The Philosophy of the Upanishads c9.s5.t3.8

c9.s5.t3.8

both fire and wind, both sun and moon, both lightning and stars, and whatever is possessed or not possessed in this life, all that is therein contained.”[¹] “Now however the light which shines there beyond the heaven behind all things, behind each, in the highest worlds, the highest of all, that is assuredly this light which is here within in men.”[²] The soul, as these passages teach, embraces the universe; it is moreover as it were all-pervading, the *antaryâmin*, the “inner guide” in everything:—“He who dwelling in the earth is distinct from the earth, whom the earth knows not, whose body the earth is, who rules the earth from within, he is thy soul, the inner guide, the immortal.”[³] This speculation is then further extended to several cosmical and psychical relations, and it is said in conclusion:—“He sees but is not seen, hears but is not heard, comprehends but is not comprehended, knows but is not known. There is no seer beside him, no hearer beside him, no comprehender beside him, no knower beside him. He is thy soul, the inner guide, the immortal. All that is distinct from him is liable to suffering.” According to this, the *antaryâmin*, *i.e.* the power that dwells and rules in everything, is in its essence consciousness; for, as is stated in Ait. 3. 3, all gods, all substances and all organic beings, “all this is guided by consciousness, based upon consciousness; by consciousness the universe is guided, consciousness is its foundation, consciousness is Brahman.”