yadā atamas tan na divā na rātrir na san na cāsac chiva eva kevalaḥ | tad akṣaraṃ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ prajñā ca tasmāt prasṛtā purāṇī ||
"When the darkness is gone, there is neither day nor night, neither being nor non-being, the Auspicious One (Śiva) alone remains. That is the imperishable; that is the adorable light of Savitṛ; and from That the ancient wisdom went forth."
What This Means:
This verse points to a reality beyond all the opposites we use to make sense of the world. Once the darkness of ignorance lifts, there is no more day or night, no more "this exists" or "that doesn't", only the pure, auspicious Divine remains. And from that one changeless source, the most ancient wisdom first flowed.
Going Deeper:
In Vedanta, ultimate reality (Brahman, here called Śiva, "the Auspicious") transcends every pair of opposites, light and dark, existence and non-existence, because all such categories belong to the changing world, not to the imperishable (akṣara) ground from which even revealed knowledge itself arises.
How To Apply This:
When life feels split into good days and bad, gain and loss, pause to remember the steady, unchanging awareness that quietly holds all of it.
Key Sanskrit Terms: