Shloka 7
Śuka’s Manifestation from the Araṇi (Āraṇeya-janma) — शुकजन्म (आरणेय-सम्भव)
रात्रिमेतावतीं चास्य प्राहुरध्यात्मचिन्तका: । सृजत्यहड्कारमृषिर्भूतं दिव्यात्मकं तथा
rātrim etāvatīṃ cāsya prāhur adhyātma-cintakāḥ | sṛjaty ahaṅkāram ṛṣir bhūtaṃ divyātmakaṃ tathā ||
Yājñavalkya dit : « Ceux qui méditent les vérités du Soi déclarent que la nuit de Brahmā est d’une immensité égale à celle de son jour. Dans ce cycle cosmique, le grand voyant Brahmā fait naître le principe nommé “ahaṅkāra”, le “faiseur de je” : une entité subtile et divine, qui met en branle le sentiment intérieur d’individualité d’où procède la création ultérieure. »
याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames creation in inner, psychological-metaphysical terms: cosmic time alternates as Brahmā’s day and night, and within that process the principle of ahaṅkāra (the ‘I-sense’) is produced—highlighting how individuality arises as a foundational step in manifestation.
Yājñavalkya is explaining a cosmological sequence to his listeners: learned contemplatives describe the vast duration of Brahmā’s night, and he states that Brahmā, as the primordial seer, creates the divine principle called ahaṅkāra, from which further categories of creation unfold.