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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1The text next declares that that small ether, although dwelling within the heart which is a part of the body, is not affected by the body's old age and decay, for being extremely minute it is not capable of change ; and adds ( that true I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 4. 317 being is the Brahman-city/ i. e. that Reality which is the cause of all is the city called Brahman, i. e. the abode of the entire Universe. The following clause * in it all desires are contained ' again referring to the small ether (c in it ') declares that in it all desires, i. e. all desirable qualities are contained. The text next proceeds to set forth that the small ether possesses Selfhood and certain desirable aus- picious qualities — this is done in the passage ' It is the Self free from sin ' &c. up to ' whose purposes realise themselves.' The following section — 'And as here on earth ' down to ' for them there is freedom in all the worlds ' — declares that those who do not know those eight qualities and the Self, called ' small ether/ which is characterised by them, and who perform actions aiming at objects of enjoyment different from that Self, obtain perish- able results only, and do not attain the power of realising their wishes ; while those on the other hand who know the Self called ' small ether ' and the qualities abiding within it, through the grace of that very same highest Self, obtain all their wishes and the power of realising their purposes. On the ground of this connected consideration of the whole chapter we are able to decide that the text enjoins as the object of search and enquiry both the highest Brahman and the whole body of auspicious qualities abiding within it. This the Vakyakara also renders clear in the passage beginning ' In the text " what is within that " there is designation of wishes (i. e. desirable qualities).' — For all these reasons the small ether is the highest Brahman. 14. On account of the going and of the word; for thus it is seen ; and (there is) an inferential sign. ' As people who do not know the country walk again and again over a gold treasure ' &c, c thus do all these creatures day after day go into that Brahma-world' (Kh. Up. VIII, 3, 2). The circumstance, here stated, of all individual souls going to a place which the qualification ' that' connects with' the subject-matter of the whole chapter, i. e. the small ether ; and the further circumstance of the goal of their going being called the Brahma-world, also prove that the 3 1 8 VEDANTA-SUTRAS.
2e. the small ether ; and the further circumstance of the goal of their going being called the Brahma-world, also prove that the 3 1 8 VEDANTA-SUTRAS. small ether is none other than the highest Brahman. — But in what way do these two points prove what they are claimed to prove ?— ' For thus it is seen '; the Sutra adds. For we see it stated in other texts, that all individual souls go daily to Brahman, viz. in the state of deep sleep, ' All these creatures having become united with the True do not know that they are united with the True ' ; ' Having come back from the True they know not that they have come back from the True ' (Kh. Up. VI, 9, 2 ; 10, 2). And in the same way we see that the word ' Brahma-world ' denotes the highest Brahman ; so e. g. ' this is the Brahma- world, O King' (Br/. Up. IV, 3, 32). — The Sutra subjoins a further reason. Even if the going of the souls to Brahman were not seen in other texts, the fact that the text under discussion declares the individual souls to abide in Brahman in the state of deep sleep, enjoying freedom from all pain and trouble just as if they were merged in the pralaya state, is a sufficient ' inferential sign ' to prove that the ' small ether ' is the highest Brahman. And similarly the term ' Brahma-world ' as exhibited in the text under discussion, if understood as denoting co-ordina- tion (i. e. ' that world which is Brahman '), is sufficient to prove by itself that the ' small ether ' — to which that term is applied — is the highest Brahman ; it therefore is needless to appeal to other passages. That this explanation of * Brahma-world ' is preferable to the one which understands by Brahma-world ' the world of Brahman ' is proved by considerations similar to those by which the Pu. Mi. Sutras prove that ' Nishada-sthapati ' means a headman who at the same time is a Nishada. — Another explanation of the passage under discussion may also be given. What is said there about all these creatures daily c going into the Brahma-world/ may not refer at all to the state of deep sleep, but rather mean that although ' daily going into the Brahman-world,' i.e. although at all time moving above the small ether, i. e. Brahman which as the universal Self is everywhere, yet all these creatures not knowing Brahman do not find, i. e. obtain it ; just as men not knowing the place where a treasure is hidden do not find it, although I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 6. 319
3although at all time moving above the small ether, i. e. Brahman which as the universal Self is everywhere, yet all these creatures not knowing Brahman do not find, i. e. obtain it ; just as men not knowing the place where a treasure is hidden do not find it, although I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 6. 319 they constantly pass over it. This constant moving about on the part of ignorant creatures on the surface, as it were, of the small ether abiding within as their inward Ruler, proves that small ether to be the highest Brahman. That the highest Brahman abides within as the inner Self of creatures which dwell in it and are ruled by it, we are told in other texts also, so e. g. in the Antaryamin-brahma^a. * He who dwells in the Self, within the Self, whom the Self does not know, of whom the Self is the body, who rules the Self within ; unseen but seeing, unheard but hearing ' (Br/. Up. Ill, 7, 22 ; 23). — On this interpretation we explain the last part of the Sutra as follows. Even if other texts did not refer to it, this daily moving about on the part of ignorant creatures, on the ether within the heart — which the comparison with the treasure of gold shows to be the supreme good of man — , is in itself a sufficient proof for the small ether being Brahman. 15. And on account of there being observed in that (small ether), supporting which is a greatness of that (i.e. Brahman). In continuation of the passage ' It is the Self free from Sin/ &c, which refers to the small ether, the text says : ' it is a bank, a limitary support, that these worlds may not be confounded.' What the text here says about the small ether supporting the world proves it to be the highest Brahman ; for to support the world is the glory of Brahman. Compare ' He is the Lord of all, the king of all things, the protector of all things. He is a bank and a boundary, so that these worlds may not be confounded ' (Brz. Up. IV, 4, 22) ; ' By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, heaven and earth stand, held apart' (Bri. Up. Ill, 8, 9). Now this specific greatness of the highest Brahman, which consists in its supporting the world, is also observed in the small ether — which proves the latter to be none other than Brahman. 16. And on account of the settled meaning. The word ' ether/ moreover, is known to have, among 320 vedanta-sOtras. other meanings, that of Brahman. Compare ' For who could breathe, who could breathe forth, if that ether were not bliss?' (Taitt. Up. II, 7); ' All these beings take their rise from the ether ' (Kh. Up. I, 9, 1). It has to be kept in view that in the text under discussion the meaning ' Brah- man' is supported by what is said about the qualities of the small ether — viz. freedom from sin, &c. — and hence is stronger than the other meaning, according to which aka^a signifies the elemental ether.
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.
1The text next declares that that small ether, although dwelling within the heart which is a part of the body, is not affected by the body's old age and decay, for being extremely minute it is not capable of change ; and adds ( that true I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 4. 317 being is the Brahman-city/ i. e. that Reality which is the cause of all is the city called Brahman, i. e. the abode of the entire Universe. The following clause * in it all desires are contained ' again referring to the small ether (c in it ') declares that in it all desires, i. e. all desirable qualities are contained. The text next proceeds to set forth that the small ether possesses Selfhood and certain desirable aus- picious qualities — this is done in the passage ' It is the Self free from sin ' &c. up to ' whose purposes realise themselves.' The following section — 'And as here on earth ' down to ' for them there is freedom in all the worlds ' — declares that those who do not know those eight qualities and the Self, called ' small ether/ which is characterised by them, and who perform actions aiming at objects of enjoyment different from that Self, obtain perish- able results only, and do not attain the power of realising their wishes ; while those on the other hand who know the Self called ' small ether ' and the qualities abiding within it, through the grace of that very same highest Self, obtain all their wishes and the power of realising their purposes. On the ground of this connected consideration of the whole chapter we are able to decide that the text enjoins as the object of search and enquiry both the highest Brahman and the whole body of auspicious qualities abiding within it. This the Vakyakara also renders clear in the passage beginning ' In the text " what is within that " there is designation of wishes (i. e. desirable qualities).' — For all these reasons the small ether is the highest Brahman. 14. On account of the going and of the word; for thus it is seen ; and (there is) an inferential sign. ' As people who do not know the country walk again and again over a gold treasure ' &c, c thus do all these creatures day after day go into that Brahma-world' (Kh. Up. VIII, 3, 2). The circumstance, here stated, of all individual souls going to a place which the qualification ' that' connects with' the subject-matter of the whole chapter, i. e. the small ether ; and the further circumstance of the goal of their going being called the Brahma-world, also prove that the 3 1 8 VEDANTA-SUTRAS.
2e. the small ether ; and the further circumstance of the goal of their going being called the Brahma-world, also prove that the 3 1 8 VEDANTA-SUTRAS. small ether is none other than the highest Brahman. — But in what way do these two points prove what they are claimed to prove ?— ' For thus it is seen '; the Sutra adds. For we see it stated in other texts, that all individual souls go daily to Brahman, viz. in the state of deep sleep, ' All these creatures having become united with the True do not know that they are united with the True ' ; ' Having come back from the True they know not that they have come back from the True ' (Kh. Up. VI, 9, 2 ; 10, 2). And in the same way we see that the word ' Brahma-world ' denotes the highest Brahman ; so e. g. ' this is the Brahma- world, O King' (Br/. Up. IV, 3, 32). — The Sutra subjoins a further reason. Even if the going of the souls to Brahman were not seen in other texts, the fact that the text under discussion declares the individual souls to abide in Brahman in the state of deep sleep, enjoying freedom from all pain and trouble just as if they were merged in the pralaya state, is a sufficient ' inferential sign ' to prove that the ' small ether ' is the highest Brahman. And similarly the term ' Brahma-world ' as exhibited in the text under discussion, if understood as denoting co-ordina- tion (i. e. ' that world which is Brahman '), is sufficient to prove by itself that the ' small ether ' — to which that term is applied — is the highest Brahman ; it therefore is needless to appeal to other passages. That this explanation of * Brahma-world ' is preferable to the one which understands by Brahma-world ' the world of Brahman ' is proved by considerations similar to those by which the Pu. Mi. Sutras prove that ' Nishada-sthapati ' means a headman who at the same time is a Nishada. — Another explanation of the passage under discussion may also be given. What is said there about all these creatures daily c going into the Brahma-world/ may not refer at all to the state of deep sleep, but rather mean that although ' daily going into the Brahman-world,' i.e. although at all time moving above the small ether, i. e. Brahman which as the universal Self is everywhere, yet all these creatures not knowing Brahman do not find, i. e. obtain it ; just as men not knowing the place where a treasure is hidden do not find it, although I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 6. 319
3although at all time moving above the small ether, i. e. Brahman which as the universal Self is everywhere, yet all these creatures not knowing Brahman do not find, i. e. obtain it ; just as men not knowing the place where a treasure is hidden do not find it, although I ADHYAYA, 3 PADA, 1 6. 319 they constantly pass over it. This constant moving about on the part of ignorant creatures on the surface, as it were, of the small ether abiding within as their inward Ruler, proves that small ether to be the highest Brahman. That the highest Brahman abides within as the inner Self of creatures which dwell in it and are ruled by it, we are told in other texts also, so e. g. in the Antaryamin-brahma^a. * He who dwells in the Self, within the Self, whom the Self does not know, of whom the Self is the body, who rules the Self within ; unseen but seeing, unheard but hearing ' (Br/. Up. Ill, 7, 22 ; 23). — On this interpretation we explain the last part of the Sutra as follows. Even if other texts did not refer to it, this daily moving about on the part of ignorant creatures, on the ether within the heart — which the comparison with the treasure of gold shows to be the supreme good of man — , is in itself a sufficient proof for the small ether being Brahman. 15. And on account of there being observed in that (small ether), supporting which is a greatness of that (i.e. Brahman). In continuation of the passage ' It is the Self free from Sin/ &c, which refers to the small ether, the text says : ' it is a bank, a limitary support, that these worlds may not be confounded.' What the text here says about the small ether supporting the world proves it to be the highest Brahman ; for to support the world is the glory of Brahman. Compare ' He is the Lord of all, the king of all things, the protector of all things. He is a bank and a boundary, so that these worlds may not be confounded ' (Brz. Up. IV, 4, 22) ; ' By the command of that Imperishable, O Gargi, heaven and earth stand, held apart' (Bri. Up. Ill, 8, 9). Now this specific greatness of the highest Brahman, which consists in its supporting the world, is also observed in the small ether — which proves the latter to be none other than Brahman. 16. And on account of the settled meaning. The word ' ether/ moreover, is known to have, among 320 vedanta-sOtras. other meanings, that of Brahman. Compare ' For who could breathe, who could breathe forth, if that ether were not bliss?' (Taitt. Up. II, 7); ' All these beings take their rise from the ether ' (Kh. Up. I, 9, 1). It has to be kept in view that in the text under discussion the meaning ' Brah- man' is supported by what is said about the qualities of the small ether — viz. freedom from sin, &c. — and hence is stronger than the other meaning, according to which aka^a signifies the elemental ether.
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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