The word 'ether,' moreover, is known to have, among other meanings, that
of Brahman. Compare 'For who could breathe, who could breathe forth, if
that ether were not bliss?' (Taitt. Up. II, 7); 'All these beings take
their rise from the ether' (Ch. Up. I, 9, 1). It has to be kept in view
that in the text under discussion the meaning 'Brahman' is supported by
what is said about the qualities of the small ether--viz. freedom from
sin, &c.--and hence is stronger than the other meaning--, according to
which âkâsa signifies the elemental ether.
So far the Sûtras have refuted the view of the small ether being the
element. They now enter on combating the notion that the small ether may
possibly be the individual soul.
17. If it be said that on account of reference to the other one he is
meant; we say no, on account of impossibility.
An objection is raised to the argumentation that, on account of
complementary passages, the small ether must be explained to mean the
highest Self.
For, the objector says, a clear reference to him who is 'other' than the
highest Self, i.e. to the individual soul, is contained in the following
passage (VIII, 12, 3): 'Thus does that serenity (samprasâda), having
risen from this body and approached the highest light, appear in its own
form.' 'That is the Self,' he said. 'That is the immortal, the fearless,
this is Brahman' (VIII, 7, 3?). We admit that for the different reasons
stated above the ether within the heart cannot be the elemental ether;
but owing to the force of the intimations conveyed by the complementary
passages just quoted, we must adopt the view that what is meant is the
individual soul. And as the word 'âkâsa' may be connected with prakâsa
(light), it may be applied to the individual soul also.--This view is
set aside by the Sûtra. The small ether cannot be the individual soul
because the qualities attributed in the text to the former, viz. freedom
from sin, &c., cannot possibly belong to the individual soul.
18. Should it be said that from a subsequent passage (it appears that
the individual Soul is meant); rather (the soul) in so far as its true
nature has become manifest.
The Pûrvapakshin now maintains that we ascertain from a subsequent
declaration made by Prajâpati that it is just the individual Soul that
possesses freedom from sin and the other qualities enumerated. The whole
teaching of Prajâpati, he says, refers to the individual Soul only.
Indra having heard that Prajâpati had spoken about a Self free from sin,
old age, &c., the enquiry into which enables the soul to obtain all
worlds and desires, approaches Prajâpati with the wish to learn the true
nature of that Self which should be enquired into. Prajâpati thereupon,
wishing to test the capacity of his pupil for receiving true instruction,
gives him successive information about the embodied soul in the state of
waking, dream and dreamless sleep. When he finds that Indra sees no good
in instruction of this kind and thus shows himself fit to receive
instruction about the true nature of the disembodied Self, he explains
to him that the body is a mere abode for a ruling Self; that that
bodiless Self is essentially immortal; and that the soul, as long as it
is joined to a body due to karman, is compelled to experience pleasure
and pain corresponding to its embodied state, while it rises above all
this when it has freed itself from the body (VIII, 12, 1). He then
continues: 'Thus that serenity having risen from this body and
approached the highest light, appears in its own form'; thus teaching
him the true nature, free from a body, of the individual soul. He next
informs him that the 'highest light' which the soul reaches is the
supreme Person ('That is the supreme Person'), and that the soul having
reached that highest light and freed itself from what obscured its own
true nature, obtains in the world of Brahman whatever enjoyments it
desires, and is no longer connected with a body springing from karman
and inseparable from pain and pleasure, or with anything else that
causes distress. ('He moves about there laughing,' &c.). He next
illustrates the connexion with a body, of the soul in the Samsâra state,
by means of a comparison: 'Like as a horse attached to a cart,' &c.
After that he explains that the eye and the other sense-organs are
instruments of knowledge, colour, and so on, the objects of knowledge,
and the individual Self the knowing subject; and that hence that Self is
different from the body and the sense-organs ('Now where the sight has
entered' up to 'the mind is his divine eye'). Next he declares that,
after having divested itself of the body and the senses, the Self
perceives all the objects of its desire by means of its 'divine eye,' i.
e. the power of cognition which constitutes its essential nature ('He by
means of the divine eye,' &c.). He further declares that those who have
true knowledge know the Self as such ('on that Self the devas meditate');
and in conclusion teaches that he who has that true knowledge of the
Self obtains for his reward the intuition of Brahman--which is suggested
by what the text says about the obtaining of all worlds and all desires
('He obtains all worlds and all desires,' &c., up to the end of the
chapter).--It thus appears that the entire chapter proposes as the
object of cognition the individual soul free from sin, and so on. The
qualities, viz. freedom from guilt, &c., may thus belong to the
individual Self, and on this ground we conclude that the small ether is
the individual Self.
This view the second half of the Sûtra sets aside. The two sections,
that which treats of the small ether and that which contains the
teaching of Prajâpati, have different topics. Prajâpati's teaching
refers to the individual soul, whose true nature, with its qualities
such as freedom from evil, &c., is at first hidden by untruth, while
later on, when it has freed itself from the bondage of karman, risen
from the body, and approached the highest light, it manifests itself in
its true form and then is characterised by freedom from all evil and by
other auspicious qualities. In the section treating of the small ether,
on the other hand, we have to do with the small ether, i.e. the highest
Brahman, whose true nature is never hidden, and which therefore is
unconditionally characterised by freedom from evil, and so on.--
Moreover, the daharâkâsa-section ascribes to the small ether other
attributes which cannot belong to the individual Self even 'when its
true nature has manifested itself.' The small ether is there called a
bank and support of all worlds; and one of its names,'satyam,' is
explained to imply that it governs all sentient and non-sentient beings.
All this also proves that the small ether is none other than the highest
Self. That the individual soul, 'even when its true nature is manifest,'
cannot be viewed as a bank and support of the worlds, &c., we shall show
under IV, 4.
But if this is so, what then is the meaning of the reference to the
individual soul which is made in the section treating of the small ether,
viz. in the passage, 'Now that serene being, which after having risen
from this body,' &c. (VIII, 3, 4)?
To this question the next Sûtra replies.