SB 12.4.30 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 12.4.30

न हि सत्यस्य नानात्वमविद्वान् यदि मन्यते । नानात्वं छिद्रयोर्यद्वज्ज्योतिषोर्वातयोरिव ॥ ३० ॥

na hi satyasya nānātvam

[na hi satyasya naanaatvam]

avidvān yadi manyate

[avidvaan yadi manyate]

nānātvaṁ chidrayor yadvaj

[naanaatvam chidrayor yadvaj]

jyotiṣor vātayor iva

[jyotishor vaatayor iva]

Word-for-word

na — there is no hi — indeed satyasya — of the Absolute Truth nānātvam — duality avidvān — a person not in true knowledge yadi — if manyate — he thinks nānātvam — the duality chidrayoḥ — of the two skies yadvat — just as jyotiṣoḥ — of the two celestial lights vātayoḥ — of the two winds iva — as.

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

na hi satyasya nānātvam

there is no

indeed

satyasya

of the Absolute Truth

nānātvam

duality

avidvān yadi manyate

avidvān

a person not in true knowledge

yadi

manyate

he thinks

nānātvaṁ chidrayor yadvaj

nānātvam

the duality

chidrayoḥ

of the two skies

yadvat

just as

jyotiṣor vātayor iva

jyotiṣoḥ

of the two celestial lights

vātayoḥ

of the two winds

iva

as.

There is no material duality in the Absolute Truth. The duality perceived by an ignorant person is like the difference between the sky contained in an empty pot and the sky outside the pot, or the difference between the reflection of the sun in water and the sun itself in the sky, or the difference between the vital air within one living body and that within another body.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

There is no material duality in the Absolute Truth. If a person thinks there is duality he is ignorant like seeing space within two pots as different space, or two lamps as different fire or two prāṇas in two bodies as different prāṇa, when actually there is only one space, one fire and one prāṇa. How does one conceive of oneness? There is no duality in the supreme truth. If one considers duality in the absolute one is ignorant. An ignorant person, on seeing two pots with cavities thinks the first pot has some space in it and the other pot has different space in it. Similarly on seeing two lamps an ignorant person thinks that the first lamp is one fire and the second lamp a different fire. Or on seeing prāṇa in one body and another body, he will think that it is different prāṇa.

Personal Guidance

There is no real duality in the Absolute Truth. We mistake the sky inside one pot for something separate from the sky inside another. Such errors arise from limited perception, not from any real divisions in Brahman.

Reflection Questions

Where am I treating a superficial boundary as if it were an ultimate one?
What helps me see the same Lord present in seemingly different settings?

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io