Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Well, but the individual soul is a part of the highest Self as the spark is a part of the fire. And as fire and spark have in common the powers of burning and giving light, so the individual soul and the Lord have in common the powers of knowledge and rulership ; hence the individual soul may, by means of its lordship, effect in the dreaming state a creation of chariots and the like, springing from its wishes (sawkalpa). — To this we reply that although the Lord and the individual soul stand to each other in the relation of whole and part, yet it is manifest to perception that the attributes of the two are of a different nature. — Do you then mean to say that the individual soul has no common attributes with the Lord ? — We do not maintain that ; but we say that the equality of attributes, although existing, is hidden by the veil of Nescience. In the case of some persons indeed who strenuously meditate on the Lord and who, their ignorance being dispelled at last, obtain through the favour of the Lord extraordinary powers and insight, that hidden equality becomes manifest— just as through the action of strong medicines the power of sight of a blind man becomes manifest ; but it does not on its own account reveal itself to all men. — Why not? — Because 'from him,' i.e. from the Lord there are bondage and release of it, viz. the individual soul. That means : bondage is due to the absence of knowledge of the Lord's true nature ; release is due to the presence of such knowledge. Thus 5ruti declares, ' When that god is known all fetters fall off; sufferings are destroyed and birth and death cease. From meditating on him there arises, on the dissolution of the body, a third state, that of universal Lordship ; he who is alone is satisfied ' (5vet. Up. I, ii), and similar passages.
26. Or that (viz. the concealment of the soul's pov^ers springs) from its connexion with the body. But if the soul is a part of the highest Self, why should its knowledge and lordship be hidden ? We should rather t^O VEDANTA-S^'TRAS.
3expect them to be as manifest as the light and the heat of the spark. — True, we reply ; but the state of concealment of the soul's knowledge and lordship is due to its being joined to a body, i.e. to a body, sense-organs, mind, buddhi, sense-objectSj sensations, &c. And to this state of things there applies the simile : As the heat and light of the fire are hidden as long as the fire is still hidden in the wood from which it will be produced by friction, or as long as it is covered by ashes ; so, in consequence of the soul being connected with limiting adjuncts in the form of a body, &c., founded on name and form as presented by Nescience, its knowledge and lordship remain hidden as long as it is possessed by the erroneous notion of not being distinct from those adjuncts. — The word ' or ' in the Sutra is meant to discard the suspicion that the Lord and the soul might be separate entities. — But why should not the soul be separate from the Lord^ considering the state of concealment of its knowledge and power? If we allow the two to be fundamentally separate, we need not assume that their separateness is due to the soul's connexion with the body. — It is impossible, we reply, to assume the soul to be separate froni the Lord. For in the scriptural passage beginning with 'That divinity thought' &c. (K/i. Up. "VI, 3, 2) we meet with the clause, ' It entered into those beings with this living Self (^iva atman) ; where the individual soul is referred to as the Self. And then we have the other passage, ' It is the True ; it is the Self ; that art thou, O 5vetaketu,' which again teaches that the Lord is the Self of the soul. Hence the soul is nondifferent from the Lord, but its knowledge and power are obscured by its connexion with the body. From this it follows that the dreaming soul is not able to create, from its mere wishes, chariots and other things. If the soul possessed that power, nobody would ever have an unpleasant dream ; for nobody ever wishes for something unpleasant to himself. — We finally deny that the scriptural passage about the waking state (' dream is the same as the place of waking ' &c.) indicates the reality of dreams. The statement made there about the equality of the two states
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.
1Well, but the individual soul is a part of the highest Self as the spark is a part of the fire. And as fire and spark have in common the powers of burning and giving light, so the individual soul and the Lord have in common the powers of knowledge and rulership ; hence the individual soul may, by means of its lordship, effect in the dreaming state a creation of chariots and the like, springing from its wishes (sawkalpa). — To this we reply that although the Lord and the individual soul stand to each other in the relation of whole and part, yet it is manifest to perception that the attributes of the two are of a different nature. — Do you then mean to say that the individual soul has no common attributes with the Lord ? — We do not maintain that ; but we say that the equality of attributes, although existing, is hidden by the veil of Nescience. In the case of some persons indeed who strenuously meditate on the Lord and who, their ignorance being dispelled at last, obtain through the favour of the Lord extraordinary powers and insight, that hidden equality becomes manifest— just as through the action of strong medicines the power of sight of a blind man becomes manifest ; but it does not on its own account reveal itself to all men. — Why not? — Because 'from him,' i.e. from the Lord there are bondage and release of it, viz. the individual soul. That means : bondage is due to the absence of knowledge of the Lord's true nature ; release is due to the presence of such knowledge. Thus 5ruti declares, ' When that god is known all fetters fall off; sufferings are destroyed and birth and death cease. From meditating on him there arises, on the dissolution of the body, a third state, that of universal Lordship ; he who is alone is satisfied ' (5vet. Up. I, ii), and similar passages.
26. Or that (viz. the concealment of the soul's pov^ers springs) from its connexion with the body. But if the soul is a part of the highest Self, why should its knowledge and lordship be hidden ? We should rather t^O VEDANTA-S^'TRAS.
3expect them to be as manifest as the light and the heat of the spark. — True, we reply ; but the state of concealment of the soul's knowledge and lordship is due to its being joined to a body, i.e. to a body, sense-organs, mind, buddhi, sense-objectSj sensations, &c. And to this state of things there applies the simile : As the heat and light of the fire are hidden as long as the fire is still hidden in the wood from which it will be produced by friction, or as long as it is covered by ashes ; so, in consequence of the soul being connected with limiting adjuncts in the form of a body, &c., founded on name and form as presented by Nescience, its knowledge and lordship remain hidden as long as it is possessed by the erroneous notion of not being distinct from those adjuncts. — The word ' or ' in the Sutra is meant to discard the suspicion that the Lord and the soul might be separate entities. — But why should not the soul be separate from the Lord^ considering the state of concealment of its knowledge and power? If we allow the two to be fundamentally separate, we need not assume that their separateness is due to the soul's connexion with the body. — It is impossible, we reply, to assume the soul to be separate froni the Lord. For in the scriptural passage beginning with 'That divinity thought' &c. (K/i. Up. "VI, 3, 2) we meet with the clause, ' It entered into those beings with this living Self (^iva atman) ; where the individual soul is referred to as the Self. And then we have the other passage, ' It is the True ; it is the Self ; that art thou, O 5vetaketu,' which again teaches that the Lord is the Self of the soul. Hence the soul is nondifferent from the Lord, but its knowledge and power are obscured by its connexion with the body. From this it follows that the dreaming soul is not able to create, from its mere wishes, chariots and other things. If the soul possessed that power, nobody would ever have an unpleasant dream ; for nobody ever wishes for something unpleasant to himself. — We finally deny that the scriptural passage about the waking state (' dream is the same as the place of waking ' &c.) indicates the reality of dreams. The statement made there about the equality of the two states
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.
No commentary for this page.