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

as abiding within man/ just as we say of a branch that it abides within the tree1. — Or else we may adopt another interpretation and say that after the highest Self has been represented as having the likeness to man as a limiting condition, with regard to nature as well as to man, the passage last quoted (' He knows him as abiding within man ') speaks of the same highest Self as the mere witness (sakshin ; i. e. as the pure Self, non-related to the limiting conditions). — The consideration of the context having thus shown that the highest Self has to be resorted to for the interpretation of the passage, the term ' Vauvanara ' must denote the highest Self in some way or other. The word ' Vi^vanara ' is to be explained either as ' he who is all and man (i. e. the individual soul)/ or ' he to whom souls belong ' (in so far as he is their maker or ruler), and thus denotes the highest Self which is the Self of all. And the form ' Vauvanara ' has the same meaning as ' VuvAnara/ the taddhita-suffix, by which the former word is derived from the latter, not changing the meaning ; just as in the case of rakshasa (derived from rakshas), and vayasa (derived from vayas). — The word ' Agni ' also may denote the highest Self if we adopt the etymology agni = agra/zi, i.e. he who leads in front. — As the Garhapatya-fire finally, and as the abode of the oblation to breath the highest Self may be represented because it is the Self of all.

But, if it is assumed that VaLrvanara denotes the highest Self, how can Scripture declare that he is measured by a span ? — On the explanation of this difficulty we now enter.

29. On account of the manifestation, so A^mara- thya opines.

The circumstance of the highest Lord who transcends
all measure being spoken of as measured by a span has
for its reason * manifestation.' The highest Lord manifests

1 Whereby we mean not that it is inside the tree, but that it forms a part of the tree. — The Vauvanara Self is identified with the different members of the body, and these members abide within, i. e. form parts of the body.

I Adhyaya, 2 Pada, 3 1. 151

himself as measured by a span, i. e. he specially manifests himself for the benefit of his worshippers in some special places, such as the heart and the like, where he may be perceived. Hence, according to the opinion of the teacher Aj-marathya, the scriptural passage which speaks of him who is measured by a span may refer to the highest Lord.

30. On account of remembrance ; so Badari opines.

Or else the highest Lord may be called ' measured by a span ' because he is remembered by means of the mind which is seated in the heart which is measured by a span. Similarly, barley-corns which are measured by means of prasthas are themselves called prasthas. It must be ad- mitted that barley-grains themselves have a certain size which is merely rendered manifest through their being connected with a prastha measure ; while the highest Lord himself does not possess a size to be rendered manifest by his connexion with the heart. Still the remembrance (of the Lord by means of the mind) may be accepted as offering a certain foundation for the vSruti passage concern- ing him who is measured by a span.— Or else1 the Sutra may be interpreted to mean that the Lord, although not really measured by a span, is to be remembered (meditated upon) as being of the measure of a span ; whereby the passage is furnished with an appropriate sense. — Thus the passage about him who is measured by a span may, ac- cording to the opinion of the teacher Badari, be referred to the highest Lord, on account of remembrance.

31. On the ground of imaginative identification
(the highest Lord may be called pradesamatra),
Gairnini thinks ; for thus (Scripture) declares.

Or else the passage about him who is measured by a
span may be considered to rest on imaginative combin-
ation.— Why? — Because the passage of the Va^asaneyi-

1 Parima^asya hrz'dayadvararopitasya smaryama/ze katham aropo vishayavishayitvena bhedad ity a^ahkya vyakhyantaram aha pra- de^eti. Ananda GirL

152 VEDANTA-S^TRAS.

brahma/za which treats of the same topic identifies heaven, earth, and so on- — which are the members of Vauvanara viewed as the Self of the threefold world — with certain parts of the human frame, viz. the parts comprised between the upper part of the head and the chin, and thus declares the imaginative identity of Vaiiv&nara with something whose measure is a span. There we read, 'The Gods indeed reached him, knowing him as measured by a span as it were. Now I will declare them (his members) to you so as to identify him (the Vauvanara) with that whose measure is a span; thus he said. Pointing to the upper part of the head he said : This is what stands above (i. e. the heavenly world) as Vauvanara (i. e. the head of Vau- vanara 1). Pointing to the eyes he said : This is he with good light (i. e. the sun) as Vauvanara (i. e. the eye of V.). Pointing to the nose he said : This is he who moves on manifold paths (i. e. the air) as Vauvanara (i. e. the breath of V.). Pointing to the space (ether) within his mouth he said : This is the full one (i. e. the ether) as Vauvanara. Pointing to the saliva within his mouth he said : This is wealth as Vauvanara (i. e. the water in the bladder of V.). Pointing to the chin he said: This is the base as Vauvanara (i. e. the feet of V.).' — Although in the Va^asaneyi-brahma^a the heaven is denoted as that which has the attribute of standing above and the sun as that which has the attribute of good light, while in the -Oandogya the heaven is spoken of as having good light and the sun as being multiform ; still this difference does not interfere (with the unity of the vidya)2, because both texts equally use the term ' measured by a span,' and because all jakh&s intimate the same. — The above explana- tion of the term ' measured by a span/ which rests on imaginative identification, the teacher £aimini considers the most appropriate one.

32. Moreover they (the £&balas) speak of him

1 Atra sarvatra vai^vanara^abdas tadangapara^. Go. An.

2 Which unity entitles us to use the passage from the *Sat. Brl for the explanation of the passage from the Kh. Up.

I Adhyaya, 2 Pad a, 32. 1 53

(the highest Lord) in that (i. e. the interstice between
the top of the head and the chin which is measured
by a span).

Moreover the Cabalas speak in their text of the highest Lord as being in the interstice between the top of the head and the chin. ' The unevolved infinite Self abides in the avimukta (i.e. the non-released soul). Where does that avimukta abide? It abides in the Vara;za and the Nasi, in the middle. What is that Vara^a, what is that Nasi ? ' The text thereupon etymologises the term Vara/za as that which wards off (varayati) all evil done by the senses, and the term N&si as that which destroys (nlrayati) all evil done by the senses ; and then continues, ' And what is its place ? — The place where the eyebrows and the nose join. That is the joining place of the heavenly world (represented by the upper part of the head) and of the other (i. e. the earthly world represented by the chin).5 (Cabala Up. I.) — Thus it appears that the scriptural statement which ascribes to the highest Lord the measure of a span is appropriate. That the highest Lord is called abhivimana refers to his being the inward Self of all. As such he is directly measured, i. e. known by all animate beings. Or else the word may be explained as ' he who is near everywhere — as the inward Self — and who at the same time is measure- less ' (as being infinite). Or else it may denote the highest Lord as him who, as the cause of the world, measures it out, i. e. creates it. By all this it is proved that Vai^vanara is the highest Lord.

154 VEDANTA-stiTRAS.

THIRD PADA.

Reverence to the highest Self !

i. The abode of heaven, earth, and so on (is Brahman), on account of the term * own/ i. e. Self.

We read (Mu. Up. II, 2, 5), ' He in whom the heaven, the earth, and the sky are woven, the mind also with all the vital airs, know him alone as the Self, and leave off other words ! He is the bridge of the Immortal.' — Here the doubt arises whether the abode which is intimated by the state- ment of the heaven and so on being woven in it is the highest Brahman or something else.

The purvapakshin maintains that the abode is something else, on account of the expression, ' It is the bridge of the Immortal.' For, he says, it is known from every-day ex- perience that a bridge presupposes some further bank to which it leads, while it is impossible to assume something further beyond the highest Brahman, which in Scripture is called c endless, without a further shore ' (Br/. Up. II, 4, 12). Now if the abode is supposed to be something different from Brahman, it must be supposed to be either the pra- dhana known from Smrzti, which, as being the (general) cause, may be called the (general) abode ; or the air known from vSruti, of which it is said (Br/. Up. Ill, 7, 3, ' Air is that thread, O Gautama. By air as by a thread, O Gautama, this world and the other world and all beings are strung together'), that it supports all things; or else the embodied soul which, as being the enjoyer, may be considered as an abode with reference to the objects of its fruition.

Against this view we argue with the sutrakara as follows: —

* Of the world consisting of heaven, earth, and so on, which in the quoted passage is spoken of as woven (upon some- thing), the highest Brahman must be the abode.5 — Why? — On account of the word ' own,' i. e. on account of the word

* Self.' For we meet with the word ' Self ' in the pas- sage, ' Know him alone as the Self.' This term 'Self is

I Adhyaya, 3 Pada, I. I 55

thoroughly appropriate only if we understand the highest Self and not anything else. — (To propound another inter- pretation of the phrase ' sva^abdat5 employed in the Sutra.) Sometimes also Brahman is spoken of in Sruti as the general abode by its own terms (i.e. by terms properly designating Brahman), as, for instance {Kh. Up. VI, 8, 4), 6 All these creatures, my dear, have their root in the being, their abode in the being, their rest in the being1.' — (Or else we have to explain ' sva^abdena ' as follows), In the passages preceding and following the passage under discussion Brahman is glorified with its own names 2 ; cp. Mu. Up. II, 1, 10, ' The Person is all this, sacrifice, penance, Brahman, the highest Immortal,' and II, 3, 11, ' That immortal Brahman is before, is behind, Brahman is to the right and left.' Here, on account of mention being made of an abode and that which abides, and on account of the co-ordination expressed in the passage, ( Brahman is all ' (Mu. Up. II, 2, 11), a suspicion might arise that Brah- man is of a manifold variegated nature, just as in the case of a tree consisting of different parts we distinguish branches, stem, and root. In order to remove this suspicion the text declares (in the passage under discussion), 'Know him alone as the Self.' The sense of which is : The Self is not to be known as manifold, qualified by the universe of effects ; you are rather to dissolve by true knowledge the universe of effects, which is the mere product of Nescience, and to know that one Self, which is the general abode, as uniform. Just as when somebody says, ' Bring that on which Deva- datta sits,' the person addressed brings the chair only (the abode of Devadatta), not Devadatta himself; so the pas- sage, ' Know him alone as the Self,' teaches that the object to be known is the one uniform Self which constitutes the general abode. Similarly another scriptural passage re- proves him who believes in the unreal world of effects,