‘That’—they think—is ‘this’: the indescribable supreme bliss. How could I know it? Does it shine or does it illumine?

Naciketas formulates his question about the nature of the Ātman with incredible precision. The anirdeśya parama sukha (indescribable supreme bliss) is what the sages describe as “this”—the immediately present—though it transcends all conceptual description.

The difficulty lies in that our instruments of knowledge are designed for objects, not for the subject. How can the eye see itself? How can the tongue taste itself? The Ātman is the knower, never the known. The question “does it bhāti or vibhāti?” (does it shine or does it illumine?) seeks to understand whether Brahman is self-luminous or reflects another’s light.

In yoga, this question takes us beyond the search for extraordinary experiences. We do not seek to “see” the Ātman as an object, but to awaken to the reality that we are that which has always been seeing. The “light” of the Ātman is not something we perceive; it is the very condition of all perception.