यथा द्रग्द्रशमात्मानं स्वयमात्मा न पश्यति ।
अतो न भास्यते ह्यात्मा यं पश्यति स भास्यते ॥ ९ ॥
Just as the eye sees not itself, the Self sees not itself,
Likewise the Self surely does not shine forth, what it sees shines forth.
Commentary
The Self is the one true seer, as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (III. 4.2) says, "You do not see the seer of sight." The Devi Bhagavata Purana confirms this, "Your unqualified form is not an object of sight... Sakti (the Absolute) is without qualities."
In this verse the Sage has established that the unqualified Self does not shine forth because only the conditioned shines forth as he declares in the next verse. The Self is the neutral all-witness, in the same way as we witness a drama and when the blank curtain is pulled down all the players and objects disappear. In the same way the wise Yogi is able to draw a blank on the objects of the world and in his mind. When all relativity is put away there is no more shining forth. Only the Self remains. As the Tripuratapini Upanishad (V. 9) declares, "Then the Absolute is not thinkable; not unthinkable; do not think; yet only thinks; so indeed become the Absolute, the same to all." "The Svachhanda Tantra says, "This facing-inwards is supreme and always so, because it is detached from sense objects."