We read in the Chândogya (I, 9), 'What is the origin of this world?'
'Ether,' he replied. 'For all these beings spring from the ether only,
and return into the ether. Ether is greater than these; ether is their
rest.' Here there arises the doubt whether the word 'ether' denotes the
well-known element or Brahman.--The Pûrvapakshin maintains the former
alternative. For, he says, in the case of things to be apprehended
through words we must accept that sense of the word which, proved by
etymology, is immediately suggested by the word. We therefore conclude
from the passage that the well-known Ether is the cause of the entire
aggregate of things, moving or non-moving, and that hence Brahman is the
same as Ether.--But has it not been shown that Brahman is something
different from non-sentient things because its creative activity is
preceded by thought?--This has been asserted indeed, but by no means
proved. For the proper way to combine the different texts is as follows.
Having been told that 'that from which these beings are born is Brahman',
we desire to know more especially what that source of all beings is, and
this desire is satisfied by the special information given by the text,
'All these things spring from the ether.' It thus being ascertained that
the ether only is the cause of the origin, and so on, of the world, we
conclude that also such general terms as 'Being' ('Being only was this
in the beginning') denote the particular substance called 'ether.' And
we further conclude that in passages such as 'the Self only was all this
in the beginning', the word 'Self (âtman) also denotes the ether; for
that word is by no means limited to non-sentient things--cp., e.g., the
phrase, 'Clay constitutes the Self of the jar'--, and its etymology also
(âtman from âp, to reach) shows that it may very well be applied to the
ether. It having thus been ascertained that the ether is the general
cause or Brahman, we must interpret such words as 'thinking' (which we
meet with in connexion with the creative activity of the general cause)
in a suitable, i.e. secondary, or metaphorical sense. If the texts
denoted the general cause by general terms only, such as 'Being', we
should, in agreement with the primary sense of 'thinking', and similar
terms, decide that that cause is an intelligent being; but since, as a
matter of fact, we ascertain a particular cause on the basis of the word
'ether', our decision cannot be formed on general considerations of what
would suit the sense.--But what then about the passage, 'From the Self
there sprang the ether' (Taitt. Up. II, 1, 1), from which it appears
that the ether itself is something created?--All elementary substances,
we reply, such as ether, air, and so on, have two different states, a
gross material one, and a subtle one. The ether, in its subtle state, is
the universal cause; in its gross state it is an effect of the primal
cause; in its gross state it thus springs from itself, i.e. ether in the
subtle state. The text, 'All these beings spring from ether only' (Ch.
Up. I, 9, 1), declares that the whole world originates from ether only,
and from this it follows that ether is none other than the general cause
of the world, i.e. Brahman. This non-difference of Brahman from the
empirically known ether also gives a satisfactory sense to texts such as
the following: 'If this ether were not bliss' (Taitt. Up. II, 7, 1);
'Ether, indeed, is the evolver of names and forms' (Ch. Up. VIII, 14, 1,
and so on).--It thus appears that Brahman is none other than the well-
known elemental ether.
This primâ facie view is set aside by the Sûtra. The word 'ether' in the
text under discussion denotes the highest Self with its previously
established characteristics--which is something quite different from the
non-sentient elemental ether. For the qualities which the passage
attributes to ether, viz. its being the one cause of the entire world,
its being greater than all, and the rest of all, clearly indicate the
highest Self. The non-intelligent elemental ether cannot be called the
cause of all, since intelligent beings clearly cannot be its effects;
nor can it be called the 'rest' of intelligent beings, for non-sentient
things are evil and antagonistic to the true aim of man; nor can it be
called 'greater' than all, for it is impossible that a non-sentient
element should possess all excellent qualities whatever and thus be
absolutely superior to everything else.--Nor is the Pûrvapakshin right
when maintaining that, as the word 'ether' satisfies the demand for a
special cause of the world, all other texts are to be interpreted in
accordance herewith. The words, 'All these beings indeed spring from the
ether only,' merely give expression to something generally known, and
statements of this nature presuppose other means of knowledge to prove
them. Now these other means required are, in our case, supplied by such
texts as 'Being only was this in the beginning,' and these, as we have
shown, establish the existence of Brahman. To Brahman thus established,
the text mentioning the ether merely refers as to something well known.
Brahman may suitably be called 'ether' (âkâsa), because being of the
nature of light it shines (âkâsate) itself, and makes other things shine
forth (âkâsayati). Moreover, the word 'ether' is indeed capable of
conveying the idea of a special being (as cause), but as it denotes a
special non-intelligent thing which cannot be admitted as the cause of
the intelligent part of the world we must deny all authoritativeness to
the attempt to tamper, in the interest of that one word, with the sense
of other texts which have the power of giving instruction as to an
entirely new thing (viz. Brahman), distinguished by the possession of
omniscience, the power of realising its purposes and similar attributes,
which we ascertain from certain complementary texts-such as 'it thought,
may I be many, may I grow forth,' and 'it desired, may I be many, may I
grow forth.' We also point out that the agreement in purport of a number
of texts capable of establishing the existence of a wonderful being
possessing infinite wonderful attributes is not lightly to be
disregarded in favour of one single text vhich moreover (has not the
power of intimating something not known before, but) only makes a
reference to what is already established by other texts.--As to the
averment that the word 'Self' is not exclusively limited to sentient
beings, we remark that that word is indeed applied occasionally to non-
sentient things, but prevailingly to that which is the correlative of a
body, i.e. the soul or spirit; in texts such as 'the Self only was this
in the beginning,' and 'from the Self there sprang the ether,' we must
therefore understand by the 'Self,' the universal spirit. The denotative
power of the term 'atman,' which is thus proved by itself, is moreover
confirmed by the complementary passages 'it desired, may I send forth
the worlds', 'it desired, may I be many, may I grow forth.'--We thus
arrive at the following conclusion: Brahman, which--by the passage
'Being only this was in the beginning'--is established as the sole cause
of the world, possessing all those manifold wonderful attributes which
are ascertained from the complementary passages, is, in the text under
discussion, referred to as something already known, by means of the term
'ether.'--Here terminates the adhikarana of' ether.'