The fifth valli begins with the image of the body as a city of eleven gates belonging to the unborn Self. It teaches that no mortal lives by the prāna or apāna breath alone but by something deeper in which both rest. The familiar analogies of fire and wind and sun pervading all yet remaining unstained are repeated with renewed emphasis. The one eternal Lord makes the single seed manifold, and those wise who perceive this dwelling within themselves gain eternal happiness. The section closes again with the radiance verse: nothing — sun, moon, lightning, or fire — shines there; that Self alone shines, and by its light all else is illumined.
The sun is the swan in the sky, the wind is the Vasu in the air. The fire is the priest on the altar, the guest in the home. He dwells in people, in gods, in truth, in the sky. Born from water, from earth, from truth, from the mountain — he is the vast truth.
ya eṣa supteṣu jāgarti kāmaṃ kāmaṃ puruṣo nirmimāṇaḥ | tad eva śukraṃ tad brahma tad evāmṛtam ucyate | tasmiṃl lokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tad u nātyeti kaścana || 8 ||
Simple English
Primary Translation
That which remains awake in those who sleep, fashioning each desire in turn — that is the luminous one, that is Brahman, that alone is called the Immortal. All worlds rest in it. Nothing goes beyond it.
सूर्यो यथा सर्वलोकस्य चक्षुर्न लिप्यते चाक्षुषैर्बाह्यदोषैः । एकस्तथा सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा न लिप्यते लोकदुःखेन बाह्यः ॥ ११ ॥
sūryo yathā sarvalokasya cakṣur na lipyate cākṣuṣair bāhyadoṣaiḥ | ekas tathā sarvabhūtāntarātmā na lipyate lokaduḥkhena bāhyaḥ || 11 ||
Simple English
Primary Translation
As the sun, the eye of the world, is not stained by the external faults seen through eyes, so the one Inner Self is not stained by the world's suffering, being beyond it.
One Lord, the inner Self of all, makes the one seed manifold. The wise who perceive this Self standing within themselves — theirs is eternal joy and not others'.
नित्यो नित्यानां चेतनश्चेतनानाम् एको बहूनां यो विदधाति कामान् । तत्कारणं साङ्ख्ययोगाधिगम्यं ज्ञात्वा देवं मुच्यते सर्वपाशैः ॥ १३ ॥
nityo nityānāṃ cetanaś cetanānām eko bahūnāṃ yo vidadhāti kāmān | tat kāraṇaṃ sāṅkhyayogādhigamyaṃ jñātvā devaṃ mucyate sarvapāśaiḥ || 13 ||
Simple English
Primary Translation
The eternal among eternals, the conscious among the conscious — the one who, alone, fulfills the desires of the many. Knowing this cause, to be grasped through Sankhya and Yoga, one is freed from all bonds.
न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः । तमेव भान्तमनुभाति सर्वं तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति ॥ १४ ॥
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃ nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto 'yam agniḥ | tam eva bhāntam anubhāti sarvaṃ tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṃ vibhāti || 14 ||
Simple English
Primary Translation
The sun does not shine there, nor moon and stars, nor do lightnings shine — much less fire. When that shines, everything shines after it. By its light all this world is illumined.
ūrdhvamūlo 'vākśākha eṣo 'śvatthaḥ sanātanaḥ | tad eva śukraṃ tad brahma tad evāmṛtam ucyate | tasmiṃl lokāḥ śritāḥ sarve tad u nātyeti kaścana etad vai tat || 15 ||
Simple English
Primary Translation
This is the eternal ashvattha tree with roots above and branches below. That root is the radiant, that is Brahman, that is called the Immortal. All worlds rest in it. Nothing goes beyond it. This, verily, is That.