2. tad yat tat satyam asau sa ᾱdityaḥ. ya eṣa etasmin maṇdale puruṣo yaś cᾱyaṁ dakṣiṇe’kṣan puruṣaḥ. tᾱv etᾱv anyo’nyasmin pratiṣṭhitau; raśmibhir eṣo’smin pratiṣṭhitaḥ prᾱṇair ayam amuṣmin, sa yadotkramiṣyan bhavati. śuddham evaitan maṇḍalam paśyati. nainam ete raśmayaḥ pratyᾱyanti.

So, we have completed the description of one type of meditation. Now we are told of another kind. How do you see an object? With the help of sunlight. There is thus a connection between the sun and the eye. The light outside and the eye within are connected in a mutually correlative manner. That truth which is in the sun is present also as truth in the eye that perceives. There is a coordinating element between the sun and the eye. The deity of the eye which is the sun, presiding over the eye, has an internal as well as an external connection with the eye. 'The Puruṣha in the sun is also the Puruṣha in the eye. The truth in the sun is also the truth in the eye.' Sa ᾱdityaḥ. ya eṣa etasmin maṇdale puruṣo yaś cᾱyaṁ dakṣiṇe'kṣan puruṣaḥ. tᾱv etᾱv anyo'nyasmin pratiṣṭhitau: The sun connects itself with the eye by the rays that he projects. The rays emanate from the sun and impinge on the retina of the eye. Then the eyes begin to see the brilliance of the light of the sun, and the same light when it falls on an object of sense becomes responsible for the perception of that object through the eye. But, it is not merely the light of the sun that is responsible for this perception of the object outside. There is something inside us without which perception would be impossible. The conscious element within us that peeps through the eyes and receives the impressions of light emanating from outside brings about connection with the form of light outside. It may appear for all precise purposes that light is inert and unconscious and that we are conscious; that the perceiving individual is conscious and that the light that is responsible for the perception of an object is inert, physical. The Upaniṣhad, at least, does not believe in an ultimate physicality of things. Even the so-called physical objects are ultimately spiritual in their nature, because logic and ratiocination compel us to accept that dissimilars cannot come together and coincide. Consciousness cannot come in contact with that which is dissimilar in its character. Light and consciousness cannot come in contact with each other if consciousness were something different in nature from the light through which perception is made possible. If light is wholly material, unspiritual, or non-spiritual, bereft of the element of consciousness, consciousness cannot come in contact with it. Then there would be no such thing as the perception of an object. So the Upaniṣhad says that the idea that light outside is physical, and not endowed with consciousness, is erroneous. There is a Puruṣha in the sun as well as in the eye. The consciousness that is responsible for the action of the eye in the perception of an object, the consciousness which actually becomes aware of the presence of an object, is connected with the Puruṣha, or the consciousness in that which emanates the light, or projects the light. 'The Puruṣha in the sun is the Puruṣha within you.' Dakṣiṇe'kṣan puruṣaḥ tᾱv etᾱv: That which is within him, that which is within me, that which is within you and that which is within the sun - they are one. If the two are not one, there would be no connection between light and eye. The connection between the light and the eye and the correlativity of the action of light and the action of the eye implies that there is a similarity of structure, similarity of being, similarity of essence and reality between the sun and the eye. 'So the sun influences the eye through his rays, and the individual that perceives objects connects himself or herself with the sun through the sense-organs, particularly the eye.'

Raśmibhir eṣo'smin pratiṣṭhitaḥ prᾱṇair ayam amuṣmin: The connection between the sun and the eye is explained, and this connection is supposed to be through the rays of the sun. Here in this context, the Upaniṣhad makes a remark. When one is about to die he will not be able to see the sun. The rays will not impinge upon the eye and the eye will not receive the light of the sun. Yadotkramiṣyan bhavati. śuddham evaitan maṇḍalam paśyati: 'The orb of the sun will appear not to emanate any ray at all at the time of the departure of the soul from this body.' That is the absence of perception. One will not be able to see things when the light rays do not fall on the retina of the eye. What actually happens is something like a mystery. The sun is continuing to emanate the rays even at the time of the death of a person. He does not withdraw his rays, but the eyes cannot receive these rays. The eyes will not be able to contact the rays of the sun and there would be no such correlative activity between the Puruṣha within and the Puruṣha without. When a person is unable to see the rays of the sun, then they say he is about to die. It is an indication of impending death. 'I cannot see' - that means death is coming.

Now, certain interpretators of this passage say that this is a description of ordinary death where anyone will be in this condition, whatever be the spiritual state of that person at the time of death. But others are of the opinion that this is a description of those people who are to pass through the passage of the sun in the process of gradual liberation, or Krama-Mukti, when the sun is to embrace you, when sun is to give you passage. This interpretation seems to be the correct one as it is corroborated and substantiated by certain passages that follow. The sun will give you passage. There are about fourteen stages mentioned in the Upaniṣhad along which the soul has to pass. One of these stages is the sun, and the sun is therefore regarded as a very important halting place of the journeying soul on the path to liberation by Krama-Mukti. So, at the time of the departure of the soul of that person who has already been meditating in this manner, meditating on the identity of the Puruṣha in the sun with the Puruṣha within; who has been performing Surya-Upāsanā in a spiritual sense, looking on the sun as the gateway to Moksha, he will be given an indication of the time of the departure from the body by the sun himself, who will be luminously present before the mind's eye, but his rays will be withdrawn. You have a similar passage in the Īshvara Upaniṣhad, towards its end, where it is expressed in the form of a prayer offered by the dying soul to the Supreme Puruṣha in the sun. "Withdraw thy rays. Let me see thy true being, O Supreme Puruṣha in the sun," says the dying man in this prayer of the Īshvara Upaniṣhad. So, here again we are given to understand some such situation taking place at the time of the departure of the soul when it is to be liberated and not reborn. What happens at that time? The orb of the sun is seen to glow without any kind of emanation, which is supposed to be a hint from the sun that he is ready to receive you - 'Yes, you can come.' Śuddham evaitan maṇḍalam paśyati. nainam ete raśmayaḥ pratyᾱyanti: 'There will be only a luminosity without any kind of projection of rays' to that person who is to depart and achieve liberation.

This is an explanation by the way. The point made out in this section is that to meditate on the sun is not gazing at the sun physically, but a contemplation on the spiritual essence of the sun as the glorious energiser, sustainer and the producer of all living creatures on earth, an emblem of God Himself. Sūrya prakaksh devata: Sūrya, or the sun, is regarded as the emblem of God in this world, because none can be so glorious as he, none so indispensable as he, so resplendent as he, and so complete in every respect as he. This is spiritual Sūrya-Upāsana.

3. ya eṣa etasmin maṇḍale puruṣaḥ, tasya bhῡr iti śiraḥ; ekaṁ śiraḥ, ekam etad akṣaram; bhuva iti bᾱhῡ; dvau ete akṣare; svar iti pratiṣṭhᾱ; dve pratiṣṭhe dve ete akṣare. tasyopaniṣad ahar iti; hanti pᾱpmᾱnaṁ jahᾱti ca, ya evaṁ veda.

Ya eṣa etasmin maṇḍale puruṣaḥ, tasya bhῡr iti śiraḥ: You can expand this meditation on the sun by certain further elucidations thereof. This verse that follows gives some more details of the same meditation. The sun is supposed to be the deity of the Gāyatrī, Mantra, which is the principal Mantra of the Vedas. And the essence of the Gāyatrī, is what is known as the Vyahriti. Bhūr, Bhuvah Svah - these three symbols, letters or words are regarded as the quintessence of the Gāyatrī, Mantra. Now, one can contemplate on the literal meaning of these Vyahritis, not necessarily their philosophical or spiritual meaning. The literal meaning of the Vyāhṛtis, Bhūr, Bhuva, Svah, the essence of the Gāyatrī Mantra, is also indicative of a meditation on the Puruṣha in the sun. What sort of Puruṣha is this in the sun? You can imagine the Puruṣha in the sun in this manner through the Vyāhṛtis. Puruṣaḥ, tasya bhῡr iti śiraḥ; ekaṁ śiraḥ: The word Bhūr is representative of all physical creation. You can imagine that the whole of physical creation is comprehended in the symbol Bhūr. 'This is the head of the Puruṣha or the being in the sun.' You can contemplate in this manner. Bhur is one letter, and head also is single - ekam sirah. Ekam etad akṣaram: 'The letter is one and the head also is one.' That is the similarity between the two. Bhuva iti bᾱhῡ: Bhuva is the astral or the atmospheric region which is above the earth. This word Bhuva consists of two letters, Bhu and Va. They can be identified with the two arms of this Puruṣha. 'The arms are two and the letters of the word Bhuva are also two.' That is the similarity between the two, the Puruṣha and the letters of the word - bhuva iti bᾱhῡ; dvau ete akṣare. Now, you have the third word of the Gāyatrī, Svah. Svar iti pratistha; dve pratisthe: You can imagine Svah as the legs of the Puruṣha on which his whole body is supported. 'Two are the legs; two are the letters of the word, Svah - sv, ah.' That is the similarity between the letters of the word and the legs of the Puruṣha. So, the head, the hands and the feet may be imagined in meditation as representing or as represented by the meaning of the three words in the Vyahritis of the Gāyatrī Mantra, Bhūr, Bhuva and Svah - dve pratisthe dve ete aksare.

Tasyopaniṣad ahar iti: Upaniṣhad means the 'secret meaning'. What is the secret meaning of this Mantra - Vyāhṛti. Its secret is also the secret of the Gāyatrī Mantra. There is one word in the Gāyatrī Mantra which is supposed to be indicative of the destruction of all things. Bharga is the word. There is a word called Bharga in the Gāyatrī which means the destroyer of all things; and the character, the capacity, the function of the sun is to destroy all things. Day that is the effect of the rise of the sun is also indicated by a word which is suggestive of destruction of sins - Ahar. In Sanskrit, Ahar means daylight, and daylight emanates from the sun himself. Now 'Ahar is a word that is derived from the root, Hri which suggests the destruction, of sins.' So the sun is the destroyer of sins, even as the Vyāhṛtis, which are the essence of the Gāyatrī Mantra, are capable of the same effect. So, how do you contemplate the sun? As a Supreme Puruṣha, or a divine being, who is the deity of the Mantra of the Veda of the Gāyatrī, of the three Vyāhṛtis and as the supreme destroyer of sins. He who contemplates on the Puruṣha in the sun as the destroyer of sins, destroys all sins. No sin can touch him. Hanti pᾱpmᾱnaṁ jahᾱti ca, ya evaṁ veda: 'One who knows this becomes pure like the sun and free from sins in every respect.'

Passage four is identical with three, except for the word 'Aham', which replaces the word 'Ahar'.

The present theme is an attempt on the part of the meditator to unify the objective side with the subjective side. A symbol that is used in this way of meditation is the correspondence or the coordination between the sun and the eye; between the Puruṣha in the sun and the Puruṣha within; between the God above and the soul inside. These two are en rapport; they are coordinated and they represent the universal or the cosmic side and the individual side respectively. One of the points specially mentioned in this particular method of meditation is that while the sense of selfhood or 'I'ness is the main characteristic of the conscious subject, that characteristic is absent in the object. We cannot feel a sense of selfhood in the sun, or for the matter of that, in anything outside us. The sense of 'I' is identified only with the conscious subject, the AHAM or what is regarded as the perceiving individual. It does not occur to any individual at any time that this sense of 'I'ness or the sense of selfhood can be present in others also. Though it may be accepted as a logical conclusion and a tenable position in philosophy, it is not directly cognised in daily activity. The selfhood in others is never recognised. It is not recognised even in God Himself. He is held as an object of contemplation, a kind of form cosmically conceived, fit to be meditated upon by a conscious subject. The 'I', or the self, refuses to be externalised. And so, taking this stand, the Upaniṣhad tells us that the conscious subject, or the Puruṣha within, is characterised by the feeling of 'Aham' or 'I', whereas the attributes which are superimposed on the sun are anything and everything except the sense of selfhood. So, the term used here is tasyopanisad ahar iti. The secret name that we give to the Puruṣha in the sun is Ahar, the destroyer of sins, the magnificent Puruṣha, the radiant being and so on and so forth, but never do we say that it is the self, because the self can only be one. You cannot have two selves. The difficulty of recognising the selfhood in others is that we cannot accept the presence of two selves. It is repugnant to the sense of 'I' that there be another 'I'. So, instinctively we refuse to recognise the presence of 'I', or self, in other people and other things, notwithstanding the fact that we can philosophically accept that there is intelligence in others, that there is selfhood in others and that there is a status each one maintains for one's own self, not in any way inferior to the one that is attributed to one's own self. This is a philosophical, rational conclusion, but instinct speaks a different language. The instinct says that the 'I' is the conscious being, that which perceives, that which understands. But that which is understood, that which is thought of, that which is cognised or perceived, that which is ahead of me, in front of me as an object, it has a different name altogether. That which I see with my eyes is not a subject - it is an object; how can I attribute the term 'I' to it? This meditation tries to overcome this difficulty by establishing an inward coordination between the external Puruṣha - the Puruṣha in the sun, and the Puruṣha within, which means to say that the universality of the Puruṣha in the sun should be capable of being identified with the selfhood of the Puruṣha within. This is the secret of this meditation - anam iti tasyopaniṣhad. The selfhood that we attribute to our own self should be identified with all the realities that we see in external things. Now, this point is elucidated further on in a very important meditation that is hinted at in the following Mantra.