(Shvetashvatara Upanishad, chapter 6 author unknown

  2. The rule of light (Shvetashvatara Upanishad, chapter 6) It is all very well to say that everything is 'ruled by God' or by some ultimate 'self', but what exactly does that mean? What precisely is this 'God' or 'self', and how does it rule? An answer is very briefly stated in the Isha Upanishad, stanza 8 (the last stanza translated in part 1 above). Here, 'God' or 'self' is described as pure light, unaffected by bodily constraints. From that unbodied light, all objectives are determined. God's rule is, quite simply, the rule of unaffected light. In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, this conception is described a little further. Here, there are many references to 'God': not only as 'Isha' or the 'Lord'; but, more often, as 'deva'. Both Sanskrit words, 'isha' and 'deva', can he translated as 'God'; but their roots are quite different. Where 'Isha' implies 'power' and 'domination', 'deva' implies 'light'.