Moreover the highest Brahman constitutes the topic of the entire section.
Cp. 'The wise who knows the Self as great and omnipresent does not
grieve' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 22); 'That Self cannot be gained by the Veda, nor
by understanding, nor by much learning. He whom the Self chooses, by him
the Self can be gained; the Self chooses him as his own' (I, 2, 23).--
Moreover, the clause (forming part of the text under discussion),'Who
knows him (i.e. the being which constitutes the topic of the section)
where he is?' clearly shows that we have to recognise here the Self of
which it had previously been said that it is hard to know unless it
assists us with its grace.
To this conclusion a new objection presents itself.--Further on in the
same Upanishad (I, 3, 1) we meet with the following text: 'There are two,
drinking their reward in the world of their own works, entered into the
cave, dwelling on the highest summit; those who know Brahman call them
shade and light, likewise those householders who perform the Trinakiketa-
sacrifice.' Now this text clearly refers to the individual soul which
enjoys the reward of its works, together with an associate coupled to it.
And this associate is either the vital breath, or the organ of knowledge
(buddhi). For the drinking of 'rita' is the enjoyment of the fruit of
works, and such enjoyment does not suit the highest Self. The buddhi, or
the vital breath, on the other hand, which are instruments of the
enjoying embodied soul, may somehow be brought into connexion with the
enjoyment of the fruit of works. As the text is thus seen to refer to
the embodied soul coupled with some associate, we infer, on the ground
of the two texts belonging to one section, that also the 'eater'
described in the former text is none other than the individual soul.--To
this objection the next Sûtra replies.
11. The 'two entered into the cave' are the two Selfs; on account of
this being seen.
The two, entered into the cave and drinking their reward, are neither
the embodied soul together with the vital breath, nor the embodied soul
together with the buddhi; it is rather the embodied Self and the highest
Self which are designated by those terms. For this is seen, i.e. it is
seen that in that section the individual Self and the highest Self only
are spoken of as entered into the cave. To the highest Self there refers
I, 2, 12, 'The wise who by meditation on his Self recognises the Ancient
who is difficult to see, who has entered into the dark, who is hidden in
the cave, who dwells in the abyss, as God, he indeed leaves joy and
sorrow far behind.' And to the individual soul there refers I, 4, 7,
'Who is together with the vital breath, who is Aditi, who is made of the
deities, who entering into the cave abides therein, who was born
variously through the elements.' Aditi here means the individual soul
which enjoys (atti) the fruits of its works; which is associated with
the vital breath; which is made of the deities, i.e. whose enjoyment is
dependent on the different sense-organs; which abides in the hollow of
the heart; and which, being connected with the elementary substances,
earth, and so on, is born in various forms--human, divine, &c.--That the
text speaks of the two Selfs as drinking their reward (while actually
the individual soul only does so) is to be understood in the same way as
the phrase 'there go the umbrella-bearers' (one of whom only carries the
umbrella). Or else we may account for this on the ground that both are
agents with regard to the drinking, in so far as the 'drinking'
individual soul is caused to drink by the highest Self.