सर्वेन्द्रियगुणाभासं सर्वेन्द्रियविवर्जितम् / असक्तं सर्वभृच् चैव निर्गुणं गुणभोक्तृ च
sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṃ sarvendriya-vivarjitam / asaktaṃ sarva-bhṛc caiva nirguṇaṃ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca
Brahman: seems to have all senses yet has none; unattached yet upholds all; nirguṇa yet the enjoyer of guṇas.
Word by word (4)
- sarva-indriya-guṇa-ābhāsam
- — appearing to illuminate/shine through the qualities (guṇa-ābhāsa) of all (sarva) the senses (indriya) — Brahman seems to have sense-qualities but only appears to · Ābhāsa = apparent manifestation, reflection, seeming. Guṇa here = the functions/capacities (not the three guṇas of sattva-rajas-tamas). Brahman appears to see, hear, smell, taste through all beings — this is ābhāsa (reflection of its consciousness in the sense-instruments of all creatures). It is the source of all sensing without itself being a sensing entity.
- sarva-indriya-vivarjitam
- — devoid of / without all senses (vivarjita = separated from, free from) · Vivarjita = having given up, being free from (vi + varj = to exclude). Brahman has no sense organs. The paradox with the previous qualifier: it seems to illumine all sense-functions (ābhāsa) yet it has NO senses. Resolution: the senses are kṣetra; Brahman is the kṣetrajña-witness. The seeming of seeing is FROM Brahman's presence (like the sun enabling all vision without itself having eyes).
- asaktam sarva-bhṛt ca eva
- — unattached (asakta) yet the bearer/supporter (sarva-bhṛt = supporter of all) of all — second paradox · Asakta = without attachment (a + sakta). Sarva-bhṛt = bearer, sustainer of all (bhṛ = to bear, carry). How can the Absolutely Unattached be the support of all? Because support does not require attachment. The ocean supports every wave without being attached to any wave. Brahman sustains all without being implicated in any of their fates.
- nirguṇam guṇa-bhoktṛ ca
- — without qualities (nirguṇa = beyond the three guṇas) yet the experiencer/enjoyer of qualities (guṇa-bhoktṛ = the one who experiences the guṇas) — third paradox · The most philosophically dense paradox: Brahman is nirguṇa (transcending sattva-rajas-tamas) AND guṇa-bhoktṛ (the experiencer of all guṇic modifications). Resolution: the kṣetrajña (Brahman) witnesses all guṇic activity in all kṣetras without being determined by any guṇa. As the pure witness, it 'experiences' in the sense of being present to all guṇic play — but not bound or coloured by it. This is the Sākṣī (pure witness) teaching.
Three living paradoxes of Brahman: (1) It appears to illumine all sense-functions yet has no sense organs — it is the light that makes sensing possible without itself being a sensor. (2) It is completely unattached yet it bears/sustains the entire universe — supporting everything without being entangled in anything. (3) It is nirguṇa (beyond the three guṇas of sattva-rajas-tamas) yet it is the witness-experiencer of all guṇic play in all beings.
A modern analogy
The sun (sūrya) enables all vision (sarvendriya-guṇābhāsa = appears to illumine through all eyes) yet has no eyes itself (sarvendriya-vivarjita). Space supports every object (sarva-bhṛt) without being attached to any object (asakta). Pure awareness witnesses every experience (guṇa-bhoktṛ) without having any quality of its own (nirguṇa). Brahman is like all three simultaneously.
What it does NOT mean
Guṇa-bhoktṛ might seem to contradict nirguṇa. But bhoktṛ here means 'the witness of experience' not 'the one who is carried away by experience.' The movie screen is the 'bhoktṛ' of all the drama, action, color (guṇa) projected on it — yet the screen itself has no color, emotion, or quality. Brahman is the Screen of all cosmic experience.
V15's three paradoxes (sensing-yet-senseless, unattached-yet-sustaining, nirguṇa-yet-guṇa-bhoktṛ) constitute the Advaita teaching on Brahman-as-Sākṣī (pure witness). Śaṃkara: 'sarvendriya-guṇābhāsa' means Brahman's intelligence is reflected in all the sense-faculties (cidābhāsa), but Brahman itself is not a sense-bound knower. The resolution of all three paradoxes lies in the Witness-nature: the witness enables, supports, and is present to all activity without being a participant in it.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without the senses; Absolute, yet... [4]
[Arnold full chapter text; verse describes Brahman as sensing-yet-senseless, unattached-yet-supporting, nirguṇa-yet-guṇa-bhoktṛ] [7]
Shining by the functions of all the senses, (yet) without the senses; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities, yet the experiencer of qualities [9]
Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet devoid of all senses; unattached, yet supporting all; without qualities, yet the enjoyer of qualities [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Supreme bliss comes naturally to the yogi whose mind is fully at peace, passion quieted, stainless — Brahman-become.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.
Puruṣa in prakṛti enjoys guṇas — attachment to guṇas is the cause of birth in good and evil wombs.
Sattva — luminous and stainless — yet binds the jīva through attachment to happiness and attachment to knowledge.
Sattva binds to happiness; rajas to action; tamas veils wisdom and chains to heedlessness.
Sāttvic food enhances life, sattva, strength, health, joy, delight — savoury, oleaginous, substantial, heart-pleasing.