Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 34 — The Vedanta-Sutras, Part I (Sankara/Thibaut, page scans)

demands an object of desire and no other such object is stated. — But why should not the genitive case be taken as expressing the general complementary relation (to express which is its proper office)? Even in that case it might constitute the object of the desire of knowledge, since the general relation may base itself on the more particular one.— -This assumption, we reply, would mean that we refuse to take Brahman as the direct object, and then again indirectly introduce it as the object ; an altogether needless procedure. — Not needless ; for if we explain the words of the Sutra to mean ' the desire of knowledge connected with Brahman' we thereby virtually promise that also all the heads of discussion which bear on Brahman will be treated.— This reason also, we reply, is not strong enough to uphold your interpretation. For the statement of some principal matter already implies all the secondary matters connected therewith. Hence if Brahman, the most eminent of all objects of knowledge, is mentioned, this implies already all those objects of enquiry which the enquiry into Brahman presupposes, and those objects need therefore not be men- tioned, especially in the Sutra. Analogously the sentence ' there the king is going ' implicitly means that the king together with his retinue is going there. Our interpretation (according to which the Sutra represents Brahman as the direct object of knowledge) moreover agrees with Scripture, which directly represents Brahman as the object of the desire of knowledge ; compare, for instance, the passage, * That from whence these beings are born, &c, desire to know that. That is Brahman ' (Taitt. Up. Ill, 1). With passages of this kind the Sutra only agrees if the genitive case is taken to denote the object. Hence we do take it in that sense. The object of the desire is the knowledge of Brahman up to its complete comprehension, desires having reference to results1. Knowledge thus constitutes the

1 In the case of other transitive verbs, object and result may be separate ; so, for instance, when it is said ' gramas ga^ati/ the village is the object of the action of going, and the arrival at the village its result. But in the case of verbs of desiring object and result coincide.

14 vedanta-s6tras.

means by which the complete comprehension of Brahman is desired to be obtained. For the complete comprehension of Brahman is the highest end of man, since it destroys the root of all evil such as Nescience, the seed of the entire Sa^sara. Hence the desire of knowing Brahman is to be entertained.

But, it may be asked, is Brahman known or not known
(previously to the enquiry into its nature)? If it is known
we need not enter on an enquiry concerning it; if it is
not known we can not enter on such an enquiry.

We reply that Brahman is known. Brahman, which is all-knowing and endowed with all powers, whose essential nature is eternal purity, intelligence, and freedom, exists. For if we consider the derivation of the word ' Brahman,' from the root brzh, ' to be great,' we at once understand that eternal purity, and so on, belong to Brahman 1. More- J over the existence of Brahman is known on the ground of I its being the Self of every one. For every one is conscious of the existence of (his) Self, and never thinks ' I am not.' If the existence of the Self were not known, every one would think ' I am not.' And this Self (of whose existence all are conscious) is Brahman. But if Brahman is generally known as the Self, there is no room for an enquiry into it! Not so, we reply ; for there is a conflict of opinions as to its special nature. Unlearned people and the Lokayatikas are of opinion that the mere body endowed with the quality of intelligence is the Self; others that the organs endowed with intelligence are the Self; others maintain that the inter- nal organ is the Self; others, again, that the Self is a mere momentary idea ; others, again, that it is the Void. Others, again (to proceed to the opinion of such as acknowledge

I the authority of the Veda), maintain that there is a trans- migrating being different from the body, and so on, which is both agent and enjoy er (of the fruits of action) ; others teach

1 That Brahman exists we know, even before entering on the Brahma-mima#zsa, from the occurrence of the word in the Veda, &c, and from the etymology of the word we at once infer Brahman's chief attributes.

I Adhvaya, I Pada, 2. 1 5

that that being is enjoying only, not acting ; others believe that in addition to the individual souls, there is an all- knowing, all-powerful Lord1. Others, finally, (i. e. the Vedantins) maintain that the Lord is the Self of the en- joyer (i. e. of the individual soul whose individual existence! is apparent only, the product of Nescience).

Thus there are many various opinions, basing part of them on sound arguments and scriptural texts, part of them oil fallacious arguments and scriptural texts mis- Understood 2. If therefore a man would embrace some one of these opinions without previous consideration, he would bar himself from the highest beatitude and incur grievous loss. For this reason the first Sutra proposes, under the designation of an enquiry into Brahman, a disquisition of the Vedanta-texts, to be carried on with the help of Con- formable arguments, and having for its aim the highest beatitude.

So far it has been said that Brahman is to be enquired
into. The question now arises what the cftaractexifi*tcs-of ■ ^
that Brahman are, and the reverend author of the Sutras
therefore propounds the following aphorism.

2. (Brahman is that) from which the origin, &c.
(i. e. the origin, subsistence, and dissolution) of this
(world proceed).

The term, &c. implies subsistence and re-absorption. That the origin is mentioned first (of the three) depends on the declaration of Scripture as well as on the natural development of a substance. Scripture declares the order

1 The three last opinions are those of the followers of the Nyaya, the Sahkbya, and the Yoga-philosophy respectively. The three opinions mentioned first belong to various materialistic schools ; the two subsequent ones to two sects of Bauddha philo- sophers.

2 As, for instance, the passages 'this person consists of the essence of food ; ' ' the eye, &c. spoke ; ' ' non-existing this was in the beginning,' &c.

1 6 vedanta-s6tras.

of succession of origin, subsistence, and dissolution in the passage, Taitt. Up. Ill, t, 'From whence these beings are born,' &c. And with regard to the second reason stated, it is known that a substrate of qualities can subsist and be dissolved only after it has entered, through origination, on the state of existence. The words 'of this' denote that substrate of qualities which is presented to us by- perception and the other means of right knowledge ; the genitive case indicates it to be connected with origin, &c. The words ' from which ' denote the cause. The full sense of the Sutra therefore is : That omniscient omnipotent cause from which proceed the origin, subsistence, and dissolu- tion of this world— which world is differentiated by names and forms, contains many agents and enjoy ers, is the abode of the fruits of actions, these fruits having their definite places, times, and causes1, and the nature of whose arrange- ment cannot even be conceived by the mind, — that cause, we say, is Brahman. Since the other forms of existence (such as increase, decline, Sec.) are included in origination, subsistence, and dissolution, only the three latter are referred to in the Sutra, As the six stages of existence enumerated by Yaska2 are possible only during the period of the world's subsistence, it might — were they referred to in the Sutra — be suspected that what is meant are not the origin, subsistence, and dissolution (of the world) as dependent on the first cause. To preclude this suspicion the Sutra is to be taken as referring, in addition to the world's origination from Brahman, only to its subsistence in Brahman, and final dissolution into Brahman.

The origin, &c. of a world possessing the attributes
stated above cannot possibly proceed from anything else
but a Lord possessing the stated qualities ; not either from
a non-intelligent pradhana3, or from atoms, or from non-

1 So the compound is to be divided according to An. Gi. and Go. ; the Bha\ proposes another less plausible division.

2 According to Nirukta I, 2 the six bhavavikara^ are : origina- tion, existence, modification, increase, decrease, destruction.

3 The pradMna, called also prakrz'ti, is the primal causal matter of the world in the Sahkhya-system, It will be fully discussed in

I Adhyaya, I Pad a, 2. I J

being, or from a being subject to transmigration1; nor, again, can it proceed from its own nature (i.e. spontaneously, without a cause), since we observe that (for the production of effects) special places, times, and Causes have invariably to be employed.

(Some of) those who maintain a Lord to be the cause of the world2, think that the existence of a Lord different from mere transmigrating beings can be inferred by means of the argument stated just now (without re- course being had to Scripture at all). — But, it might be said, you yourself in the Sutra under discussion have merely brought forward the same argument! — By no means, we reply. The Sutras (i. e. literally ' the strings ') have merely the purpose of stringing together the flowers of the Vedanta-passages. In reality the Vedanta-passages referred to by the Sutras are discussed here. For the comprehension of Brahman is effected by the ascertain- ment, consequent on discussion, of the sense of the Vedanta- texts, not either by inference or by the other means of right knowledge. While, however, the Vedanta-passages primarily declare the cause of the origin, &c, of the world, inference also, being an instrument of right knowledge in so far as it does not contradict the Vedanta-texts, is not to be excluded as a means of confirming the meaning ascer- tained. Scripture itself, moreover, allows argumentation ; for the passages, Bri. Up. II, 4, 5 (' the Self is to be heard, to be considered '), and Kh. Up. VI, 14, % (' as the man, &c, having been informed, and being able to judge for himself, would arrive at GandMra, in the same way a man who meets with a teacher obtains knowledge'), declare that human understanding assists Scripture 3.

Scriptural text, &c.4, are not, in the enquiry into Brahman,

later parts of this work. To avoid ambiguities, the term pradhSna has been left untranslated. Cp. Sankhya Karika 3.

1 Ke&t tu hirawyagarbhaw saws&ri«am evagama^ ^agaddhetum a^akshate. Ananda Giri.

2 Viz. the Vaueshikas.

3 Atmana^ jruter ity artha^. Ananda Giri.

4 Text (or direct statement), suggestive power (linga), syntactical

1 8 VEDANTA-SlJTRAS.