Upanishads · Mahā 4.79
॥
Devanāgarī
सर्वगं सच्चिदानन्दं ज्ञानचक्षुर्निरीक्षते अज्ञानचक्षुर्नेक्षेत भास्वन्तं भानुमन्दह्वत्
Transliteration (IAST)
sarvagaṃ saccidānandaṃ jñānacakṣurnirīkṣate ajñānacakṣurnekṣeta bhāsvantaṃ bhānumandahvat
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
सर्वगम् सत्-चित्-आनन्दम्sarvagam sat-cit-ānandamthe omnipresent being-consciousness-bliss; the all-pervading existent, aware, blissful
ज्ञान-चक्षुः निरीक्षतेjñāna-cakṣuḥ nirīkṣatethe eye of knowledge beholds; the eye of understanding discerns
अज्ञान-चक्षुः न ईक्षेतajñāna-cakṣuḥ na īkṣetathe eye of ignorance will not see it; the eye of unknowing will not catch sight of it
भास्वन्तम् भानुम् अन्ध-वत्bhāsvantam bhānum andha-vatthe shining sun, like a blind man; the radiant sun — just as a blind man
Translation
“The omnipresent being-consciousness-bliss the eye of knowledge beholds; the eye of ignorance will not see it — as a blind man does not see the shining sun.”
Version
6ae52c6a134f · published Jul 29, 2026, 6:29:20 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The comparison is chosen with intent, and the intent is worth unpacking.
The blind man does not see the sun. From this it does not follow that there is no sun, nor that the sun has hidden. The sun shines at full strength and for all.
The trouble is in the eye.
Hence an important conclusion for all talk of the Highest being hidden. He is not concealed: He is sarvagam, omnipresent, and shines openly. What is concealed is the sight.
Note too that the eye is called jñāna-cakṣus — “the eye of knowledge”. Not “a special experience” and not “a gift for the chosen”, but precisely an eye: the organ by which one sees what is there anyway.
The Bhagavad-gītā says the same: those who possess the eye of knowledge see.
And further: if the trouble is in the eye, then the work too is on the eye, not on the sun. This whole chapter is about the healing of the eye.