We read in the Chândogya, 'Man is made of thought; according to what his
thought is in this world, so will he be when he has departed this life.
Let him form this thought: he who consists of mind, whose body is breath,
whose form is light,' &c. (III, 14). We here understand that of the
meditation enjoined by the clause 'let him form this thought' the object
is the being said to consist of mind, to have breath for its body, &c. A
doubt, however, arises whether the being possessing these attributes be
the individual soul or the highest Self.--The Pûrvapakshin maintains the
former alternative. For, he says, mind and breath are instruments of the
individual soul; while the text 'without breath, without mind,'
distinctly denies them to the highest Self. Nor can the Brahman
mentioned in a previous clause of the same section ('All this indeed is
Brahman') be connected as an object with the meditation enjoined in the
passage under discussion; for Brahman is there referred to in order to
suggest the idea of its being the Self of all--which idea constitutes a
means for bringing about that calmness of mind which is helpful towards
the act of meditation enjoined in the clause 'Let a man meditate with
calm mind,' &c. Nor, again, can it be said that as the meditation
conveyed by the clause 'let him form this thought' demands an object,
Brahman, although mentioned in another passage, only admits of being
connected with the passage under discussion; for the demand for an
object is fully satisfied by the being made of mind, &c., which is
mentioned in that very passage itself; in order to supply the object we
have merely to change the case-terminations of the words 'manomayah
prânasarîrah,' &c. It having thus been determined that the being made of
mind is the individual soul, we further conclude that the Brahman
mentioned in the concluding passage of the section ('That is Brahman')
is also the individual soul, there called Brahman in order to glorify it.
This primâ facie view is set aside by the Sûtra. The being made of mind
is the highest Self; for the text states certain qualities, such as
being made of mind, &c., which are well known to denote, in all Vedânta-
texts, Brahman only. Passages such as 'He who is made of mind, the guide
of the body of breath' (Mu. Up. II, 2, 7); 'There is the ether within
the heart, and in it there is the Person, consisting of mind, immortal,
golden' (Taitt. Up. I. 6, 1); 'He is conceived by the heart, by wisdom,
by the mind. Those who know him are immortal' (Ka. Up. II, 6, 9); 'He is
not apprehended by the eye nor by speech, but by a purified mind' (Mu.
Up. III, 1, 8); 'The breath of breath' (Bri. Up. IV, 4, 183); 'Breath
alone is the conscious Self, and having laid hold of this body it makes
it rise up' (Kau. Up. III, 3); 'All these beings merge into breath alone,
and from breath they arise' (Ch. Up. I, 11, 5)--these and similar texts
refer to Brahman as consisting of mind, to be apprehended by a purified
mind, having breath for its body, and being the abode and ruler of
breath. This being so, we decide that in the concluding passage, 'my
Self within the heart, that is Brahman,' the word 'Brahman' has to be
taken in its primary sense (and does not denote the individual soul).
The text which declares Brahman to be without mind and breath, merely
means to deny that the thought of Brahman depends on a mind (internal
organ), and that its life depends on breath.
Or else we may interpret the Vedic text and the Sûtra as follows. The
passage 'All this is Brahman; let a man meditate with a calm mind on
this world as originating, ending, and breathing in Brahman,' conveys
the imagination of meditation on Brahman as the Self of all. The
subsequent clause 'Let him form the thought,' &c., forms an additional
statement to that injunction, the purport of which is to suggest certain
attributes of Brahman, such as being made of mind. So that the meaning
of the whole section is 'Let a man meditate on Brahman, which is made of
mind, has breath for its body, &c., as the Self of the whole world.'--
Here a doubt presents itself. Does the term 'Brahman' in this section
denote the individual soul or the highest Self?--The individual soul,
the Pûrvapakshin maintains, for that only admits of being exhibited in
co-ordination with the word 'all.' For the word 'all' denotes the entire
world from Brahmâ down to a blade of grass; and the existence of Brahmâ
and other individual beings is determined by special forms of karman,
the root of which is the beginningless Nescience of the individual soul.
The highest Brahman, on the other hand, which is all-knowing, all-
powerful, free from all evil and all shadow of Nescience and similar
imperfections, cannot possibly exist as the 'All' which comprises within
itself everything that is bad. Moreover we find that occasionally the
term 'Brahman' is applied to the individual soul also; just as the
highest Lord (paramesvara) may be called 'the highest Self' (paramâtman)
or 'the highest Brahman.' That 'greatness' (brihattva; which is the
essential characteristic of 'brahman') belongs to the individual soul
when it has freed itself from its limiting conditions, is moreover
attested by scripture: 'That (soul) is fit for infinity' (Svet. Up. V,
9). And as the soul's Nescience is due to karman (only), the text may
very well designate it--as it does by means of the term 'tajjalân'--as
the cause of the origin, subsistence, and reabsorption of the world.
That is to say--the individual soul which, in its essential nature, is
non-limited, and therefore of the nature of Brahman, owing to the
influence of Nescience enters into the state of a god, or a man, or an
animal, or a plant.
This view is rejected by the Sûtra. 'Everywhere,' i.e. in the whole
world which is referred to in the clause 'All this is Brahman' we have
to understand the highest Brahman--which the term 'Brahman' denotes as
the Self of the world--, and not the individual soul; 'because there is
taught what is known,' i.e. because the clause 'All this is Brahman'--
for which clause the term 'tajjalân' supplies the reason--refers to
Brahman as something generally known. Since the world springs from
Brahman, is merged in Brahman, and depends on Brahman for its life,
therefore--as the text says--'All this has its Self in Brahman'; and
this shows to us that what the text understands by Brahman is that being
from which, as generally known from the Vedânta texts, there proceed the
creation, and so on, of the world. That the highest Brahman only, all-
wise and supremely blessed, is the cause of the origin, &c., of the
world, is declared in the section which begins. 'That from which these
beings are born,' &c., and which says further on, 'he knew that Bliss is
Brahman, for from bliss these beings are born' (Taitt. Up. III, 6); and
analogously the text 'He is the cause, the lord of lords of the organs,'
&c. (Svet. Up. VI, 9), declares the highest Brahman to be the cause of
the individual soul. Everywhere, in fact, the texts proclaim the
causality of the highest Self only. As thus the world which springs from
Brahman, is merged in it, and breathes through it, has its Self in
Brahman, the identity of the two may properly be asserted; and hence the
text--the meaning of which is 'Let a man meditate with calm mind on the
highest Brahman of which the world is a mode, which has the world for
its body, and which is the Self of the world'--first proves Brahman's
being the universal Self, and then enjoins meditation on it. The highest
Brahman, in its causal condition as well as in its so-called 'effected'
state, constitutes the Self of the world, for in the former it has for
its body all sentient and non-sentient beings in their subtle form, and
in the latter the same beings in their gross condition. Nor is there any
contradiction between such identity with the world on Brahman's part,
and the fact that Brahman treasures within itself glorious qualities
antagonistic to all evil; for the imperfections adhering to the bodies,
which are mere modes of Brahman, do not affect Brahman itself to which
the modes belong. Such identity rather proves for Brahman supreme lordly
power, and thus adds to its excellences. Nor, again, can it rightly be
maintained that of the individual soul also identity with the world can
be predicated; for the souls being separate according to the bodies with
which they are joined cannot be identical with each other. Even in the
state of release, when the individual soul is not in any way limited, it
does not possess that identity with the world on which there depends
causality with regard to the world's creation, sustentation, and
reabsorption; as will be declared in Sûtra IV, 4, 17. Nor, finally, does
the Pûrvapakshin improve his case by contending that the individual soul
may be the cause of the creation, &c., of the world because it (viz. the
soul) is due to karman; for although the fact given as reason is true,
all the same the Lord alone is the cause of the Universe.--All this
proves that the being to which the text refers as Brahman is none other
than the highest Self.
This second alternative interpretation of the Sûtra is preferred by most
competent persons. The Vrittikâra, e.g. says, 'That Brahman which the
clause "All this is Brahman" declares to be the Self of all is the Lord.'
2. And because the qualities meant to be stated are possible (in
Brahman).
The qualities about to be stated can belong to the highest Self only.
'Made of mind, having breath for its body,' &c. 'Made of mind' means to
be apprehended by a purified mind only. The highest Self can be
apprehended only by a mind purified by meditation on that Self, such
meditation being assisted by the seven means, viz. abstention, &c. (see
above, p. 17). This intimates that the highest Self is of pure goodness,
precluding all evil, and therefore different in nature from everything
else; for by the impure minded impure objects only can be apprehended.--
'Having the vital breath for its body' means--being the supporter of all
life in the world. To stand in the relation of a body to something else,
means to abide in that other thing, to be dependent on it, and to
subserve it in a subordinate capacity, as we shall fully show later on.
And all 'vital breath' or 'life' stands in that relation to the highest
Self. 'Whose form is light'; i.e. who is of supreme splendour, his form
being a divine one of supreme excellence peculiar to him, and not
consisting of the stuff of Prakriti.--'Whose purposes are true'; i.e.
whose purposes realise themselves without any obstruction. 'Who is the
(or "of the") Self of ether'; i.e. who is of a delicate and transparent
nature, like ether; or who himself is the Self of ether, which is the
causal substance of everything else; or who shines forth himself and
makes other things shine forth.--'To whom all works belong'; i.e. he of
whom the whole world is the work; or he to whom all activities belong.--
'To whom all wishes belong'; i.e. he to whom all pure objects and means
of desire and enjoyment belong. 'He to whom all odours and tastes
belong'; i.e. he to whom there belong, as objects of enjoyment, all
kinds of uncommon, special, perfect, supremely excellent odours and
tastes; ordinary smells and tastes being negatived by another text, viz.
'That which is without sound, without touch, without taste,' &c. (Ka. Up.
I, 3, 15).--'He who embraces all this'; i.e. he who makes his own the
whole group of glorious qualities enumerated.--'He who does not speak,'
because, being in possession of all he could desire, he 'has no regard
for anything'; i.e. he who, in full possession of lordly power, esteems
this whole world with all its creatures no higher than a blade of grass,
and hence abides in silence.--All these qualities stated in the text can
belong to the highest Self only.