The Light by Which We See

A Reflection on the Dialogue Between King Janaka and Sage Yajnavalkya

In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, King Janaka asks Sage Yajnavalkya a series of questions about the light by which a human being lives, acts, and finds direction.

King Janaka asks: "O revered sage, what is the light that illumines, awakens, and impels a person to perform actions?"

Sage Yajnavalkya replies: "The sun, O King. It is by the light of the sun that a person sits, moves about, performs work, and returns."

Janaka continues: "But when the sun has set, what light helps the person?"

"The moon," replies the sage. "When the sun has set, the moon becomes the person's light."

"And when neither the sun nor the moon is present?"

"Fire becomes the light. By the light of fire, one sits, moves, works, goes out, and returns."

"But when there is no sun, no moon, and no fire, what then is the light?"

"Speech, indeed, becomes the light. Even when we cannot see our own hand in the darkness, we can hear a voice and move toward its sound."

Janaka asks once more: "O revered sage, when the sun has set, the moon is absent, fire is extinguished, and there is no speech, what then is the light?"

Yajnavalkya answers: "The Self, indeed, is one's light, O King. By the light of the Self, one sits, moves about, performs work, goes out, and returns."

—Adapted from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, 4.3.2–6

The first time I read this dialogue between King Janaka and Sage Yajnavalkya, there was an immediate aha moment. It connected me to the chant that we recite at the end of the aarati during our weekly Morning Prayer session.

I had recited the chant many times, but this dialogue helped me see that it was not merely a beautiful or familiar verse. That in that chant I am regularly reaffirming a deeper truth—the light of the Self.

The great teachers have highlighted this dialogue in many ways. What follows are some of my own takeaways and reflections.

There is a wisdom in how the teacher withholds the ultimate answer until the student is ready for it. Yajnavalkya moves Janaka from the visible toward the invisible — the universal symbols of sun and moon, our own effort in the kindling of fire, our dependence on others in speech — before finally turning the whole question inside out, redefining what light itself means and leading Janaka directly to his own awareness as that light.

And there is a patient student who won't rush to accept the first available answer, but keeps asking until he arrives at something more enduring — taking what is visible, letting go of what changes, and landing, at last, on what cannot be denied.

In doing so, it is also a recognition that to participate in life, we need all these supports — they illuminate the life that we participate in. This helps develop a gratitude, to recognise what we have and how much we are supported in this world.

The chant that I referred to can be found in

न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकंनेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः

तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वंतस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃnemā vidyuto bhānti kuto'yamagniḥtameva bhāntamanubhāti sarvaṃtasya bhāsā sarvamidaṃ vibhāti

There the sun does not shine, nor the moon and the stars; neither do these flashes of lightning shine, and what to speak of this fire? Everything shines only after That [Brahman] shines. By its light, all this [Manifestation] is illumined.

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.2.10 and Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.2.15

It is stating that whatever our light sees, and all that we experience in the world is illuminated by our very own awareness — the Self. This Self reveals the content of our values, emotions, desires, enthusiasm, energy that bring forth into life. The contents of our life is revealed by this witnessing, aware Self.

It makes me see how many contemplative paths including yoga point to this universal truth, and gives me a a new lens to look at Patanjali's eight limbs .

The eight limbs, ashta anga, are supportive lights that we can depend on in our practice and connect back to revealing our true light of the Self. Our relationships with others, our own self — body, mind, intellect, a focused attention — are all our supports, the tools, revealed by our inner light, these in turn being the tools to reveal our true light when the content of the mind quietens.

We become, for each other, something like mirrors — places where another person might catch a glimpse of their own light and recognize it.