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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1ut is allotted by the Lord. [34] e lxvi vedanta-s6tras. Pada III. With the third pada of the second adhyaya a new section of the work begins, whose task it is to describe how the individual soul is enabled by meditation on Brah- man to obtain final release. The first point to be deter- mined here is what constitutes a meditation on Brahman, and, more particularly, in what relation those parts of the Upanishads stand to each other which enjoin identical or partly identical meditations. The reader of the Upa- nishads cannot fail to observe that the texts of the different jakhas contain many chapters of similar, often nearly iden- tical, contents, and that in some cases the text of even one and the same sakha exhibits the same matter in more or less varied forms. The reason of this clearly is that the common stock of religious and philosophical ideas which were in circulation at the time of the composition of the Upanishads found separate expression in the different priestly communities ; hence the same speculations, legends, &c. reappear in various places of the sacred Scriptures in more or less differing dress. Originally, when we may suppose the members of each Vedic school to have confined themselves to the study of their own sacred texts, the fact that the texts of other schools contained chapters of similar contents would hardly appear to call for special note or comment ; not any more than the circumstance that the sacrificial performances enjoined on the followers of some particular jakha were found described with greater or smaller modifications in the books of other .sakhas also. But already at a very early period, at any rate long before the composition of the Vedanta-sutras in their present form, the Vedic theologians must have apprehended the truth that, in whatever regards sacrificial acts, one sakha, may indeed safely follow its own texts, disregarding the texts of all other jakhas ; that, however, all texts which aim at throwing light on the nature of Brahman and the relation to it of the human soul must somehow or other be com- bined into one consistent systematical whole equally valid for the followers of all Vedic schools. For, as we have had occasion to remark above, while acts may be performed INTRODUCTION. lxvii by different individuals in different ways, cognition is de- fined by the nature of the object cognised, and hence can be one only, unless it ceases to be true cognition.
2s we have had occasion to remark above, while acts may be performed INTRODUCTION. lxvii by different individuals in different ways, cognition is de- fined by the nature of the object cognised, and hence can be one only, unless it ceases to be true cognition. Hence the attempts, on the one hand, of discarding by skilful interpretation all contradictions met with in the sacred text, and, on the other hand, of showing what sections of the different Upanishads have to be viewed as teaching the same matter, and therefore must be combined in one medi- tation. The latter is the special task of the present pada. Adhik. I and II (1-4 ; 5) are concerned with the question whether those vidyas, which are met with in identical or similar form in more than one sacred text, are to be con- sidered as constituting several vidyas, or one vidya. only. Sankara remarks that the question affects only those vidyas whose object is the qualified Brahman; for the knowledge of the non-qualified Brahman, which is of an absolutely uniform nature, can of course be one only wherever it is set forth. But things lie differently in those cases where the object of knowledge is the sagu^am brahma or some outward manifestation of Brahman ; for the qualities as well as manifestations of Brahman are many. Anticipating the subject of a later adhikara//a, we may take for an example the so-called Sa^ilyavidya which is met with in Kh. Up. Ill, 14, again — in an abridged form — in Brz. Up. V, 6, and, moreover, in the tenth book of the 5atapatha- brahma^a (X, 6, 3). The three passages enjoin a medita- tion on Brahman as possessing certain attributes, some of which are specified in all the three texts (as, for instance, manomayatva, bharupatva), while others are peculiar to each separate passage (pra^a^ariratva and satyasa/^kalpatva, for instance, being mentioned in the AV/andogya Upanishad and Satapatha-brahma;za, but not in the Brz'hadaraTzyaka Upanishad, which, on its part, specifies sarvavaritva, not referred to in the two other texts). Here, then, there is room for a doubt whether the three passages refer to one object of knowledge or not. To the devout Vedantin the question is not a purely theoretical one, but of immediate practical interest. For if the three texts are to be held apart, there are three different meditations to be gone through ; if, on the e 2 lxviii vedAnta-s$tras. other hand, the vidyd is one only, all the different qualities of Brahman mentioned in the three passages have to be combined into one meditation.
3e held apart, there are three different meditations to be gone through ; if, on the e 2 lxviii vedAnta-s$tras. other hand, the vidyd is one only, all the different qualities of Brahman mentioned in the three passages have to be combined into one meditation. — The decision is here, as in all similar cases, in favour of the latter alternative. A careful examination of the three passages shows that the object of meditation is one only ; hence the meditation also is one only, comprehending all the attributes mentioned in the three texts. Adhik. Ill (6-8) discusses the case of vidyas being really separate, although apparently identical. The examples selected are the udgithavidyas of the .Oandogya Upanishad (I, 1-3) and the Brzhadara/zyaka Upanishad (I, 3), which, although showing certain similarities — such as bearing the same name and the udgitha being in both identified with pra^a — yet are to be held apart, because the subject of the iO&ndogya vidya is not the whole udgftha but only the sacred syllable Om, while the Brzhadara/zyaka Upanishad represents the whole udgitha as the object of meditation. Sutra 9 constitutes in Ankara's view a new adhikara^a (IV), proving that in the passage, ' Let a man meditate ' (Kh. Up. I, 1, 1), the Omkars. and the udgitha stand in the relation of one specifying the other, the meaning being, c Let a man meditate on that Owkara which/ &c. — Ac- cording to Ramanu£"a's interpretation, which seems to fall in more satisfactorily with the form and the wording of the Sutra, the latter merely furnishes an additional argument for the conclusion arrived at in the preceding adhikara^a. — Adhik. V (10) determines the unity of the so-called pra^a- vidy&s and the consequent comprehension of the different qualities of the pra/^a, which are mentioned in the different texts, within one meditation. Adhik. VI comprises, according to Sankara, the Sutras 11-13. The point to be settled is whether in all the medi- tations on Brahman all its qualities are to be included or only those mentioned in the special vidya. The decision is that the essential and unalterable attributes of Brahman, such as bliss and knowledge, are to be taken into account everywhere, while those which admit of a more or less (as, for instance, the attribute of having joy for its head, men- INTRODUCTION. lxiX tioned in the Taitt. Up.) are confined to special medita- tions.— Adhik. VII (14, 15), according to 5ankara, aims at proving that the object of Ka/^a Up. Ill, 10, 11 is one only, viz.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1ut is allotted by the Lord. [34] e lxvi vedanta-s6tras. Pada III. With the third pada of the second adhyaya a new section of the work begins, whose task it is to describe how the individual soul is enabled by meditation on Brah- man to obtain final release. The first point to be deter- mined here is what constitutes a meditation on Brahman, and, more particularly, in what relation those parts of the Upanishads stand to each other which enjoin identical or partly identical meditations. The reader of the Upa- nishads cannot fail to observe that the texts of the different jakhas contain many chapters of similar, often nearly iden- tical, contents, and that in some cases the text of even one and the same sakha exhibits the same matter in more or less varied forms. The reason of this clearly is that the common stock of religious and philosophical ideas which were in circulation at the time of the composition of the Upanishads found separate expression in the different priestly communities ; hence the same speculations, legends, &c. reappear in various places of the sacred Scriptures in more or less differing dress. Originally, when we may suppose the members of each Vedic school to have confined themselves to the study of their own sacred texts, the fact that the texts of other schools contained chapters of similar contents would hardly appear to call for special note or comment ; not any more than the circumstance that the sacrificial performances enjoined on the followers of some particular jakha were found described with greater or smaller modifications in the books of other .sakhas also. But already at a very early period, at any rate long before the composition of the Vedanta-sutras in their present form, the Vedic theologians must have apprehended the truth that, in whatever regards sacrificial acts, one sakha, may indeed safely follow its own texts, disregarding the texts of all other jakhas ; that, however, all texts which aim at throwing light on the nature of Brahman and the relation to it of the human soul must somehow or other be com- bined into one consistent systematical whole equally valid for the followers of all Vedic schools. For, as we have had occasion to remark above, while acts may be performed INTRODUCTION. lxvii by different individuals in different ways, cognition is de- fined by the nature of the object cognised, and hence can be one only, unless it ceases to be true cognition.
2s we have had occasion to remark above, while acts may be performed INTRODUCTION. lxvii by different individuals in different ways, cognition is de- fined by the nature of the object cognised, and hence can be one only, unless it ceases to be true cognition. Hence the attempts, on the one hand, of discarding by skilful interpretation all contradictions met with in the sacred text, and, on the other hand, of showing what sections of the different Upanishads have to be viewed as teaching the same matter, and therefore must be combined in one medi- tation. The latter is the special task of the present pada. Adhik. I and II (1-4 ; 5) are concerned with the question whether those vidyas, which are met with in identical or similar form in more than one sacred text, are to be con- sidered as constituting several vidyas, or one vidya. only. Sankara remarks that the question affects only those vidyas whose object is the qualified Brahman; for the knowledge of the non-qualified Brahman, which is of an absolutely uniform nature, can of course be one only wherever it is set forth. But things lie differently in those cases where the object of knowledge is the sagu^am brahma or some outward manifestation of Brahman ; for the qualities as well as manifestations of Brahman are many. Anticipating the subject of a later adhikara//a, we may take for an example the so-called Sa^ilyavidya which is met with in Kh. Up. Ill, 14, again — in an abridged form — in Brz. Up. V, 6, and, moreover, in the tenth book of the 5atapatha- brahma^a (X, 6, 3). The three passages enjoin a medita- tion on Brahman as possessing certain attributes, some of which are specified in all the three texts (as, for instance, manomayatva, bharupatva), while others are peculiar to each separate passage (pra^a^ariratva and satyasa/^kalpatva, for instance, being mentioned in the AV/andogya Upanishad and Satapatha-brahma;za, but not in the Brz'hadaraTzyaka Upanishad, which, on its part, specifies sarvavaritva, not referred to in the two other texts). Here, then, there is room for a doubt whether the three passages refer to one object of knowledge or not. To the devout Vedantin the question is not a purely theoretical one, but of immediate practical interest. For if the three texts are to be held apart, there are three different meditations to be gone through ; if, on the e 2 lxviii vedAnta-s$tras. other hand, the vidyd is one only, all the different qualities of Brahman mentioned in the three passages have to be combined into one meditation.
3e held apart, there are three different meditations to be gone through ; if, on the e 2 lxviii vedAnta-s$tras. other hand, the vidyd is one only, all the different qualities of Brahman mentioned in the three passages have to be combined into one meditation. — The decision is here, as in all similar cases, in favour of the latter alternative. A careful examination of the three passages shows that the object of meditation is one only ; hence the meditation also is one only, comprehending all the attributes mentioned in the three texts. Adhik. Ill (6-8) discusses the case of vidyas being really separate, although apparently identical. The examples selected are the udgithavidyas of the .Oandogya Upanishad (I, 1-3) and the Brzhadara/zyaka Upanishad (I, 3), which, although showing certain similarities — such as bearing the same name and the udgitha being in both identified with pra^a — yet are to be held apart, because the subject of the iO&ndogya vidya is not the whole udgftha but only the sacred syllable Om, while the Brzhadara/zyaka Upanishad represents the whole udgitha as the object of meditation. Sutra 9 constitutes in Ankara's view a new adhikara^a (IV), proving that in the passage, ' Let a man meditate ' (Kh. Up. I, 1, 1), the Omkars. and the udgitha stand in the relation of one specifying the other, the meaning being, c Let a man meditate on that Owkara which/ &c. — Ac- cording to Ramanu£"a's interpretation, which seems to fall in more satisfactorily with the form and the wording of the Sutra, the latter merely furnishes an additional argument for the conclusion arrived at in the preceding adhikara^a. — Adhik. V (10) determines the unity of the so-called pra^a- vidy&s and the consequent comprehension of the different qualities of the pra/^a, which are mentioned in the different texts, within one meditation. Adhik. VI comprises, according to Sankara, the Sutras 11-13. The point to be settled is whether in all the medi- tations on Brahman all its qualities are to be included or only those mentioned in the special vidya. The decision is that the essential and unalterable attributes of Brahman, such as bliss and knowledge, are to be taken into account everywhere, while those which admit of a more or less (as, for instance, the attribute of having joy for its head, men- INTRODUCTION. lxiX tioned in the Taitt. Up.) are confined to special medita- tions.— Adhik. VII (14, 15), according to 5ankara, aims at proving that the object of Ka/^a Up. Ill, 10, 11 is one only, viz.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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