Upanishads · Mahāvākya p21
॥
Devanāgarī
आत्मज्योतिरहं शुक्रः सर्वज्योतिरसावदोम्
Transliteration (IAST)
ātmajyotirahaṃ śukraḥ sarvajyotirasāvadom
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
आत्म-ज्योतिः अहं शुक्रःātma-jyotiḥ ahaṃ śukraḥthe light of the self, I am the pure
सर्व-ज्योतिः असौ अदोम्sarva-jyotiḥ asau adomthe all-light — that very one, om
Translation
«The light of the self, I am the pure; the all-light — that very one, om.»
Version
c3d746971362 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The formula ends with the words asāv adom, “that very one, om.” Note the pronoun asau, “that, yonder”: it points to the distant, as opposed to idam, “this,” which points to the near. That is, having listed “I am that, I am this,” the speaker ends by pointing away.
The detail is grammatical, but not empty, and we noted something like it reading the Tārasāra: every such formula ends by referring away from itself. The word śukra, by which the speaker names himself, means “bright, pure, clear,” and in the Vedas is an epithet of the sun and of Agni. It is worth saying something of the structure of this chain itself: sun — light of the sun — light of the self — all-light.
The ladder moves from the visible to the invisible and ends on sarva-jyotiḥ, “all-light,” that is, that by which everything else shines. This thought is fundamental in the upaniṣads, and is best expressed in the Kaṭha: “there the sun does not shine, nor the moon and stars, nor these lightnings; whence, then, could this fire shine? By His shining alone all else shines after; by His light all this is illumined” (2.2.15).
This verse deserves quoting in full, for it is, to my mind, the finest passage on light in all upaniṣadic literature. And it is worth noting in it the phrase tasya bhāsā, “by His light”: light is called belonging to someone. The Vaiṣṇava side insists on exactly this. Light is not the last word: light has a source, and the question of it is not settled by pointing to light. Hence its own description of the Highest does not begin with light, but with He whose radiance is brahma-jyoti; and the three degrees of manifestation — brahman, Supreme Self, Bhagavān — have been discussed more than once.