तौ ह प्रजापतिः उवाच यः एषः अक्षिणि पुरुषः दृश्यते एषः आत्मा इति ह उवाच एतत् अमृतम् अभयम् एतत् ब्रह्म इति अथ यः अयम् भगवः अप्सु परिख्यायते यः च अयम् आदर्शे कतमः एषः इति एषः उ एव एषु सर्वेषु अन्तेषु परिख्यायते इति ह उवाच
tau ha prajāpatiḥ uvāca yaḥ eṣaḥ akṣiṇi puruṣaḥ dṛśyate eṣaḥ ātmā iti ha uvāca etat amṛtam abhayam etat brahma iti atha yaḥ ayam bhagavaḥ apsu parikhyāyate yaḥ ca ayam ādarśe katamaḥ eṣaḥ iti eṣaḥ u eva eṣu sarveṣu anteṣu parikhyāyate iti ha uvāca
Prajāpati said to them: "The puruṣa who is seen in the eye — that is the ātman. That is the immortal, the fearless, that is Brahman." — "And who, sir, is the one that is seen in water, and the one in a mirror?" — "It is he himself who is seen in all these limits," he replied.
801b471c7aaa · published Jul 26, 2026, 11:52:58 PM UTC
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The first lesson is deliberately ambiguous: "the puruṣa who is seen in the eye is the ātman". We know the true sense of these words: so Aśvapati spoke of the beholder within (4.15.1) — of the Seer in the eye. But the pupils hear otherwise: "seen in the eye" means a reflection! And their counter-question betrays their hearing: "and who is the one seen in water and in a mirror?" They ask about reflections; the teacher answers without falsehood but also without correction: "it is he himself who is seen in all these limits". True: the ātman is the one who looks out both from the eye and from every mirror; but the pupils have understood: "the ātman is my reflection".
Prajāpati is not deceiving them — he is testing: he gives the truth in a husk that each will open according to his own depth. Life teaches the same way, and so do the scriptures: one and the same line discloses different things to different readers, according to their ripeness. The lesson of the mirror is a mirror of the pupil himself; presently both will look into a bowl of water, and each will see there… himself, in just the sense he is ready for.