The part of the chapter--beginning with the words 'From that same Self
there sprang ether'--which sets forth the nature of the Brahman referred
to in the mantra, declares its difference from the individual soul, no
less than from the Selfs consisting of food, breath, and mind, viz. in
the clause 'different from this which consists of knowledge, is the
other inner Self which consists of bliss.'--Through this declaration of
difference from the individual soul we know that the Self of bliss
referred to in the mantra is other than the individual soul.
19. And on account of desire, there is no regard to what is inferred (i.
e. matter).
In order that the individual soul which is enthralled by Nescience may
operate as the cause of the world, it must needs be connected with non-
sentient matter, called by such names as pradhâna, or ânumânika (that
which is inferred). For such is the condition for the creative energy of
Brahmâ and similar beings. Our text, on the other hand, teaches that the
creation of the aggregate of sentient and non-sentient things results
from the mere wish of a being free from all connexion with non-sentient
matter, 'He desired, may I be many, may I grow forth;' 'He sent forth
all, whatever there is' (Taitt. Up. II, 6). We thus understand that that
Self of bliss which sends forth the world does not require connexion
with non-sentient matter called ânumânika, and hence conclude that it is
other than the individual soul.--A further reason is stated in the next
Sûtra.
20. And Scripture teaches the joining of this (i.e. the individual soul)
with that (i.e. bliss) in that (i.e. the ânandamaya).
'A flavour he is indeed; having obtained a flavour this one enjoys
bliss' (Taitt. Up. II, 7). This text declares that this one, i.e. the so-
called individual soul, enjoys bliss through obtaining the ânandamaya,
here called 'flavour.' Now to say that any one is identical with that by
obtaining which he enjoys bliss, would be madness indeed.--It being thus
ascertained that the Self of bliss is the highest Brahman, we conclude
that in passages such as 'if that bliss were not in the ether' (Taitt.
Up. II, 7). and 'knowledge, bliss is Brahman' (Bri. Up. III, 9, 28), the
word 'ânanda' denotes the 'ânandamaya'; just as vijñâna means the
vijñânamaya. It is for the same reason (viz. of ânanda meaning the same
as ânandamaya) that the clause 'he who knows the bliss of Brahman'
exhibits Brahman as being connected with ânanda, and that the further
clause 'he who knows this reaches the Self of bliss,' declares the
reaching of the Self of bliss to be the fruit of the knowledge of bliss.
In the subsequent anuvâka also, in the clauses 'he perceived that food
is Brahman,' 'he perceived that breath is Brahman,' &c. (III, i; 2, &c.),
the words 'food,' 'breath,' and so on, are meant to suggest the Self
made of food, the Self made of breath, &c., mentioned in the preceding
anuvâka; and hence also in the clause 'he perceived that bliss is
Brahman,' the word 'bliss' must be understood to denote the Self of
bliss. Hence, in the same anuvâka, the account of the fate after death
of the man who knows concludes with the words 'having reached the Self
of bliss' (III, 10,5). It is thus finally proved that the highest
Brahman--which in the previous adhikarana had to be shown to be other
than the so-called Pradhâna--is also other than the being called
individual soul.--This concludes the topic of the ânandamaya.
A new doubt here presents itself.--It must indeed be admitted that such
individual souls as possess only a moderate degree of merit are unable
to accomplish the creation of the world by their mere wish, to enjoy
supreme bliss, to be the cause of fearlessness, and so on; but why
should not beings like Âditya and Prajâpati, whose merit is
extraordinarily great, be capable of all this?--Of this suggestion the
next Sûtra disposes.
21. The one within (the sun and the eye); on account of his qualities
being declared.
It is said in the Chândogya: 'Now that person bright as gold, who is
seen within the sun, with beard bright as gold and hair bright as gold,
golden altogether to the very tips of his nails, whose eyes are like
blue lotus; his name is Ut, for he has risen (udita) above all evil. He
also who knows this rises above all evil. Rik and Sâman are his joints.-
So much with reference to the devas.--Now with reference to the body.--
Now that person who is seen within the eye, he is Rik, he is Sâman,
Uktha, Yajus, Brahman. The form of this person (in the eye) is the same
as of that person yonder (in the sun), the joints of the one are the
joints of the other, the name of the one is the--name of the other' (Ch.
Up. I, 7).--Here there arises the doubt whether that person dwelling
within the eye and the sun be the individual soul called Âditya, who
through accumulation of religious merit possesses lordly power, or the
highest Self other than that soul.
That individual soul of high merit, the Pûrvapakshin maintains. For the
text states that that person has a body, and connexion with a body
belongs to individual souls only, for it is meant to bring the soul into
contact with pleasure and pain, according to its deserts. It is for this
reason that Scripture describes final Release where there is no
connexion with works as a state of disembodiedness. 'So long as he is in
the body he cannot get free from pleasure and pain. But when he is free
from the body, then neither pleasure nor pain touches him' (Ch. Up. VIII,
12, 1). And a soul of transcendent merit may possess surpassing wisdom
and power, and thus be capable of being lord of the worlds and the
wishes (I, 6, 8). For the same reason such a soul may be the object of
devout meditation, bestow rewards, and by being instrumental in
destroying evil, be helpful towards final release. Even among men some
are seen to be of superior knowledge and power, owing to superior
religious merit; and this holds good with regard to the Siddhas and
Gandharvas also; then with regard to the devas; then with regard to the
divine beings, beginning with Indra. Hence, also, one among the divine
beings, beginning with Brahmâ, may in each kalpa reach, through a
particularly high degree of merit, vast lordly power and thus effect the
creation of the world, and so on. On this supposition the texts about
that which constitutes the cause of the world and the inward Self of the
world must also be understood to refer to some such soul which, owing to
superiority of merit, has become all-knowing and all-powerful. A so-
called highest Self, different from the individual souls, does not
therefore exist. Where the texts speak of that which is neither coarse
nor fine nor short, &c., they only mean to characterise the individual
soul; and those texts also which refer to final Release aim only at
setting forth the essential nature of the individual soul and the means
of attaining that essential nature.
This primâ facie view is set aside by the Sûtra. The person who is
perceived within the sun and within the eye, is something different from
the individual soul, viz. the highest Self; because there are declared
qualities belonging to that. The text ascribes to him the quality of
having risen above, i.e. being free from all evil, and this can belong
to the highest Self only, not to the individual soul. For to be free
from all evil means to be free from all influence of karman, and this
quality can belong to the highest Self only, differing from all
individual souls which, as is shown by their experience of pleasure and
pain, are in the bonds of karman. Those essential qualities also which
presuppose freedom from all evil (and which are mentioned in other Vedic
passages), such as mastery over all worlds and wishes, capability of
realising one's purposes, being the inner Self of all, &c., belong to
the highest Self alone. Compare passages such as 'It is the Self free
from evil, free from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and
thirst, whose wishes come true, whose purposes come true' (Ch. Up. VIII,
1, 5); and 'He is the inner Self of all, free from evil, the divine one,
the one god Nârâyana' (Subâ. Up.). Attributes such as the attribute of
being the creator of the whole universe--which presupposes the power of
realising one's wishes--(cp. the passage 'it desired, may I be many');
the attribute of being the cause of fear and fearlessness; the attribute
of enjoying transcending bliss not limited by the capabilities of
thought and speech and the like, are essential characteristics of that
only which is not touched by karman, and they cannot therefore belong to
the individual soul.--Nor is there any truth in the contention that the
person within the sun, &c., cannot be a being different from individual
souls because it possesses a body. For since a being which possesses the
power of realising all its desires can assume a body through its mere
wish, it is not generally true that embodiedness proves dependence on
karman.--But, it may be said, by a body we understand a certain
combination of matter which springs from the primal substance (prakriti)
with its three constituents. Now connexion with such a body cannot
possibly be brought about by the wish of such souls even as are free
from all evil and capable of realising their desires; for such connexion
would not be to the soul's benefit. In the case, on the other hand, of a
soul subject to karman and not knowing its own essential nature, such
connexion with a body necessarily takes place in order that the soul may
enjoy the fruit of its actions--quite apart from the soul's desire.--
Your objection would be well founded, we reply, if the body of the
highest Self were an effect of Prakriti with its three constituents; but
it is not so, it rather is a body suitable to the nature and intentions
of that Self. The highest Brahman, whose nature is fundamentally
antagonistic to all evil and essentially composed of infinite knowledge
and bliss--whereby it differs from all other souls--possesses an
infinite number of qualities of unimaginable excellence, and,
analogously, a divine form suitable to its nature and intentions, i.e.
adorned with infinite, supremely excellent and wonderful qualities--
splendour, beauty, fragrance, tenderness, loveliness, youthfulness, and
so on. And in order to gratify his devotees he individualises that form
so as to render it suitable to their apprehension--he who is a boundless
ocean as it were of compassion, kindness and lordly power, whom no
shadow of evil may touch---he who is the highest Self, the highest
Brahman, the supreme soul, Nârâyana!--Certain texts tell us that the
highest Brahman is the sole cause of the entire world: 'From which these
beings originate' (Taitt. Up.); 'Being only was this in the beginning'
(Kh. Up. VI, 2, 1); 'The Self only was this in the beginning' (Ai. Up. I,
1); 'Nârâyana alone existed, not Brahmâ nor Siva.' Other texts define
his nature: 'The True, knowledge, infinite is Brahman' (Taitt. Up. II, 1,
1); 'Knowledge, bliss is Brahman' (Bri. Up. III. 9. 28); and others
again deny of Brahman all connexion with evil qualities and inferior
bodies sprung from Prakriti, and all dependence on karman, and proclaim
his glorious qualities and glorious forms: 'Free from qualities' (?);
'Free from taint' (Svet. Up. VI, 19); 'Free from old age, from death and
grief, from hunger and thirst, realising his wishes and purposes' (Ch.
Up. VIII, 1, 5); 'There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one
is seen like to him or superior: his high power is revealed as manifold,
as inherent action of force and knowledge' (Svet. Up. VI, 8); 'That
highest great lord of lords, the highest deity of deities' (Svet. Up. VI,
7); 'He is the cause, the lord of the lords of the organs, and there is
of him neither parent nor lord' (Svet. Up. VI, 9); 'Having created all
forms and given names to them the wise one goes on calling them by those
names' (Taitt. Âr. III, 12, 7); 'I know that great Person of sunlike
lustre beyond the darkness' (Svet. Up. III, 8); 'All moments originated
from the Person shining like lightning' (Mahânâr. Up. I, 6).--This
essential form of his the most compassionate Lord by his mere will
individualises as a shape human or divine or otherwise, so as to render
it suitable to the apprehension of the devotee and thus satisfy him.
This the following scriptural passage declares, 'Unborn he is born in
many ways' (Gau. Kâ. III, 24); and likewise Smriti. 'Though unborn I,
the imperishable Self, the Lord of the beings, presiding over my Nature,
manifest myself by my Mâya for the protection of the Good and the
destruction of the evil doers '(Bha. Gî. IV, 6. 8). The 'Good' here are
the Devotees; and by 'Mâya' is meant the purpose, the knowledge of the
Divine Being--; in agreement with the Naighantukas who register 'Mâya'
as a synonym of jñâna (knowledge). In the Mahâbhârata also the form
assumed by the highest Person in his avatâras is said not to consist of
Prakriti, 'the body of the highest Self does not consist of a
combination of material elements.'--For these reasons the Person within
the Sun and the eye is the highest Self which is different from the
individual soul of the Sun, &c.
22. And on account of the declaration of difference (the highest Self
is) other (than the individual souls of the sun, &c.).
There are texts which clearly state that the highest Self is different
from Âditya and the other individual souls: 'He who, dwelling within
Aditya (the sun), is different from Âditya, whom Âditya does not know,
of whom Âditya is the body, who rules Âditya from within; who dwelling
within the Self is different from the Self,' &c. (Bri. Up. III, 7, 9 ff.
); 'Of whom the Imperishable is the body, whom the Imperishable does not
know; who moves within Death, of whom Death is the body, whom Death does
not know; he is the inner self of all beings, free from evil, divine,
the one God Nârâyana' (Sub. Up. VII). These texts declare all individual
souls to be the body of the sinless highest Self which is said to be the
inward principle of all of them.--It is thereby completely proved that
the highest Self is something different from all individual souls such
as Âditya, and so on.--Here terminates the adhikarana of the 'one within.'
The text, 'That from which these beings are born,' teaches that Brahman
is the cause of the world; to the question thence arising of what nature
that cause of the world is, certain other texts give a reply in general
terms (' Being only this was in the beginning'; 'It sent forth fire';
'The Self only this was in the beginning,' &c.); and thereupon it is
shown on the basis of the special nature of that cause as proved by the
attributes of 'thought' and 'bliss,' that Brahman is different from the
pradhâna and the individual souls. The remaining part of this Pâda now
is devoted to the task of proving that where such special terms as Ether
and the like are used in sections setting forth the creation and
government of the world, they designate not the thing-sentient or non-
sentient--which is known from ordinary experience, but Brahman as proved
so far.