Devanagari
यदात्मनि निरालोकमात्मानं च दिदृक्षत: ।
निर्भिन्ने ह्यक्षिणी तस्य ज्योतिश्चक्षुर्गुणग्रह: ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
yadātmani nirālokam
ātmānaṁ ca didṛkṣataḥ
nirbhinne hy akṣiṇī tasya
jyotiś cakṣur guṇa-grahaḥ
Synonyms
yadā
—
while
;
ātmani
—
unto Himself
;
nirālokam
—
without any light
;
ātmānam
—
His own transcendental body
;
ca
—
also other bodily forms
;
didṛkṣataḥ
—
desired to look upon
;
nirbhinne
—
due to being sprouted
;
hi
—
for
;
akṣiṇī
—
of the eyes
;
tasya
—
of Him
;
jyotiḥ
—
the sun
;
cakṣuḥ
—
the eyes
;
guṇa
—
grahaḥ — the power of seeing .
Translation
Thus when everything existed in darkness, the Lord desired to see Himself and all that was created. Then the eyes, the illuminating god Sun, the power of vision and the object of sight all became manifested.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When there was no vision in the universal form, and he desired to see, the two eyes, the presiding deity known as the sun, the sense organ called the eye, which experiences form (sense object) appeared.
Purport
The universe is by nature dense darkness, and therefore the total creation is called
tamas,
or darkness. The night is the real feature of the universe, for then one cannot see anything, including oneself. The Lord, out of His causeless mercy, first desired to see Himself and all the creation as well, and thus the sun became manifested, the power of vision for all living entities became possible, and the objects of vision were also manifested. This means that the whole phenomenal world became visible after the creation of the sun.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When there was no vision (nirālokam) within himself (ātmani), desiring to see himself and other objects (ca), the location called the gross eye, the sun devatā and the eye (subtle sense organ) which experiences form (guṇa) appeared. Form is the sense object. Nirālokam (devoid of vision) is an indeclinable word, like nirmakṣikam (free from flies).