चिदेव नान्यदाभाति चितः परमतो नहि ।
यांच नाभाति तदसद्यदसत्तन्न भाति च ॥ ८ ॥
Then no other than consciousness shines forth, so surely not another is consciousness;
What does not shine forth that is also non-existence, and what is non-existence does not shine forth.
Commentary
What shines forth is consciousness which is no other than the Absolute, "I am the Absolute"—or as the Chandogya Upanishad (VIII.3.4) declares: "One attains the supreme light." In more personal terms we have the statement of Allamaprabhu, an ardent devotee of Siva, recorded in the Sunyasampadane (I.41):
My whole being, within and without
Immersed in colossal light,
I have seen the Source of all light.
Whatever shines forth is consciousness. This is why there is no other existence apart from absolute consciousness, which gathers into itself both "inner" and "outer" reality, and hence is absolute. In this verse the sage is speaking about unconditioned consciousness which is not dual (inner versus outer), but is singular and of unbroken continuity. It is only appearance or illusion caused by the conditioned mind throwing out concepts that makes consciousness appear manifold. As the Panchapadika states, "Wonder joy, the perception of objects and what is always so, are attributes which although inseparable from consciousness appear as different."
Unconditioned consciousness is a state of wonder-joy which is really consciousness experiencing itself, or the Self delighting in itself. In the next verse we see why.