1. If it be said that some (mention) that which rests on Inference; we
deny this because (the form) refers to what is contained in the simile
of the body; and (this the text) shows.
So far the Sûtras have given instruction about a Brahman, the enquiry
into which serves as a means to obtain what is the highest good of man,
viz. final release; which is the cause of the origination, and so on, of
the world; which differs in nature from all non-sentient things such as
the Pradhâna, and from all intelligent beings whether in the state of
bondage or of release; which is free from all shadow of imperfection;
which is all knowing, all powerful, has the power of realising all its
purposes, comprises within itself all blessed qualities, is the inner
Self of all, and possesses unbounded power and might. But here a new
special objection presents itself. In order to establish the theory
maintained by Kapila, viz. of there being a Pradhâna and individual
souls which do _not_ have their Self in Brahman, it is pointed out by
some that in certain branches of the Veda there are met with certain
passages which appear to adumbrate the doctrine of the Pradhâna being
the universal cause. The Sûtras now apply themselves to the refutation
of this view, in order thereby to confirm the theory of Brahman being
the only cause of all.
We read in the Katha-Upanishad, 'Beyond the senses there are the objects,
beyond the objects there is the mind, beyond the mind there is the
intellect, the great Self is beyond the intellect. Beyond the Great
there is the Unevolved, beyond the Unevolved there is the Person. Beyond
the Person there is nothing--this is the goal, the highest road' (Ka. Up.
I, 3, 11). The question here arises whether by the 'Unevolved' be or be
not meant the Pradhâna, as established by Kapila's theory, of which
Brahman is not the Self.--The Pûrvapakshin maintains the former
alternative. For, he says, in the clause 'beyond the Great is the
Unevolved, beyond the Unevolved is the Person,' we recognise the
arrangement of entities as established by the Sânkhya-system, and hence
must take the 'Unevolved' to be the Pradhâna. This is further confirmed
by the additional clause 'beyond the Person there is nothing,' which (in
agreement with Sânkhya principles) denies that there is any being beyond
the soul, which itself is the twenty-fifth and last of the principles
recognised by the Sânkhyas. This primâ facie view is expressed in the
former part of the Sûtra, 'If it be said that in the sâkhâs of some that
which rests on Inference, i.e. the Pradhâna, is stated as the universal
cause.'
The latter part of the Sûtra refutes this view. The word 'Unevolved'
does not denote a Pradhâna independent of Brahman; it rather denotes the
body represented as a chariot in the simile of the body, i.e. in the
passage instituting a comparison between the Self, body, intellect, and
so on, on the one side, and the charioteer, chariot, &c. on the other
side.--The details are as follows. The text at first--in the section
beginning 'Know the Self to be the person driving,' &c., and ending 'he
reaches the end of the journey, and that is the highest place of Vishnu'
(I, 3, 3-9)--compares the devotee desirous of reaching the goal of his
journey through the samsâra, i.e. the abode of Vishnu, to a man driving
in a chariot; and his body, senses, and so on, to the chariot and parts
of the chariot; the meaning of the whole comparison being that he only
reaches the goal who has the chariot, &c. in his control. It thereupon
proceeds to declare which of the different beings enumerated and
compared to a chariot, and so on, occupy a superior position to the
others in so far, namely, as they are that which requires to be
controlled--'higher than the senses are the objects,' and so on. Higher
than the senses compared to the horses--are the objects--compared to
roads,--because even a man who generally controls his senses finds it
difficult to master them when they are in contact with their objects;
higher than the objects is the mind-compared to the reins--because when
the mind inclines towards the objects even the non-proximity of the
latter does not make much difference; higher than the mind (manas) is
the intellect (buddhi)--compared to the charioteer--because in the
absence of decision (which is the characteristic quality of buddhi) the
mind also has little power; higher than the intellect again is the
(individual) Self, for that Self is the agent whom the intellect serves.
And as all this is subject to the wishes of the Self, the text
characterises it as the 'great Self.' Superior to that Self again is the
body, compared to the chariot, for all activity whereby the individual
Self strives to bring about what is of advantage to itself depends on
the body. And higher finally than the body is the highest Person, the
inner Ruler and Self of all, the term and goal of the journey of the
individual soul; for the activities of all the beings enumerated depend
on the wishes of that highest Self. As the universal inner Ruler that
Self brings about the meditation of the Devotee also; for the Sûtra (II,
3, 41) expressly declares that the activity of the individual soul
depends on the Supreme Person. Being the means for bringing about the
meditation and the goal of meditation, that same Self is the highest
object to be attained; hence the text says 'Higher than the Person there
is nothing--that is the goal, the highest road.' Analogously scripture,
in the antaryâmin-Brâhmana, at first declares that the highest Self
within witnesses and rules everything, and thereupon negatives the
existence of any further ruling principle 'There is no other seer but he,'
&c. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-gîtâ, 'The abode, the agent, the
various senses, the different and manifold functions, and fifth the
Divinity (i.e. the highest Person)' (XVIII, 14); and 'I dwell within the
heart of all; memory and perception, as well as their loss, come from
me' (XV, 15). And if, as in the explanation of the text under discussion,
we speak of that highest Self being 'controlled,' we must understand
thereby the soul's taking refuge with it; compare the passage Bha. Gî.
XVIII, 61-62, 'The Lord dwells in the heart of all creatures, whirling
them round as if mounted on a machine; to Him go for refuge.'
Now all the beings, senses, and so on, which had been mentioned in the
simile, are recognised in the passage 'higher than the senses are the
objects,' &c., being designated there by their proper names; but there
is no mention made of the body which previously had been compared to the
chariot; we therefore conclude that it is the body which is denoted by
the term 'the Unevolved.' Hence there is no reason to see here a
reference to the Pradhâna as established in the theory of Kapila. Nor do
we recognise, in the text under discussion, the general system of Kapila.
The text declares the objects, i.e. sounds and so on, to be superior to
the senses; but in Kapila's system the objects are not viewed as the
causes of the senses. For the same reason the statement that the manas
is higher than the objects does not agree with Kapila's doctrine. Nor is
this the case with regard to the clause 'higher than the buddhi is the
great one, the Self; for with Kapila the 'great one' (mahat) is the
buddhi, and it would not do to say 'higher than the great one is the
great one.' And finally the 'great one,' according to Kapila, cannot be
called the 'Self.' The text under discussion thus refers only to those
entities which had previously appeared in the simile. The text itself
further on proves this, when saying 'That Self is hidden in all beings
and does not shine forth, but it is seen by subtle seers through their
sharp and subtle intellect. A wise man should keep down speech in the
mind, he should keep that within knowledge (which is) within the Self;
he should keep knowledge within the great Self, and that he should keep
within the quiet Self.' For this passage, after having stated that the
highest Self is difficult to see with the inner and outer organs of
knowledge, describes the mode in which the sense-organs, and so on, are
to be held in control. The wise man should restrain the sense-organs and
the organs of activity within the mind; he should restrain that (i.e.
the mind) within knowledge, i.e. within the intellect (buddhi), which
abides within the Self; he should further restrain the intellect within
the great Self, i.e. the active individual Self; and that Self finally
he should restrain within the quiet Self, i.e. the highest Brahman,
which is the inner ruler of all; i.e. he should reach, with his
individual Self so qualified, the place of Vishnu, i.e. Brahman.--But
how can the term 'the Unevolved' denote the evolved body?--To this
question the next Sûtra furnishes a reply.