'I dwell within the hearts of all, from me come memory and knowledge, as
well as their loss'; 'He who free from delusion knows me to be the
highest Person'; 'The Lord, O Arjuna, is seated in the heart of all
Beings, driving round by his mysterious power all beings as if mounted
on a machine; to him fly for refuge' (Bha. Gi. XV, 15, 19; XVIII, 61).
These Smriti-texts show the embodied soul to be the meditating subject,
and the highest Self the object of meditation.
7. Should it be said that (the passage does) not (refer to Brahman) on
account of the smallness of the abode, and on account of the denotation
of that (viz. minuteness of the being meditated on); we say no, because
(Brahman) has thus to be meditated upon, and because (in the same
passage) it is said to be like ether.
It might be contended that, as the text 'he is my Self within the heart'
declares the being meditated on to dwell within a minute abode, viz. the
heart; and as moreover another text--'smaller than a grain of rice,' &c.,
declares it to be itself of minute size, that being cannot be the
highest Self, but only the embodied soul. For other passages speak of
the highest Self as unlimited, and of the embodied soul as having the
size of the point of a goad (cp. e.g. Mu. Up. I, 1, 6, and Svet. Up. V,
8).--This objection the Sûtra rebuts by declaring that the highest Self
is spoken of as such, i.e. minute, on account of its having to be
meditated upon as such. Such minuteness does not, however, belong to its
true nature; for in the same section it is distinctly declared to be
infinite like ether--'greater than the earth, greater than the sky,
greater than heaven, greater than all these worlds' (Ch. Up. III, 14, 3).
This shows that the designation of the highest Self as minute is for the
purpose of meditation only.--The connexion of the whole section then is
as follows. The clause 'All this is Brahman; let a man meditate with
calm mind on this world as beginning, ending, and breathing in Brahman,'
enjoins meditation on Brahman as being the Self of all, in so far as it
is the cause of the origin and destruction of all, and entering into all
beings as their soul gives life to them. The next clause, 'Man is made
of thought; according as his thought is in this world, so will he be
when he has departed this life,' declares the attainment of the desired
object to depend on the nature of the meditation; and the following
clause, 'Let him therefore form the following thought,' thereupon
repeats the injunction with a view to the declaration of details. The
clause 'He who consists of mind,' &c., up to 'who is never surprised,'
then states the nature and qualities, of the being to be meditated upon,
which are to be comprised in the meditation. Next, the clause 'He is my
Self,' up to 'the kernel of a canary seed,' declares that the highest
Person, for the purpose of meditation, abides in the heart of the
meditating devotee; representing it as being itself minute, since the
heart is minute. After this the clause 'He also is my Self,' up to 'who
is never surprised,' describes those aspects of the being meditated upon
as within the heart, which are to be attained by the devotee. Next, the
words 'this my Self within the heart is that Brahman' enjoins the
reflection that the highest Brahman, as described before, is, owing to
its supreme kindness, present in our hearts in order thereby to refresh
and inspirit us. Then the clause 'When I shall have departed from hence
I shall obtain him' suggests the idea that there is a certainty of
obtaining him on the basis of devout meditation; and finally the clause
'He who has this faith has no doubt' declares that the devotee who is
firmly convinced of his aim being attainable in the way described, will
attain it beyond any doubt.--From all this it appears that the
'limitation of abode,' and the 'minuteness' ascribed to Brahman, are
merely for the purpose of meditation.
8. Should it be said that there is attainment of fruition (of pleasure
and pain); we reply, not so, on account of difference.
But, if the highest Brahman is assumed to dwell within bodies, like the
individual soul, it follows that, like the latter, it is subject to the
experience of pleasure and pain, such experience springing from
connexion with bodies!--Of this objection the Sûtra disposes by
remarking 'not so, on account of difference (of reason).' For what is
the cause of experiences, pleasurable or painful, is not the mere
dwelling within a body, but rather the subjection to the influence of
good and evil deeds; and such subjection is impossible in the case of
the highest Self to which all evil is foreign. Compare the scriptural
text 'One of the two eats the sweet fruit, the other one looks on
without eating' (Mu. Up. III, 1, 1).--Here finishes the adhikarana of
'what is known everywhere.'
Well then, if the highest Self is not an enjoyer, we must conclude that
wherever fruition is referred to, the embodied soul only is meant!--Of
this view the next adhikarana disposes.
9. The eater (is the highest Self) on account of there being taken all
that is movable and immovable.
We read in the Kathavallî (I, 3, 25), 'Who then knows where he is to
whom the Brahmans and Kshattriyas are but food, and death itself a
condiment?' A doubt here arises whether the 'eater', suggested by the
words 'food' and 'condiment,' is the individual soul or the highest Self.--
The individual soul, the Pûrvapakshin maintains; for all enjoyment
presupposes works, and works belong to the individual soul only.--Of
this view the Sûtra disposes. The 'eater' can be the highest Self only,
because the taking, i. e. eating, of the whole aggregate of movable and
immovable things can be predicated of that Self only. 'Eating' does not
here mean fruition dependent on work, but rather the act of reabsorption
of the world on the part of the highest Brahman, i. e. Vishnu, who is
the cause of the origination, subsistence, and final destruction of the
universe. This appears from the fact that Vishnu is mentioned in the
same section, 'He reaches the end of his journey, and that is the
highest place of Vishnu' (Ka. Up. I, 3, 9). Moreover the clause 'to whom
death is a condiment' shows that by the Brahmans and Kshattriyas,
mentioned in the text, we have to understand the whole universe of
moving and non-moving things, viewed as things to be consumed by the
highest Self. For a condiment is a thing which, while itself being eaten,
causes other things to be eaten; the meaning of the passage, therefore,
is that while death itself is consumed, being a condiment as it were,
there is at the same time eaten whatever is flavoured or made palatable
by death, and that is the entire world of beings in which the Brahmans
and Kshattriyas hold the foremost place. Now such eating of course is
destruction or reabsorption, and hence such enjoyment--meaning general
reabsorption--can belong to the highest Self only.