The Vedânta-Sûtras with the Commentary of Râmânuja, Part III — SBE Vol. 48 (trans. George Thibaut, 1904)

That Brahman is of the nature of supreme bliss has been shown in detail under I, 1, 1% ff. — The conclusion from all this is that, as the text applies the term ' bhuman ' to what was previously called the Real or True, and which is different from the individual soul there called Pra/za, the bhuman is the highest Brahman.

8. And on account of the suitability of the attributes.

The attributes also which the text ascribes to the bhuman suit the highest Self only. So immortality (' The Bhuman is immortal/ VII, 24, 1) ; not being based on something else (c it rests in its own greatness ') ; being the Self of all (' the bhuman is below/ &c, ' it is all this ') ; being that which produces all (' from the Self there springs breath/ &c). All these attributes can be reconciled with the highest Self only. — The Purvapakshin has pointed to the text which declares the ' I ' to be the Self of all (VII, 25, 1) ; but what that text really teaches is meditation on Brahman under the aspect of the ' 1/ This appears from the introductory clause ' Now follows the instruction with regard to the 1/ That of the ' 1/ i. e. the individual Self, also the highest Self is the true Self, scripture declares in several places, so e. g. in the text about the inward Ruler (Br/. Up. Ill, 7). As therefore the individual soul finds its completion in the highest Self only, the word ' I ' also extends in its connotation up to the highest Self; and the instruction about the ' I ' which is given in the text has thus for

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its object meditation on the highest Self in so far as having the individual Self for its body. As the highest Self has all beings for its body and thus is the Self of all, it is the Self of the individual soul also ; and this the text declares in the passage beginning c Now follows the instruction about the Self,' and ending ' Self is all this/ In order to prove this the text declares that everything originates from the highest Self which forms the Self of the individual soul also, viz. in the passage ' From the Self of him who sees this, perceives this, knows this, there springs breath,' &c. — that means : breath and all other beings spring from the highest Self which abides within the Self of the meditating devotee as its inner ruler. Hence, the text means to intimate, meditation should be performed on the * 1/ in order thus firmly to establish the cognition that the highest Self has the * I,' i. e. the individual soul for its body.

It is thus an established conclusion that the bhuman is the highest Self. Here terminates the adhikara/m of * fulness.*

9. The Imperishable (is Brahman), on account of its supporting that which is the end of ether.

e. the individual soul for its body.

It is thus an established conclusion that the bhuman is the highest Self. Here terminates the adhikara/m of * fulness.*

9. The Imperishable (is Brahman), on account of its supporting that which is the end of ether.

The Va^asaneyins, in the chapter recording the questions asked by Gargi, read as follows : ' He said, O Gargi, the Brahma/zas call that the Imperishable. It is neither coarse nor fine, neither short nor long, it is not red, not fluid, it is without a shadow/ &c. (Br/. Up. Ill, 8, 8). A doubt here arises whether that Imperishable be the Pradhana, or the individual soul, or the highest Self. — The Pradhana, it may be maintained in the first place. For we see that in passages such as ' higher than that which is higher than the Imperishable ' the term { Imperishable ' actually denotes the Pradhana; and moreover the qualities enumerated, viz. not being either coarse or fine, &c, are characteristic of the Pradhana. — But, an objection is raised, in texts such as * That knowledge by which the Imperishable is apprehended' (Mu. Up. I, 1, 5), the word ' Imperishable ' is seen to denote the highest Brahman ! — In cases, we reply, where the meaning of a word may be determined on the basis either of somep. 309 other means of proof or of Scripture, the former meaning presents itself to the mind first, and hence there is no reason why such meaning should not be accepted. — But how do you know that the ether of the text is not ether in the ordinary sense ? — From the description, we reply, given of it in the text,'' That above the heavens/ &c. There it is said that all created things past, present and future rest on ether as their basis ; ether cannot therefore be taken as that elementary substance which itself is comprised in the sphere of things created. We therefore must understand by ' ether ' matter in its subtle state, i. e. the Pradhana ; and the Imperishable which thereupon is declared to be the support of that Pradhana, hence cannot itself be the Pradhana.— Nor is there any force in the argument that a sense established by some other means of proof presents itself to the mind more immediately than a sense established by Scripture ; for as the word ' akshara ' (L e. the non-perishable) intimates its sense directly through the meaning of its constituent elements other means of proof need not be regarded at all.

Moreover Ya^r/avalkya had said previously that the ether is the cause and abode of all things past, present and future, and when Gargi thereupon asks him in what that ether ' is woven/ i. e. what is the causal substance and abode of ether, he replies ' the Imperishable/ Now this also proves that by the ' Imperishable ' we have to understand the Pradhana which from other sources is known to be the causal substance, and hence the abode, of all effected things whatsoever.

e. what is the causal substance and abode of ether, he replies ' the Imperishable/ Now this also proves that by the ' Imperishable ' we have to understand the Pradhana which from other sources is known to be the causal substance, and hence the abode, of all effected things whatsoever.

This prima facie view is set aside by the Sutra. The ( Imperishable ' is the highest Brahman, because the text declares it to support that which is the end, i. e. that which lies beyond ether, viz. unevolved matter (avyakrztam). The ether referred to in Gargi's question is not ether in the ordinary sense, but what lies beyond ether, viz. unevolved matter, and hence the ' Imperishable ' which is said to be the support of that ' unevolved ' cannot itself be the ' unevolved/ i. e. cannot be the Pradhana. Let us, then, the Purvapakshin resumes, understand by the ' Imperishable/

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the individual soul ; for this may be viewed as the support of the entire aggregate of non-sentient matter, inclusive of the elements in their subtle condition ; and the qualities of non- coarseness, &c, are characteristic of that soul also. Moreover there are several texts in which the term ' Imperishable ' is actually seen to denote the individual soul ; so e. g. ' the non-evolved ' is merged in the ' Imperishable' ; * That of which the non-evolved is the body ; that of which the Imperishable is the body ' ; ' All the creatures are the Perishable, the non-changing Self is called the Imperishable ' (Bha. Gi. XV, 16).

To this alternative prima facie view the next Sutra replies.

10. And this (supporting) (springs) from command.

The text declares that this supporting of ether and all other things proceeds from command. ' In the command of that Imperishable sun and moon stand, held apart ; in the command of that Imperishable heaven and earth stand, held apart/ &c. Now such supreme command, through which all things in the universe are held apart, cannot possibly belong to the individual soul in the state either of bondage or of release. The commanding ' Imperishable ' therefore is none other than the supreme Person.

ii. And on account of the exclusion of (what is of) another nature (than Brahman).

Another nature, i. e. the nature of the Pradhana, and so on. A supplementary passage excludes difference on the part of the Imperishable from the supreme Person. * That Imperishable, O Gargi, is unseen but seeing ; unheard but hearing ; unthought but thinking ; unknown but knowing. There is nothing that sees but it, nothing that hears but it, nothing that thinks but it, nothing that knows but it. In that Imperishable, O Gargi, the ether is woven, warp and woof/ Here the declaration as to the Imperishable being what sees, hears, &c. excludes the non-intelligent Pradhana ; and the declaration as to its being all-seeing, &c. while not

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