपर ज्योतिरपेक्ष्य, पश्यन्त उदगन्म वयम् । कमुदगन्मति, आह । देव द्योतनवन्त देवत्रा देवेषु सर्वेषु, सूर्य रसाना रश्मीना प्राणाना च जगत ईरणात्सूर्य तमुदग न्म गतवन्त , ज्योतिरुत्तम सर्वज्योतिर्भ्य उत्कृष्टतमम् अहो प्राप्ता वयमित्यर्थ । इद तज्ज्योति , यत् ऋग्भ्या स्तुत यद्यजु- स्त्रयेण प्रकाशितम् । द्विरभ्यासो यज्ञकल्पनापरिसमाप्त्यर्थ ॥
In plain words
This very vision of sacrifice was imparted by Ghora of the Angiras lineage to his disciple Krishna, the son of Devaki; the words 'he said these three' belong with it, though they stand further on. And he, having heard this vision, … they see. The syllable ā, without its grammatical marker, goes with 'they see'. What light do they see? The daily light: like the day, the light of Brahman that fills everything. The knowers of Brahman, their eyes turned back from outward things, their minds made pure by brahmacarya and the other means of withdrawal, see that light all around them. 'Supreme' refers to the light: the light that blazes in heaven, in the shining supreme Brahman, the light by which the sun, once kindled, gives heat, the moon shines, lightning flashes, and the planets and hosts of stars gleam. And another seer of the mantra, seeing that same light, says: 'Beyond the darkness', the darkness that is ignorance, or else, 'seeing the higher light', the light in the sun that drives darkness away, 'we have gone up'. That light is our own, abiding in our heart; and the light in the sun is that one same light, higher, more excellent and loftier than the lower light. Seeing it, we have gone up. To whom? To the shining god among all the gods, to Sūrya, called Sūrya because he sets moving the juices, the rays and the breaths of the world. To him we have gone, to the highest light, the most excellent of all lights; ah, we have reached it. This is the light praised in the two Rig verses and made known by the three Yajus formulas. The words are said twice to mark that the conception of the sacrifice is complete.
Close to the Sanskrit
That indeed this vision of sacrifice, having been spoken to the disciple Krishna, son of Devaki, by Ghora of the lineage of Angiras, said 'these three' and so on: the connection is with the distant words. And he, having heard this vision, also … they see. The word ā, its marker dropped, is connected with 'they see'. What light do they see? 'Daily': like the day, that light of Brahman pervading everywhere; the knowers of Brahman, their eyes withdrawn, their inner organ made pure by the means of withdrawal such as brahmacarya, see the light all around: this is the meaning. 'Supreme' (paraṃ) is param by change of gender, because it refers to the light; which is kindled, blazes, in heaven, abiding in the shining supreme Brahman; kindled by which light the sun heats, the moon shines, lightning flashes and the hosts of planets and stars gleam. Moreover, another seer of the mantra, seeing the light as described, says: 'we, from the darkness', consisting of ignorance, 'beyond' (the word 'beyond' is to be supplied), or, the light that removes darkness, 'the higher', abiding in the sun, 'seeing', 'we went up': the connection is with the distant words. That light is 'svaḥ', our own, abiding in our heart; and the one abiding in the sun is that one same light; 'which is higher', more excellent or loftier, in relation to the lower light; seeing it, we went up. To whom did we go up? He says: to the god, the shining one, 'among the gods', among all the gods; to Sūrya, Sūrya because he sets in motion the juices, the rays and the breaths of the world; to him we went up, we reached him, 'the highest light', most excellent of all lights; ah, we have attained it: this is the meaning. This is that light which is praised by the two Rig verses, which is made known by the three Yajus formulas. The repetition twice is to mark the completion of the conception of the sacrifice.