1. The resting place of heaven, earth, sky, mind, and senses is Brahman because the scripture designates it as the Self.

“In Him heaven, the earth, and the sky are woven, as also the mind with all the senses. Know that Self alone and leave off other talk. He is the bridge of immortality.”

The one spoken of as the universal abode is Brahman alone, for the word Self is appropriate only to the Highest Reality in this context. The surrounding passages before and after also speak of Brahman, confirming the continuity of the subject.

2. This is further confirmed because scripture declares it to be the goal attained by the liberated.

The resting place described here is the supreme goal reached by those who are freed, and this can belong only to Brahman.

3. It is not the inferred Pradhāna, because no term in the text indicates inert matter, while the language clearly points to intelligence and Selfhood.

4. Nor is it the individual soul, for the limited experiencer cannot be the omniscient support of the whole universe.

5. The distinction between the knower and the thing to be known is explicitly stated, showing that the empirical self and the cosmic abode are different at the level of instruction.

6. The larger subject matter of the Upaniṣad from beginning to end is Brahman, so the same meaning must be retained here.

7. The image of the two birds on one tree confirms the distinction between the witnessing Supreme Self and the fruit eating individual self. This continuity establishes Brahman as the universal resting place.

One bird remains unattached and merely witnesses, while the other eats the fruits of action. This reveals the difference between Brahman and the individual self while preserving their intimate proximity within the same existential tree of life.