That the world and Brahman stand to each other in the relation of part
and whole, the former being like the light and the latter like the
luminous body, or the former being like the power and the latter like
that in which the power inheres, or the former being like the body and
the latter like the soul; this Parâsara also and other Smriti writers
declare, 'As the light of a fire which abides in one place only spreads
all around, thus this whole world is the power (sakti) of the highest
Brahman.' The 'and' in the Sûtra implies that scriptural texts also ('of
whom the Self is the body' and others) declare that the individual Self
is a part of Brahman in so far as it is its body.
But if all individual souls are equal in so far as being alike parts of
Brahman, alike actuated by Brahman, and alike knowing subjects, what is
the reason that, as Scripture teaches, some of them are allowed to read
the Veda and act according to its injunctions, while others are excluded
therefrom; and again that some are to see, feel, and so on, while others
are excluded from these privileges?--This question is answered by the
next Sûtra.
47. Permission and exclusion (result) from connexion with a body; as in
the case of light and so on.
Although all souls are essentially of the same nature in so far as they
are parts of Brahman, knowing subjects and so on, the permissions and
exclusions referred to are possible for the reason that each individual
soul is joined to some particular body, pure or impure, whether of a
Brâhmana or Kshattriya or Vaisya or Sûdra, and so on. 'As in the case of
fire and so on.' All fire is of the same kind, and yet one willingly
fetches fire from the house of a Brâhmana, while one shuns fire from a
place where dead bodies are burnt. And from a Brâhmana one accepts food
without any objection, while one refuses food from a low person.