The word Jyothi (Light) does not connote the physical light of
the material world. When material limits or qualifications like
charana or feet are ascribed to light, how can the immanent,
all-pervasive Entity be indicated? Such a limited or qualified
phenomenon cannot become the object of adoration and meditation.
When this word Jyothi is understood to mean the light embodied and
having certain natural characteristics, it cannot signify Brahman,
the Universal Absolute.
The Purusha Suktha, the Hymn in praise of the Cosmic Person,
declares: "Paadoasya viswa bhoothaani": "The entire Cosmos with
all Its Component Elements is but one quarter of His Glory."
Therefore, It is beyond bounds, measures or degrees. The Jyothi
illumines Heaven and beyond, It reveals even Brahman. That which
makes known, by its splendour, the era preceding the origin of
living beings, and the regions beyond even the farthest and the
highest, "That" is indicated by the word Jyothi. It shines in that
supremest among supreme Loka (region).
Note also that the same Jyothi shines everywhere, at all times,
in all beings. It comprises Asthi (Sath; Existence), Bhaathi
(Chith; Illumination; Knowledge), and Priya (Ananda; Joy; Bliss).
All things seen in the Universe have the unseen as its base. All
things that move have the unmoving as its base. So, too, for every
living being, why, for the very Cosmos itself, the invisible
Brahman, the Supra-Truth, Para-Brahman is the Basis. It is this
Para-Brahman, the Omni-Self, that causes the Cosmos to shine.
Jyothi is the word appropriate only for this Light and not the
limited, inferior, physical light. Jyothi has neither beginning,
nor end. It is the Param Jyothi (Supreme Light), the Adwaitha
Jyothi (the Jyothi without a second), the Akhanda Jyothi (the
Eternal Light). In other words, It is the Para-Brahman Itself, for
all this is revealed only in and through It. The Jyothi referred
to here cannot be interpreted otherwise. The Upanishads do speak
of Brahman as having 'feet' but that does not restrict or reduce
Its vastness in any way.
"Jyothi" therefore, conveys, "Brahman" as its meaning. When
Brahman is imagined as having four 'feet', or quarters, all that
is projected from Brahman comprises but one quarter. The
Upanishads assert that the other three are "amritham", ("undying,
undiminishable, changeless") in 'divi' (Divine Light).
A point to be remembered is that such amritham cannot be
equated with the common light we deal with. The Upanishadic Jyothi
is said to 'deepyathi' (illumine). How can this process be limited
and tied down to the effect of ordinary worldly light? Jyothi is
embodied in Brahman; it operates in and through Brahman only.
Brahman is immanent in all and so, Jyothi reveals all and shines
in all.
The base, the root, the cover of the ever-vibrating,
ever-moving Cosmos is Brahman, the stable, the fixed, the
immovable, the ever-steady Jyothi. When Brahman too starts
vibrating, changing and moving, what happens is total mergence,
submergence, Pralaya. For example, when the train moves, if the
rails on which it moves, also move along, what about the fate of
the passengers? When we walk, the road is stationary. So we are
able to proceed safely along.
The light that shines individually is called the flame in the
lamp; the light that illumines and reveals all is called Jyothi.
This Jyothi brings to light the fire that pervades the regions,
that warms the body and resides in the stomach, the gleam in the
eye. The moon is lit by the sun and thereby made bright. All these
activities are prompted and promoted by Brahman, which is Jyothi
itself. Jyothi is the principle, the phenomenon of Illumination in
all its aspects.
