We read in the Pratardana-vidyâ in the Kaushîtaki-brâhmana that
'Pratardana, the son of Divodâsa, came, by fighting and strength, to the
beloved abode of Indra.' Being asked by Indra to choose a boon he
requests the God to bestow on him that boon which he himself considers
most beneficial to man; whereupon Indra says, 'I am prâna (breath), the
intelligent Self, meditate on me as Life, as Immortality.' Here the
doubt arises whether the being called Prâna and Indra, and designating
itself as the object of a meditation most beneficial to man, is an
individual soul, or the highest Self.--An individual soul, the
Pûrvapakshin maintains. For, he says, the word 'Indra' is known to
denote an individual God, and the word 'Prâna,' which stands in
grammatical co-ordination with Indra, also applies to individual souls.
This individual being, called Indra, instructs Pratardana that
meditation on himself is most beneficial to man. But what is most
beneficial to man is only the means to attain immortality, and such a
means is found in meditation on the causal principle of the world, as we
know from the text, 'For him there is delay only so long as he is not
delivered; then he will be perfect' (Ch. Up. VI, 14, 2). We hence
conclude that Indra, who is known as an individual soul, is the causal
principle, Brahman.
This view is rejected by the Sûtra. The being called Indra and Prâna is
not a mere individual soul, but the highest Brahman, which is other than
all individual souls. For on this supposition only it is appropriate
that the being introduced as Indra and Prâna should, in the way of
grammatical co-ordination, be connected with such terms as 'blessed,'
'non-ageing,' 'immortal.' ('That Prâna indeed is the intelligent Self,
blessed, non-ageing, immortal,' Kau. Up. III, 9.)
30. If it be said that (Brahman is) not (denoted) on account of the
speaker denoting himself; (we say, not so), because the multitude of
connexions with the inner Self (is possible only) in that (speaker if
viewed as Brahman).
An objection is raised.--That the being introduced as Indra and Prâna
should be the highest Brahman, for the reason that it is identical with
him who, later on, is called 'blessed,' 'non-ageing,' 'immortal'--this we
cannot admit. 'Know me only, I am prâna, meditate on me as the
intelligent Self, as life, as immortality'--the speaker of these words
is Indra, and this Indra enjoins on Pratardana meditation on his own
person only, the individual character of which is brought out by
reference to certain deeds of strength such as the slaying of the son of
Tvashtri ('I slew the three-headed son of Tvashtri,' &c.). As thus the
initial part of the section clearly refers to an individual being, the
terms occurring in the concluding part ('blessed,' 'non-ageing,'
'immortal') must be interpreted so as to make them agree with what
precedes.--This objection the Sûtra disposes of. 'For the multitude of
connexions with the Self'--i.e. the multitude of things connected with
the Self as its attributes--is possible only 'in that,' i.e. in that
speaker viewed as the highest Brahman. 'For, as in a car, the
circumference of the wheel is placed on the spokes, and the spokes on
the nave, thus are these objects placed on the subjects, and the
subjects on the prâna. That prâna indeed is the intelligent Self,
blessed, non-ageing, immortal.' The 'objects' (bhûtamâtrâh) here are the
aggregate of non-sentient things; the 'subjects' (prajñâmâtrâh) are the
sentient beings in which the objects are said to abide; when thereupon
the texts says that of these subjects the being called Indra and Prâna
is the abode, and that he is blessed, non-ageing, immortal; this
qualification of being the abode of this Universe, with all its non-
sentient and sentient beings, can belong to the highest Self only, which
is other than all individual souls.
The Sûtra may also be explained in a somewhat different way, viz. 'there
is a multitude of connexions belonging to the highest Self, i.e. of
attributes special to the highest Self, in that, viz. section.' The text
at first says, 'Choose thou that boon for me which thou deemest most
beneficial to man'--to which the reply is, 'Meditate on me.' Here Indra-
prâna is represented as the object of a meditation which is to bring
about Release; the object of such meditation can be none but the highest
Self.--'He makes him whom he wishes to lead up from these worlds do a
good deed; and him whom he wishes to lead down from these worlds he
makes do a bad deed.' The causality with regard to all actions which is
here described is again a special attribute of the highest Self.--The
same has to be said with regard to the attribute of being the abode of
all, in the passage about the wheel and spokes, quoted above; and with
regard to the attributes of bliss, absence of old age and immortality,
referred to in another passage quoted before. Also the attributes of
being 'the ruler of the worlds, the lord of all,' can belong to the
highest Self only.--The conclusion therefore is that the being called
Indra and Prâna is none other but the highest Self.--But how then can
Indra, who is known to be an individual person only, enjoin meditation
on himself?--To this question the next Sûtra replies.
31. The instruction (given by Indra about himself) (is possible) through
insight based on Scripture, as in the case of Vâmadeva.
The instruction which, in the passages quoted, Indra gives as to the
object of meditation, i.e. Brahman constituting his Self, is not based
on such an insight into his own nature as is established by other means
of proof, but on an intuition of his own Self, mediated by Scripture.
'Having entered into them with this living Self let me evolve names and
forms' (Ch. Up. VI, 3, 2); 'In it all that exists has its Self (Ch. Up.
VI, 8, 7); Entered within, the ruler of creatures, the Self of all'
(Taitt. Ar. III, 21); 'He who dwelling in the Self is different from the
Self,' &c. (Bri. Up. III, 7, 22)--from these and similar texts Indra has
learned that the highest Self has the indiviual souls for its body, and
that hence words such as 'I' and 'thou,' which denote individual beings,
extend in their connotation up to the highest Self; when, therefore, he
says, 'Know me only', and 'Meditate on me', he really means to teach
that the highest Self, of which his own individual person is the body,
is the proper object of meditation. 'As in the case of Vâmadeva.' As the
Rishi Vâmadeva perceiving that Brahman is the inner Self of all, that
all things constitute its body, and that the meaning of words denoting a
body extends up to the principle embodied, denotes with the word 'I' the
highest Brahman to which he himself stands in the relation of a body,
and then predicates of this 'I' Manu Sûrya and other beings--'Seeing
this the Rishi. Vâmadeva understood, I am Manu, I am Sûrya' (Bri. Up. I,
4, 10). Similarly Prahlâda says, 'As the Infinite one abides within all,
he constitutes my "I" also; all is from me, I am all, within me is all.'
(Vi. Pu. I, 19, 85.) The next Sûtra states, in reply to an objection,
the reason why, in the section under discussion, terms denoting the
individual soul, and others denoting non-sentient things are applied to
Brahman.
32. If it be said (that Brahman is not meant) on account of
characteristic marks of the individual soul and the chief vital air; we
say no, on account of the threefoldness of meditation; on account of
(such threefold meditation) being met (in other texts also); and on
account of (such threefold meditation) being appropriate here (also).
An objection is raised. 'Let none try to find out what speech is, let
him know the speaker'; 'I slew the three-headed son of Tvashtri; I
delivered the Arunmukhas, the devotees, to the wolves'; these passages
state characteristic marks of an individual soul (viz. the god Indra).--
'As long as Prâna dwells in this body, so long there is life'; 'Prâna
alone is the conscious Self, and having laid hold of this body, it makes
it rise up.'--These passages again mention characteristic attributes of
the chief vital air. Hence there is here no 'multitude of attributes
belonging to the Self.'--The latter part of the Sûtra refutes this
objection. The highest Self is called by these different terms in order
to teach threefoldness of devout meditation; viz. meditation on Brahman
in itself as the cause of the entire world; on Brahman as having for its
body the totality of enjoying (individual) souls; and on Brahman as
having for its body the objects and means of enjoyment.--This threefold
meditation on Brahman, moreover, is met with also in other chapters of
the sacred text. Passages such as 'The True, knowledge, infinite is
Brahman,' 'Bliss is Brahman,' dwell on Brahman in itself. Passages again
such as 'Having created that he entered into it. Having entered it he
became _sat_ and _tyat_, defined and undefined,' &c. (Taitt. Up. II, 6),
represent Brahman as having for its body the individual souls and
inanimate nature. Hence, in the chapter under discussion also, this
threefold view of Brahman is quite appropriate. Where to particular
individual beings such as Hiranyagarbha, and so on, or to particular
inanimate things such as prakriti, and so on, there are attributed
qualities especially belonging--to the highest Self; or where with words
denoting such persons and things there are co-ordinated terms denoting
the highest Self, the intention of the texts is to convey the idea of
the highest Self being the inner Self of all such persons and things.--
The settled conclusion, therefore, is that the being designated as Indra
and Prâna is other than an individual soul, viz. the highest Self.