In the case of the passage 'Higher than the intellect is the Great Self,'
we conclude from the co-ordination of 'the Great' with the Self that
what the text means is not the 'Great' principle of the Sankhyas;
analogously we conclude that the 'Unevolved,' which is said to be higher
than the Self, cannot be the Pradhâna of Kapila's system.
8. On account of there being no special characteristic; as in the case
of the cup.
In the discussion of the following passages also we aim only at refuting
the system of the Sankhyas; not at disproving the existence and nature
of Prakriti, the 'great' principle, the ahamâra, and so on, viewed as
dependent on Brahman. For that they exist in this latter relation is
proved by Scripture as well as Smriti.--A text of the followers of the
Atharvan runs as follows: 'Her who produces all effects, the non-knowing
one, the unborn one, wearing eight forms, the firm one--she is known (by
the Lord) and ruled by him, she is spread out and incited and ruled by
him, gives birth to the world for the benefit of the souls. A cow she is
without beginning and end, a mother producing all beings; white, black,
and red, milking all wishes for the Lord. Many babes unknown drink her.
the impartial one; but one God only, following his own will, drinks her
submitting to him. By his own thought and work the mighty God strongly
enjoys her, who is common to all, the milkgiver, who is pressed by the
sacrifices. The Non-evolved when being counted by twenty-four is called
the Evolved.' This passage evidently describes the nature of Prakriti,
and so on, and the same Upanishad also teaches the Supreme Person who
constitutes the Self of Prakriti, and so on. 'Him they call the twenty-
sixth or also the twenty-seventh; as the Person devoid of all qualities
of the Sânkhyas he is known by the followers of the Atharvan [FOOTNOTE
364:1].'--Other followers of the Atharvan read in their text that there
are sixteen originating principles (prakriti) and eight effected things
(vikâra; Garbha Up. 3).--The Svetâsvataras again set forth the nature of
Prakriti, the soul and the Lord as follows. 'The Lord supports all this
together, the Perishable and the Imperishable, the Evolved and the
Unevolved; the other one is in bondage, since he is an enjoyer; but
having known the God he is free from all fetters. There are two unborn
ones, the one knowing and a Lord, the other without knowledge and lordly
power; there is the one unborn female on whom the enjoyment of all
enjoyers depends; and there is the infinite Self appearing in all shapes,
but itself inactive. When a man finds out these three, that is Brahman.
The Perishable is the Pradhâna, the Immortal and Imperishable is Hara;
the one God rules the Perishable and the Self. From meditation on him,
from union with him, from becoming one with him there is in the end
cessation of all Mâya' (Svet. Up. I, 8-10). And 'The sacred verses, the
offerings, the sacrifices, the vows, the past, the future, and all that
the Vcdas declare--from that the Ruler of Mâya creates all this; and in
this the other one is bound up through Mâya. Know then Prakriti to be
Mâya and the great Lord the ruler of Mâya; with his members this whole
world is filled' (Svet. Up. V, 9-10). And, further on, 'The master of
Pradhâna and the soul, the lord of the gunas, the cause of the bondage,
existence, and release of worldly existence' (VI, 16). Thus likewise in
Smriti, 'Do thou know both Nature and the soul to be without beginning,
and know all effects and qualities to have sprung from Nature. Nature is
declared to be the cause of the activity of causes and effects, whilst
the soul is the cause of there being enjoyment of pleasure and pain. For
the soul abiding in Nature experiences the qualities derived from Nature,
the reason being its connexion with the qualities, in its births in good
and evil wombs' (Bha. Gî. XIII, 19-21). And 'Goodness, Passion, and
Darkness--these are the qualities which, issuing from nature, bind in
the body the embodied soul, the undecaying one' (XIV, 5). And 'All
beings at the end of a kalpa return into my Nature, and again, at the
beginning of a kalpa, do I send them forth. Presiding over my own nature
again and again do I send forth this vast body of beings which has no
freedom of its own, being subject to Nature.--With me as ruler Nature
brings forth all moving and non-moving things, and for this reason the
world does ever go round' (Bha. Gî. IX, 7, 8, 10). What we therefore
refuse to accept are a Prakriti, and so on, of the kind assumed by
Kapila, i.e. not having their Self in Brahman.--We now proceed to
explain the Sûtra.
We read in the Svetâsvatara-Upanishad 'There is one ajâ, red, white, and
black, producing manifold offspring of the same nature. One aja loves
her and lies by her; another leaves her after having enjoyed her.' A
doubt arises here whether this mantra declares a mere Prakriti as
assumed in Kapila's system, or a Prakriti having its Self in Brahman.
The Pûrvapakshin maintains the former alternative. For, he points out,
the text refers to the non-originatedness of Prakriti, calling her ajâ,
i.e. unborn, and further says that she by herself independently produces
manifold offspring resembling herself. This view is rejected by the
Sûtra, on the ground that there is no intimation of a special
circumstance determining the acceptance of the Prakriti as assumed by
the Sânkhyas, i.e. independent of Brahman; for that she is ajâ, i. e.
not born, is not a sufficiently special characteristic. The case is
analogous to that of the 'cup.' In the mantra 'There is a cup having its
mouth below and its bottom above' (Bri. Up. II, 2, 3), the word kamasa
conveys to us only the idea of some implement used in eating, but we are
unable to see what special kind of kamasa is meant; for in the case of
words the meaning of which is ascertained on the ground of their
derivation (as 'kamasa' from 'kam,' to eat or drink), the special sense
of the word in any place cannot be ascertained without the help of
considerations of general possibility, general subject-matter, and so on.
Now in the case of the cup we are able to ascertain that the cup meant
is the head, because there is a complementary passage 'What is called
the cup with its mouth below and its bottom above is the head'; but if
we look out for a similar help to determine the special meaning of ajâ,
we find nothing to convince us that the aja, i. e. the 'unborn'
principle, is the Prakriti of the Sânkhyas. Nor is there anything in the
text to convey the idea of that ajâ having the power of independent
creation; for the clause 'giving birth to manifold offspring' declares
only that she creates, not that she creates unaided. The mantra does not
therefore tell us about an 'unborn' principle independent of Brahman.--
There moreover is a special reason for understanding by the ajâ
something that depends on Brahman. This the following Sûtra states.
[FOOTNOTE 364:1. These quotations are from the Kulikâ-Upanishad (transl.
by Deussen, Seventy Upanishads, p. 638 ff.) The translation as given
above follows the readings adopted by Râmânuja and explained in the--
Sruta-Prakâsikâ.]