That One Verse-7

Original in Sanskrit:

इ॒यं विसृ॑ष्टि॒र्यत॑ आब॒भूव॒ यदि॑ वा द॒धे यदि॑ वा॒ न।
यो अ॒स्याध्य॑क्षः पर॒मे व्यो॑म॒न्त्सो अ॒ङ्ग वे॑द॒ यदि॑ वा॒ न वेद॑॥ ७॥

Joel P. Brereton’s translation:

This creation - from where it came to be,
if it was produced or if not –
he who is the overseer of this world in the highest heaven,
he surely knows. Or if he does not know... ?

Raimundo Panikkar’s translation[i]:

That out of which creation has arisen,
Whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows – or maybe He does not!

John Muir’s translation[ii]:

Whence sprang this world,
and whether framed by hand divine or no--
Its Lord in heaven alone can tell,
if even he can show.

A. L. Basham’s translation[iii]:

Whence all creation had its origin,
he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows - or maybe even he does not know.

Max Muller’s translation:

He from whom all this great creation came.
Whether his will created or was mute,
The Most High seer that is in highest heaven,
He knows it, - or perchance e'en He knows not.

Ralph T.H. Griffith’s translation:

He, the first origin of this creation,
whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven,
he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.

Putting It Together:

This subject of this verse is transcendence and immanence of the cosmic CEO, That One and how even the CEO may not know how and from where the cosmos emerged.

Sanskrit adhyaksha means overseer, president or the chief executive officer. In relation to the cosmos, That One is not only the source, it also is the overseer of its existence ensuring that it sustains. Terms such as Sanskrit: adhyaksha, overseer, president or chief executive officer are used to denote ultimate responsibility through policy without involvement in particular details. In relation to cosmic, policy translates into laws of nature.

The verse refers to the adhyaksha in the deepest space above (Sanskrit: vyoman meaning space, sky, heaven). In doing so, it points to the transcendence of That One reaffirming its separation above from the cosmos below. By assigning to it the ultimate responsibility for cosmic sustenance, the verse implies the cosmic immanence of That One as well for the CEO must intimately know the organization it runs. That One as the CEO of the cosmos then is simultaneously closest to it in the deepest space within and also farthest from it in the deepest space outside.

Does the cosmic CEO know where from and how the cosmos comes into existence?

Perhaps not.