Between the two texts referring to the Person of the size of a thumb,
there is a text declaring that to that Person there belongs light that
obscures all other light, and is the cause and assistance of all other
light; and such light is characteristic of Brahman only. 'The sun does
not shine there, nor the moon and the stars, nor these lightnings, and
much less this fire. After him, the shining one, everything shines; by
his light all this is lighted' (Ka. Up. II, 5, 15)--This very same sloka
is read in the Âtharvana (i.e. Mundaka) with reference to Brahman.
Everywhere, in fact, the texts attribute supreme luminousness to Brahman
only. Compare: 'Having approached the highest light he manifests himself
in his own shape' (Ch. Up. VIII, 12, 3); 'Him the gods meditate on as
the light of lights, as immortal time' (Bri. Up. IV, 4,16); 'Now that
light which shines above this heaven' (Ch. Up. III, 13, 7).--It is thus
a settled conclusion that the Person measured by a thumb is the highest
Brahman.--Here terminates the adhikarana of 'him who is measured' (by a
thumb).
42. The ether, on account of the designation of something different, and
so on.
We read in the Chândogya. 'The ether is the evolver of forms and names.
That within which these forms and names are (or "that which is within--
or without--these forms and names") is Brahman, the Immortal, the Self'
(VIII, 14). A doubt here arises whether the being here called ether be
the released individual soul, or the highest Self.--The Pûrvapakshin
adopts the former view. For, he says, the released soul is introduced as
subject-matter in an immediately preceding clause,'Shaking off all as a
horse shakes his hair, and as the moon frees himself from the mouth of
Râhu; having shaken off the body I obtain, satisfied, the uncreated
world of Brahman' Moreover, the clause 'That which is without forms and
names' clearly designates the released soul freed from name and form.
And 'the evolver of names and forms' is again that same soul
characterised with a view to its previous condition; for the individual
soul in its non-released state supported the shapes of gods, and so on,
and their names. With a view, finally, to its present state in which it
is free from name and form, the last clause declares 'that is Brahman,
the Immortal'. The term 'ether' may very well be applied to the released
soul which is characterised by the possession of non-limited splendour.--
But, as the text under discussion is supplementary to the section
dealing with the small ether within the heart (VIII, 1, 1 ff.), we
understand that that small ether is referred to here also; and it has
been proved above that that small ether is Brahman!--Not so, we reply.
The text under discussion is separated from the section treating of the
small ether within the heart, by the teaching of Prajâpati. and that
teaching is concerned with the characteristics of the individual soul in
its different conditions up to Release; and moreover the earlier part of
the section under discussion speaks of the being which shakes off evil,
and this undoubtedly is the released individual soul introduced in the
teaching of Prajâpati. All this shows that the ether in our passage
denotes the released individual soul.
This view is set aside by the Sûtra. The ether in our passage is the
highest Brahman, because the clause 'Ether is the evolver of forms and
names' designates something other than the individual soul. The ether
which evolves names and forms cannot be the individual soul either in
the state of bondage or that of release. In the state of bondage the
soul is under the influence of karman, itself participates in name and
form, and hence cannot bring about names and forms. And in its released
state it is expressly said not to take part in the world-business (Ve.
Sû. IV, 4, 17), and therefore is all the less qualified to evolve names
and forms. The Lord, on the other hand, who is the ruling principle in
the construction of the Universe is expressly declared by scripture to
be the evolver of names and forms; cp. 'Entering into them with this
living Self, let me evolve names and forms' (Ch. Up. VI, 3, 2); 'Who is
all-knowing, whose brooding consists of knowledge, from him is born this
Brahman, name, form, and matter' (Mu. Up. I, 1, 9), &c. Hence the ether
which brings about names and forms is something different from the soul
for which name and form are brought about; it is in fact the highest
Brahman. This the next clause of the text confirms, 'That which is
within those forms and names'; the purport of which is: because that
ether is within names and forms, not being touched by them but being
something apart, therefore it is the evolver of them; this also
following from his being free from evil and endowed with the power of
realising his purposes. The 'and so on' in the Sûtra refers to the
Brahma-hood, Self-hood, and immortality mentioned in the text ('That is
the Brahman, the Immortal, the Self'). For Brahma-hood, i.e. greatness,
and so on, in their unconditioned sense, belong to the highest Self only.
It is thus clear that the ether is the highest Brahman.--Nor is the
Pûrvapakshin right in maintaining that a clause immediately preceding
('shaking off all evil') introduces the individual soul as the general
topic of the section. For what the part of the text immediately
preceding the passage under discussion does introduce as general topic,
is the highest Brahman, as shown by the clause 'I obtain the Brahma-
world.' Brahman is, it is true, represented there as the object to be
obtained by the released soul; but as the released soul cannot be the
evolver of names and forms, &c., we must conclude that it is Brahman
(and not the released soul), which constitutes the topic of the whole
section. Moreover (to take a wider view of the context of our passage)
the term 'ether' prompts us to recognise here the small ether (mentioned
in the first section of the eighth book) as the general topic of the
book; and as the teaching of Prajâpati is meant to set forth (not the
individual soul by itself but) the nature of the soul of the meditating
devotee, it is proper to conclude that the text under discussion is
meant finally to represent, as the object to be obtained, the small
ether previously inculcated as object of meditation. In conclusion we
remark that the term 'ether' is nowhere seen to denote the individual
Self.--The ether that evolves names and forms, therefore, is the highest
Brahman.
But, an objection is raised, there is no other Self different from the
individual Self; for scripture teaches the unity of all Selfs and denies
duality. Terms such as 'the highest Self,' 'the highest Brahman,' 'the
highest Lord,' are merely designations of the individual soul in the
state of Release. The Brahma-world to be attained, therefore, is nothing
different from the attaining individual soul; and hence the ether also
that evolves names and forms can be that soul only.--To this objection
the next Sûtra replies.