Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1please, gratify) by knowledge merely — being thus comparable to tales with which we soothe children or sick persons ; it does not lie within their province to establish the reality of an accomplished thing, and hence Scripture cannot be viewed as a valid means for the cognition of Brahman. To this prima facie view the Sutrakara replies, ' But this on account of connexion.5 ' Connexion ' is here to be taken in an eminent sense, as ' connexion with the end of man.' That Brahman, which is measureless bliss and therefore constitutes the highest end of man, is connected with the texts as the topic set forth by them, proves Scripture to be a valid means for the cognition of Brahman. To maintain that the whole body of Vedanta-texts — which teach us that Brahman is the highest object to be attained, since it con- sists of supreme bliss free of all blemish whatsoever — is devoid of all use and purpose merely because it does not aim at action or the cessation of action ; is no better than to say that a youth of royal descent is of no use because he does not belong to a community of low wretches living on the flesh of dogs ! The relation of the different texts is as follows. There are individual souls of numberless kinds — gods, Asuras, Gandharvas, Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Kinnaras, Ki/^purushas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pisa^as, men, beasts, birds, creeping animals, trees, bushes, creepers, grasses and so on — dis- tinguished as male, female, or sexless, and having different sources of nourishment and support and different objects of enjoyment. Now all these souls are deficient in insight into the true nature of the highest reality, their under- standings being obscured by Nescience operating in the form of beginningless karman ; and hence those texts only are fully useful to them which teach that there exists a highest Brahman — which the souls in the state of release may cognise as non-different from themselves, and which I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4. 1 99
21 99 then, through its own essential nature, qualities, power and energies, imparts to those souls bliss infinite and unsur- passable. When now the question arises — as it must arise — , as to how this Brahman is to be attained, there step in certain other Vedanta-texts — such as 'He who knows Brahman reaches the highest ' (Br/. Up. II, 1, 1), and * Let a man meditate on the Self as his world ' (Br/. Up. 1,4, 15) • — and, by means of terms denoting ' knowing ' and so on, enjoin meditation as the means of attaining Brahman. (We may illustrate this relation existing between the texts setting forth the nature of Brahman and those enjoining meditation by two comparisons.) The case is like that of a man who has been told ' There is a treasure hidden in your house/ He learns through this sentence the existence of the treasure, is satisfied, and then takes active steps to find it and make it his own.- — Or take the case of a young prince who, intent on some boyish play, leaves his father's palace and, losing his way, does not return. The king thinks his son is lost ; the boy himself is received by some good Brahman who brings him up and teaches him without knowing who the boy's father is. When the boy has reached his sixteenth year and is accomplished in every way, some fully trustworthy person tells him, ' Your father is the ruler of all these lands, famous for the possession of all noble qualities, wisdom, generosity, kindness, courage, valour and so on, and he stays in his capital, longing to see you, his lost child. Hearing that his father is alive and a man so high and noble, the boy's heart is filled with supreme joy ; and the king also, understanding that his son is alive, in good health, handsome and well instructed, considers him- self to have attained all a man can wish for. He then takes steps to recover his son, and finally the two are reunited. The assertion again that a statement referring to some accomplished thing gratifies men merely by imparting a knowledge of the thing, without being a means of knowledge with regard to its real existence — so that it would be com- parable to the tales we tell to children and sick people — , can in no way be upheld. When it is ascertained that a thing has no real existence, the mere knowledge or idea 200 VEDANTA-S^TRAS. of the thing does not gratify. The pleasure which stories give to children and sick people is due to the fact that they erroneously believe them to be true ; if they were to find out that the matter present to their thought is untrue their pleasure would come to an end that very moment. And thus in the case of the texts of the Upanishads also. If we thought that these texts do not mean to intimate the real existence of Brahman, the mere idea of Brahman to which they give rise would not satisfy us in any way.
3And thus in the case of the texts of the Upanishads also. If we thought that these texts do not mean to intimate the real existence of Brahman, the mere idea of Brahman to which they give rise would not satisfy us in any way. The conclusion therefore is that texts such as c That from whence these beings are born ' &c. do convey valid instruc- tion as to the existence of Brahman, i. e. that being which is the sole cause of the world, is free from all shadow of im- perfection, comprises within itself all auspicious qualities, such as omniscience and so on, and is of the nature of supreme bliss. — Here terminates the adhikara^a of * connexion.' 5. On account of seeing (i. e. thinking) that which is not founded on Scripture (i. e. the Pradhana) is not (what is taught by the texts referring to the origination of the world). We have maintained that what is taught by the texts relative to the origination of the world is Brahman, om- niscient, and so on. The present Sutra and the following Sutras now add that those texts can in no way refer to the Pradhana and similar entities which rest on Inference only. We read in the .Oandogya, ' Being only was this in the beginning, one only, without a second. — It thought, may I be many, may I grow forth. — It sent forth fire ' (VI, 2, 1 ff.) — Here a doubt arises whether the cause of the world denoted by the term ' Being ' is the Pradhana, assumed by others, which rests, on Inference, or Brahman as defined by us. The Purvapakshin maintains that the Pradhana is meant. For he says, the .Oandogya text quoted expresses the causal state of what is denoted by the word ' this/ viz. the aggregate of things comprising manifold effects, such as ether, &C, consisting of the three elements of Goodness, I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 5. 201
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.
1please, gratify) by knowledge merely — being thus comparable to tales with which we soothe children or sick persons ; it does not lie within their province to establish the reality of an accomplished thing, and hence Scripture cannot be viewed as a valid means for the cognition of Brahman. To this prima facie view the Sutrakara replies, ' But this on account of connexion.5 ' Connexion ' is here to be taken in an eminent sense, as ' connexion with the end of man.' That Brahman, which is measureless bliss and therefore constitutes the highest end of man, is connected with the texts as the topic set forth by them, proves Scripture to be a valid means for the cognition of Brahman. To maintain that the whole body of Vedanta-texts — which teach us that Brahman is the highest object to be attained, since it con- sists of supreme bliss free of all blemish whatsoever — is devoid of all use and purpose merely because it does not aim at action or the cessation of action ; is no better than to say that a youth of royal descent is of no use because he does not belong to a community of low wretches living on the flesh of dogs ! The relation of the different texts is as follows. There are individual souls of numberless kinds — gods, Asuras, Gandharvas, Siddhas, Vidyadharas, Kinnaras, Ki/^purushas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pisa^as, men, beasts, birds, creeping animals, trees, bushes, creepers, grasses and so on — dis- tinguished as male, female, or sexless, and having different sources of nourishment and support and different objects of enjoyment. Now all these souls are deficient in insight into the true nature of the highest reality, their under- standings being obscured by Nescience operating in the form of beginningless karman ; and hence those texts only are fully useful to them which teach that there exists a highest Brahman — which the souls in the state of release may cognise as non-different from themselves, and which I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 4. 1 99
21 99 then, through its own essential nature, qualities, power and energies, imparts to those souls bliss infinite and unsur- passable. When now the question arises — as it must arise — , as to how this Brahman is to be attained, there step in certain other Vedanta-texts — such as 'He who knows Brahman reaches the highest ' (Br/. Up. II, 1, 1), and * Let a man meditate on the Self as his world ' (Br/. Up. 1,4, 15) • — and, by means of terms denoting ' knowing ' and so on, enjoin meditation as the means of attaining Brahman. (We may illustrate this relation existing between the texts setting forth the nature of Brahman and those enjoining meditation by two comparisons.) The case is like that of a man who has been told ' There is a treasure hidden in your house/ He learns through this sentence the existence of the treasure, is satisfied, and then takes active steps to find it and make it his own.- — Or take the case of a young prince who, intent on some boyish play, leaves his father's palace and, losing his way, does not return. The king thinks his son is lost ; the boy himself is received by some good Brahman who brings him up and teaches him without knowing who the boy's father is. When the boy has reached his sixteenth year and is accomplished in every way, some fully trustworthy person tells him, ' Your father is the ruler of all these lands, famous for the possession of all noble qualities, wisdom, generosity, kindness, courage, valour and so on, and he stays in his capital, longing to see you, his lost child. Hearing that his father is alive and a man so high and noble, the boy's heart is filled with supreme joy ; and the king also, understanding that his son is alive, in good health, handsome and well instructed, considers him- self to have attained all a man can wish for. He then takes steps to recover his son, and finally the two are reunited. The assertion again that a statement referring to some accomplished thing gratifies men merely by imparting a knowledge of the thing, without being a means of knowledge with regard to its real existence — so that it would be com- parable to the tales we tell to children and sick people — , can in no way be upheld. When it is ascertained that a thing has no real existence, the mere knowledge or idea 200 VEDANTA-S^TRAS. of the thing does not gratify. The pleasure which stories give to children and sick people is due to the fact that they erroneously believe them to be true ; if they were to find out that the matter present to their thought is untrue their pleasure would come to an end that very moment. And thus in the case of the texts of the Upanishads also. If we thought that these texts do not mean to intimate the real existence of Brahman, the mere idea of Brahman to which they give rise would not satisfy us in any way.
3And thus in the case of the texts of the Upanishads also. If we thought that these texts do not mean to intimate the real existence of Brahman, the mere idea of Brahman to which they give rise would not satisfy us in any way. The conclusion therefore is that texts such as c That from whence these beings are born ' &c. do convey valid instruc- tion as to the existence of Brahman, i. e. that being which is the sole cause of the world, is free from all shadow of im- perfection, comprises within itself all auspicious qualities, such as omniscience and so on, and is of the nature of supreme bliss. — Here terminates the adhikara^a of * connexion.' 5. On account of seeing (i. e. thinking) that which is not founded on Scripture (i. e. the Pradhana) is not (what is taught by the texts referring to the origination of the world). We have maintained that what is taught by the texts relative to the origination of the world is Brahman, om- niscient, and so on. The present Sutra and the following Sutras now add that those texts can in no way refer to the Pradhana and similar entities which rest on Inference only. We read in the .Oandogya, ' Being only was this in the beginning, one only, without a second. — It thought, may I be many, may I grow forth. — It sent forth fire ' (VI, 2, 1 ff.) — Here a doubt arises whether the cause of the world denoted by the term ' Being ' is the Pradhana, assumed by others, which rests, on Inference, or Brahman as defined by us. The Purvapakshin maintains that the Pradhana is meant. For he says, the .Oandogya text quoted expresses the causal state of what is denoted by the word ' this/ viz. the aggregate of things comprising manifold effects, such as ether, &C, consisting of the three elements of Goodness, I ADHYAYA, I PADA, 5. 201
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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