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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Up. VIII, 7, 1); 'Let a man medi- tate upon him as the Self (Brt. Up. I, 4, 7); ' Let a man meditate upon the Self as his world' (Bri. Up. I, 4, 15). — - These injunctions have meditation for their object, and N 2 1 80 VEDANTA-sfiTRAS. meditation again is defined by its own object only, so that the injunctive word immediately suggests an object of meditation ; and as such an object there presents itself, the ' Self ' mentioned in the same sentence. Now there arises the question, What are the characteristics of that Self? and in reply to it there come in texts such as 'The True, knowledge, infinite is Brahman ' ; ' Being only this was in the beginning, one without a second.' As these texts give the required special information, they stand in a supplementary relation to the injunctions, and hence are means of right knowledge ; and in this way the purport of the Vedanta-texts includes Brahman — as having a definite place in meditation which is the object of injunction. Texts such as ' One only without a second ' (Kk. Up. VI, 3, 1) ; 'That is the true, that is the Self (KA. Up. VI, 8, 7); ' There is here not any plurality ' (Br/. Up. IV, 4, 19), teach that there is one Reality only, viz. Brahman, and that every- thing else is false. And as Perception and the other means of proof, as well as that part of Scripture which refers to action and is based on the view of plurality, convey the notion of plurality, and as there is contradiction between plurality and absolute Unity, we form the conclusion that the idea of plurality arises through beginningless avidya, while absolute Unity alone is real. And thus it is through the injunction of meditation on Brahman — which has for its result the intuition of Brahman — that man reaches final release, i.e. becomes one with Brahman, which consists of non-dual intelligence free of all the manifold distinctions that spring from Nescience. Nor is this becoming one with Brahman to be accomplished by the mere cognition of the sense of certain Vedanta-texts ; for this is not observed — the fact rather being that the view of plurality persists ^ven after the cognition of the sense of those texts — , and, moreover, if it were so, the injunction by Scripture of hearing, reflecting, &c, would be purposeless. To this reasoning the following objection might be raised. • — We observe that when a man is told that what he is afraid of is not a snake, but only a rope, his fear comes to an end ; and as bondage is as unreal as the snake imagined in the I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4, l8l
2To this reasoning the following objection might be raised. • — We observe that when a man is told that what he is afraid of is not a snake, but only a rope, his fear comes to an end ; and as bondage is as unreal as the snake imagined in the I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4, l8l rope it also admits of being sublated by knowledge, and may therefore, apart from all injunction, be put an end to by the simple comprehension of the sense of certain texts. If final release were to be brought about by injunctions, it would follow that it is not eternal — not any more than the heavenly world and the like ; while yet its eternity is ad- mitted by every one. Acts of religious merit, moreover (such as are prescribed by injunctions), can only be the causes of certain results in so far as they give rise to a body capable of experiencing those results, and thus necessarily produce the so-called sa^sara-state (which is opposed to final release, and) which consists in the connexion of the soul with some sort of body, high or low. Release, therefore, is not something to be brought about by acts of religious merit. In agreement herewith Scripture says, * For the soul as long as it is in the body, there is no release from pleasure and pain ; when it is free from the body, then neither pleasure nor pain touch it' (Kk. Up. VIII, 12, 1). This passage declares that in the state of release, when the soul is freed from the body, it is not touched by either pleasure or pain — the effects of acts of religious merit or demerit ; and from this it follows that the disembodied state is not to be accomplished by acts of religious merit. Nor may it be said that, as other special results are accom- plished by special injunctions, so the disembodied state is to be accomplished by the injunction of meditation ; for that state is essentially something not to be effected. Thus scriptural texts say, 'The wise man who knows the Self as bodiless among the bodies, as persisting among non- persisting things, as great and all-pervading ; he does not grieve' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 22); 'That person is without breath, without internal organ, pure, without contact ' (Mu. Up. II, 1, 2). — Release which is a bodiless state is eternal, and cannot therefore be accomplished through meritorious acts. In agreement herewith Scripture says, ' That which thou seest apart from merit (dharma) and non-merit, from what is done and not done, from what exists and what has to be accomplished — tell me that ' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 14). — Consider what follows also. When we speak of something being 1 8 2 VED ANTA-S^TR AS.
3Up. I, 2, 14). — Consider what follows also. When we speak of something being 1 8 2 VED ANTA-S^TR AS. accomplished (effected — sadhya) we mean one of four things, viz. its being originated (utpatti), or obtained (prapti), or modified (vikrzti), or in some way or other (often purely ceremonial) made ready or fit (sanzskrzti). Now in neither of these four senses can final Release be said to be accom- plished. It cannot be originated, for being Brahman itself it is eternal. It cannot be attained ; for Brahman, being the Self, is something eternally attained. It cannot be modi- fied ; for that would imply that like sour milk and similar things (which are capable of change) it is non-eternal. Nor finally can it be made ' ready ' or ' fit.' A thing is made ready or fit either by the removal of some imper- fection or by the addition of some perfection. Now Brahman cannot be freed from any imperfection, for it is eternally faultless ; nor can a perfection be added to it, for it is absolutely perfect. Nor can it be improved in the sense in which we speak of improving a mirror, viz. by polishing it ; for as it is absolutely changeless it cannot become the object of any action, either of its own or of an outside agent. And, again, actions affecting the body, such as bathing, do not { purify ' the Self (as might possibly be maintained) but only the organ of Egoity (aha^kartrz) which is the product of avidya, and connected with the body ; it is this same aha^kartrz* also that enjoys the fruits springing from any action upon the body. Nor must it be said that the Self is the ahawkartrz; for the Self rather is that which is conscious of the aha;/zkartrz. This is the teaching of the mantras : ' One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating ' (Mu. Up. Ill, I, i); ' When he is in union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise men call him the Enjoyer' (Ka. Up. I, 3, 4) ; ' The one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities ' (6Vet. Up. VI, 11) ; * He encircled all, bright, bodiless, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil' (l^a Up. 8). — All these texts distinguish from the aha^kartrz due to Nescience, the true Self, absolutely perfect and pure, free from all change. Release therefore I ADHYAYA, I PAD A, 4. 1 83
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.
1Up. VIII, 7, 1); 'Let a man medi- tate upon him as the Self (Brt. Up. I, 4, 7); ' Let a man meditate upon the Self as his world' (Bri. Up. I, 4, 15). — - These injunctions have meditation for their object, and N 2 1 80 VEDANTA-sfiTRAS. meditation again is defined by its own object only, so that the injunctive word immediately suggests an object of meditation ; and as such an object there presents itself, the ' Self ' mentioned in the same sentence. Now there arises the question, What are the characteristics of that Self? and in reply to it there come in texts such as 'The True, knowledge, infinite is Brahman ' ; ' Being only this was in the beginning, one without a second.' As these texts give the required special information, they stand in a supplementary relation to the injunctions, and hence are means of right knowledge ; and in this way the purport of the Vedanta-texts includes Brahman — as having a definite place in meditation which is the object of injunction. Texts such as ' One only without a second ' (Kk. Up. VI, 3, 1) ; 'That is the true, that is the Self (KA. Up. VI, 8, 7); ' There is here not any plurality ' (Br/. Up. IV, 4, 19), teach that there is one Reality only, viz. Brahman, and that every- thing else is false. And as Perception and the other means of proof, as well as that part of Scripture which refers to action and is based on the view of plurality, convey the notion of plurality, and as there is contradiction between plurality and absolute Unity, we form the conclusion that the idea of plurality arises through beginningless avidya, while absolute Unity alone is real. And thus it is through the injunction of meditation on Brahman — which has for its result the intuition of Brahman — that man reaches final release, i.e. becomes one with Brahman, which consists of non-dual intelligence free of all the manifold distinctions that spring from Nescience. Nor is this becoming one with Brahman to be accomplished by the mere cognition of the sense of certain Vedanta-texts ; for this is not observed — the fact rather being that the view of plurality persists ^ven after the cognition of the sense of those texts — , and, moreover, if it were so, the injunction by Scripture of hearing, reflecting, &c, would be purposeless. To this reasoning the following objection might be raised. • — We observe that when a man is told that what he is afraid of is not a snake, but only a rope, his fear comes to an end ; and as bondage is as unreal as the snake imagined in the I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4, l8l
2To this reasoning the following objection might be raised. • — We observe that when a man is told that what he is afraid of is not a snake, but only a rope, his fear comes to an end ; and as bondage is as unreal as the snake imagined in the I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4, l8l rope it also admits of being sublated by knowledge, and may therefore, apart from all injunction, be put an end to by the simple comprehension of the sense of certain texts. If final release were to be brought about by injunctions, it would follow that it is not eternal — not any more than the heavenly world and the like ; while yet its eternity is ad- mitted by every one. Acts of religious merit, moreover (such as are prescribed by injunctions), can only be the causes of certain results in so far as they give rise to a body capable of experiencing those results, and thus necessarily produce the so-called sa^sara-state (which is opposed to final release, and) which consists in the connexion of the soul with some sort of body, high or low. Release, therefore, is not something to be brought about by acts of religious merit. In agreement herewith Scripture says, * For the soul as long as it is in the body, there is no release from pleasure and pain ; when it is free from the body, then neither pleasure nor pain touch it' (Kk. Up. VIII, 12, 1). This passage declares that in the state of release, when the soul is freed from the body, it is not touched by either pleasure or pain — the effects of acts of religious merit or demerit ; and from this it follows that the disembodied state is not to be accomplished by acts of religious merit. Nor may it be said that, as other special results are accom- plished by special injunctions, so the disembodied state is to be accomplished by the injunction of meditation ; for that state is essentially something not to be effected. Thus scriptural texts say, 'The wise man who knows the Self as bodiless among the bodies, as persisting among non- persisting things, as great and all-pervading ; he does not grieve' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 22); 'That person is without breath, without internal organ, pure, without contact ' (Mu. Up. II, 1, 2). — Release which is a bodiless state is eternal, and cannot therefore be accomplished through meritorious acts. In agreement herewith Scripture says, ' That which thou seest apart from merit (dharma) and non-merit, from what is done and not done, from what exists and what has to be accomplished — tell me that ' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 14). — Consider what follows also. When we speak of something being 1 8 2 VED ANTA-S^TR AS.
3Up. I, 2, 14). — Consider what follows also. When we speak of something being 1 8 2 VED ANTA-S^TR AS. accomplished (effected — sadhya) we mean one of four things, viz. its being originated (utpatti), or obtained (prapti), or modified (vikrzti), or in some way or other (often purely ceremonial) made ready or fit (sanzskrzti). Now in neither of these four senses can final Release be said to be accom- plished. It cannot be originated, for being Brahman itself it is eternal. It cannot be attained ; for Brahman, being the Self, is something eternally attained. It cannot be modi- fied ; for that would imply that like sour milk and similar things (which are capable of change) it is non-eternal. Nor finally can it be made ' ready ' or ' fit.' A thing is made ready or fit either by the removal of some imper- fection or by the addition of some perfection. Now Brahman cannot be freed from any imperfection, for it is eternally faultless ; nor can a perfection be added to it, for it is absolutely perfect. Nor can it be improved in the sense in which we speak of improving a mirror, viz. by polishing it ; for as it is absolutely changeless it cannot become the object of any action, either of its own or of an outside agent. And, again, actions affecting the body, such as bathing, do not { purify ' the Self (as might possibly be maintained) but only the organ of Egoity (aha^kartrz) which is the product of avidya, and connected with the body ; it is this same aha^kartrz* also that enjoys the fruits springing from any action upon the body. Nor must it be said that the Self is the ahawkartrz; for the Self rather is that which is conscious of the aha;/zkartrz. This is the teaching of the mantras : ' One of them eats the sweet fruit, the other looks on without eating ' (Mu. Up. Ill, I, i); ' When he is in union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise men call him the Enjoyer' (Ka. Up. I, 3, 4) ; ' The one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities ' (6Vet. Up. VI, 11) ; * He encircled all, bright, bodiless, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil' (l^a Up. 8). — All these texts distinguish from the aha^kartrz due to Nescience, the true Self, absolutely perfect and pure, free from all change. Release therefore I ADHYAYA, I PAD A, 4. 1 83
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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