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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1in the beginning, one, without a second.' The promise moreover that through the cognition of one thing everything will be known, renders it impossible that there should exist anything different from Brahman. — But does not the fact that the Self is called a bank, &c. indicate that there exists something beyond the Self? — No, we reply ; the passages quoted by the purvapakshin have no power to prove his conclusion. For the text only says that the Self is a bank, not that there is something beyond it. Nor are we entitled to assume the existence of some such thing, merely to the end of accounting for the Self being called a bank ; for the simple assumption of something unknown is a mere piece of arbitrariness. If, moreover, the mere fact of the Self being called a bank implied the existence of something beyond it, as in the case of an ordinary bank, we should also be compelled to conclude that the Self is made of earth and stones ; which would run counter to the scriptural doctrine that the Self is not something produced. — The proper explanation is that the Self is called a bank because it resembles a bank in a certain respect ; as a bank dams back the water and marks the boundary of contiguous fields, so the Self supports the world and its boundaries. The Self is thus glorified by the name of bank because it resembles one. — In the clause quoted above, ' having passed that bank,' the verb ' to pass ' cannot be taken in the sense of ' going beyond,' but must rather mean ' to reach fully.' In the same way we say of a student, ' he has passed the science of grammar,' meaning thereby that he has fully mastered it.
233. (The statement as to Brahman having size) subserves the purpose of the mind ; in the manner of the four feet (quarters). In reply to the purvapakshin's contention that the statements as to Brahman's size, prove that there exists something different from Brahman, we remark that those statements merely serve the purposes of the mind, i.e. of devout meditation. — But how can the cognition of something con- [38] N 178 VEDANTA-SUTRAS.
3sisting of four, or eight, or sixteen parts be referred to Brahman? — Through its modifications (effects), we reply, Brahman is assumed to be subject to measure. For as some men are of inferior, others of middling, others again of superior intelligence, not all are capable of fixing their mind on the infinite Brahman, devoid of all effects. ' In the manner of the four I'eet,' i.e. in the same way as [Kh. Up. Ill, 18), for the purpose of pious meditation, speech and three other feet are ascribed to mind viewed as the personal manifestation of Brahman, and fire and three other feet to the ether viewed as the cosmic manifestation of Brahman. — Or else the phrase, ' in the manner of the four quarters,' may be explained as follows. In the same way as to facilitate commerce, a karshapawa is assumed to be divided into four parts — for there being no fixed rule as to the value of bargains, people cannot always carry on their transactions with whole karshapa;/as only — , (so, in order to facilitate pious meditation on the part of less intelligent people, four feet, &c., are ascribed to Brahman). 34. (The statements concerning connexion and difference) are due to difference of place ; in the manner of light and so on.
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.
1in the beginning, one, without a second.' The promise moreover that through the cognition of one thing everything will be known, renders it impossible that there should exist anything different from Brahman. — But does not the fact that the Self is called a bank, &c. indicate that there exists something beyond the Self? — No, we reply ; the passages quoted by the purvapakshin have no power to prove his conclusion. For the text only says that the Self is a bank, not that there is something beyond it. Nor are we entitled to assume the existence of some such thing, merely to the end of accounting for the Self being called a bank ; for the simple assumption of something unknown is a mere piece of arbitrariness. If, moreover, the mere fact of the Self being called a bank implied the existence of something beyond it, as in the case of an ordinary bank, we should also be compelled to conclude that the Self is made of earth and stones ; which would run counter to the scriptural doctrine that the Self is not something produced. — The proper explanation is that the Self is called a bank because it resembles a bank in a certain respect ; as a bank dams back the water and marks the boundary of contiguous fields, so the Self supports the world and its boundaries. The Self is thus glorified by the name of bank because it resembles one. — In the clause quoted above, ' having passed that bank,' the verb ' to pass ' cannot be taken in the sense of ' going beyond,' but must rather mean ' to reach fully.' In the same way we say of a student, ' he has passed the science of grammar,' meaning thereby that he has fully mastered it.
233. (The statement as to Brahman having size) subserves the purpose of the mind ; in the manner of the four feet (quarters). In reply to the purvapakshin's contention that the statements as to Brahman's size, prove that there exists something different from Brahman, we remark that those statements merely serve the purposes of the mind, i.e. of devout meditation. — But how can the cognition of something con- [38] N 178 VEDANTA-SUTRAS.
3sisting of four, or eight, or sixteen parts be referred to Brahman? — Through its modifications (effects), we reply, Brahman is assumed to be subject to measure. For as some men are of inferior, others of middling, others again of superior intelligence, not all are capable of fixing their mind on the infinite Brahman, devoid of all effects. ' In the manner of the four I'eet,' i.e. in the same way as [Kh. Up. Ill, 18), for the purpose of pious meditation, speech and three other feet are ascribed to mind viewed as the personal manifestation of Brahman, and fire and three other feet to the ether viewed as the cosmic manifestation of Brahman. — Or else the phrase, ' in the manner of the four quarters,' may be explained as follows. In the same way as to facilitate commerce, a karshapawa is assumed to be divided into four parts — for there being no fixed rule as to the value of bargains, people cannot always carry on their transactions with whole karshapa;/as only — , (so, in order to facilitate pious meditation on the part of less intelligent people, four feet, &c., are ascribed to Brahman). 34. (The statements concerning connexion and difference) are due to difference of place ; in the manner of light and so on.
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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