The word 'then' is here to be taken as denoting immediate consecution;
not as indicating the introduction of a new subject to be entered upon;
for the enquiry into Brahman (more literally, the desire of knowing
Brahman) is not of that nature[51]. Nor has the word 'then' the sense of
auspiciousness (or blessing); for a word of that meaning could not be
properly construed as a part of the sentence. The word 'then' rather
acts as an auspicious term by being pronounced and heard merely, while
it denotes at the same time something else, viz. immediate consecution
as said above. That the latter is its meaning follows moreover from the
circumstance that the relation in which the result stands to the
previous topic (viewed as the cause of the result) is non-separate from
the relation of immediate consecution.[52]
If, then, the word 'then' intimates immediate consecution it must be
explained on what antecedent the enquiry into Brahman specially depends;
just as the enquiry into active religious duty (which forms the subject
of the Pûrvâ Mîmâ/m/sâ) specially depends on the antecedent reading of
the Veda. The reading of the Veda indeed is the common antecedent (for
those who wish to enter on an enquiry into religious duty as well as for
those desirous of knowing Brahman). The special question with regard to
the enquiry into Brahman is whether it presupposes as its antecedent the
understanding of the acts of religious duty (which is acquired by means
of the Pûrvâ Mîmâ/m/sâ). To this question we reply in the negative,
because for a man who has read the Vedânta-parts of the Veda it is
possible to enter on the enquiry into Brahman even before engaging in
the enquiry into religious duty. Nor is it the purport of the word
'then' to indicate order of succession; a purport which it serves in
other passages, as, for instance, in the one enjoining the cutting off
of pieces from the heart and other parts of the sacrificial animal.[53]
(For the intimation of order of succession could be intended only if the
agent in both cases were the same; but this is not the case), because
there is no proof for assuming the enquiry into religious duty and the
enquiry into Brahman to stand in the relation of principal and
subordinate matter or the relation of qualification (for a certain act)
on the part of the person qualified[54]; and because the result as well
as the object of the enquiry differs in the two cases. The knowledge of
active religious duty has for its fruit transitory felicity, and that
again depends on the performance of religious acts. The enquiry into
Brahman, on the other hand, has for its fruit eternal bliss, and does
not depend on the performance of any acts. Acts of religious duty do not
yet exist at the time when they are enquired into, but are something to
be accomplished (in the future); for they depend on the activity of man.
In the Brahma-mîmá/m/sâ, on the other hand, the object of enquiry, i.e.
Brahman, is something already accomplished (existent),--for it is
eternal,--and does not depend on human energy. The two enquiries differ
moreover in so far as the operation of their respective fundamental
texts is concerned. For the fundamental texts on which active religious
duty depends convey information to man in so far only as they enjoin on
him their own particular subjects (sacrifices, &c.); while the
fundamental texts about Brahman merely instruct man, without laying on
him the injunction of being instructed, instruction being their
immediate result. The case is analogous to that of the information
regarding objects of sense which ensues as soon as the objects are
approximated to the senses. It therefore is requisite that something
should be stated subsequent to which the enquiry into Brahman is
proposed.--Well, then, we maintain that the antecedent conditions are
the discrimination of what is eternal and what is non-eternal; the
renunciation of all desire to enjoy the fruit (of one's actions) both
here and hereafter; the acquirement of tranquillity, self-restraint, and
the other means[55], and the desire of final release. If these
conditions exist, a man may, either before entering on an enquiry into
active religious duty or after that, engage in the enquiry into Brahman
and come to know it; but not otherwise. The word 'then' therefore
intimates that the enquiry into Brahman is subsequent to the acquisition
of the above-mentioned (spiritual) means.
The word 'therefore' intimates a reason. Because the Veda, while
declaring that the fruit of the agnihotra and similar performances which
are means of happiness is non-eternal (as, for instance. Ch. Up. VIII,
1, 6, 'As here on earth whatever has been acquired by action perishes so
perishes in the next world whatever is acquired by acts of religious
duty'), teaches at the same time that the highest aim of man is realised
by the knowledge of Brahman (as, for instance, Taitt. Up. II, 1, 'He who
knows Brahman attains the highest'); therefore the enquiry into Brahman
is to be undertaken subsequently to the acquirement of the mentioned
means.
By Brahman is to be understood that the definition of which will be
given in the next Sûtra (I, 1, 2); it is therefore not to be supposed
that the word Brahman may here denote something else, as, for instance,
the brahminical caste. In the Sûtra the genitive case ('of Brahman;' the
literal translation of the Sûtra being 'then therefore the desire of
knowledge of Brahman') denotes the object, not something generally
supplementary (/s/esha[56]); for the desire of knowledge demands an
object of desire and no other such object is stated.--But why should not
the genitive case be taken as expressing the general complementary
relation (to express which is its proper office)? Even in that case it
might constitute the object of the desire of knowledge, since the
general relation may base itself on the more particular one.--This
assumption, we reply, would mean that we refuse to take Brahman as the
direct object, and then again indirectly introduce it as the object; an
altogether needless procedure.--Not needless; for if we explain the
words of the Sûtra to mean 'the desire of knowledge connected with
Brahman' we thereby virtually promise that also all the heads of
discussion which bear on Brahman will be treated.--This reason also, we
reply, is not strong enough to uphold your interpretation. For the
statement of some principal matter already implies all the secondary
matters connected therewith. Hence if Brahman, the most eminent of all
objects of knowledge, is mentioned, this implies already all those
objects of enquiry which the enquiry into Brahman presupposes, and those
objects need therefore not be mentioned, especially in the Sûtra.
Analogously the sentence 'there the king is going' implicitly means that
the king together with his retinue is going there. Our interpretation
(according to which the Sûtra represents Brahman as the direct object of
knowledge) moreover agrees with Scripture, which directly represents
Brahman as the object of the desire of knowledge; compare, for instance,
the passage, 'That from whence these beings are born, &c., desire to
know that. That is Brahman' (Taitt. Up. III, 1). With passages of this
kind the Sûtra only agrees if the genitive case is taken to denote the
object. Hence we do take it in that sense. The object of the desire is
the knowledge of Brahman up to its complete comprehension, desires
having reference to results[57]. Knowledge thus constitutes the means by
which the complete comprehension of Brahman is desired to be obtained.
For the complete comprehension of Brahman is the highest end of man,
since it destroys the root of all evil such as Nescience, the seed of
the entire Sa/m/sâra. Hence the desire of knowing Brahman is to be
entertained.
But, it may be asked, is Brahman known or not known (previously to the
enquiry into its nature)? If it is known we need not enter on an enquiry
concerning it; if it is not known we can not enter on such an enquiry.
We reply that Brahman is known. Brahman, which is all-knowing and
endowed with all powers, whose essential nature is eternal purity,
intelligence, and freedom, exists. For if we consider the derivation of
the word 'Brahman,' from the root b/ri/h, 'to be great,' we at once
understand that eternal purity, and so on, belong to Brahman[58].
Moreover the existence of Brahman is known on the ground of its being
the Self of every one. For every one is conscious of the existence of
(his) Self, and never thinks 'I am not.' If the existence of the Self
were not known, every one would think 'I am not.' And this Self (of
whose existence all are conscious) is Brahman. But if Brahman is
generally known as the Self, there is no room for an enquiry into it!
Not so, we reply; for there is a conflict of opinions as to its special
nature. Unlearned people and the Lokâyatikas are of opinion that the
mere body endowed with the quality of intelligence is the Self; others
that the organs endowed with intelligence are the Self; others maintain
that the internal organ is the Self; others, again, that the Self is a
mere momentary idea; others, again, that it is the Void. Others, again
(to proceed to the opinion of such as acknowledge the authority of the
Veda), maintain that there is a transmigrating being different from the
body, and so on, which is both agent and enjoyer (of the fruits of
action); others teach that that being is enjoying only, not acting;
others believe that in addition to the individual souls, there is an
all-knowing, all-powerful Lord[59]. Others, finally, (i.e. the
Vedântins) maintain that the Lord is the Self of the enjoyer (i.e. of
the individual soul whose individual existence is apparent only, the
product of Nescience).
Thus there are many various opinions, basing part of them on sound
arguments and scriptural texts, part of them on fallacious arguments and
scriptural texts misunderstood[60]. If therefore a man would embrace
some one of these opinions without previous consideration, he would bar
himself from the highest beatitude and incur grievous loss. For this
reason the first Sûtra proposes, under the designation of an enquiry
into Brahman, a disquisition of the Vedânta-texts, to be carried on with
the help of conformable arguments, and having for its aim the highest
beatitude.
So far it has been said that Brahman is to be enquired into. The
question now arises what the characteristics of that Brahman are, and
the reverend author of the Sûtras therefore propounds the following
aphorism.
2. (Brahman is that) from which the origin, &c. (i.e. the origin,
subsistence, and dissolution) of this (world proceed).
The term, &c. implies subsistence and re-absorption. That the origin is
mentioned first (of the three) depends on the declaration of Scripture
as well as on the natural development of a substance. Scripture declares
the order of succession of origin, subsistence, and dissolution in the
passage, Taitt. Up. III, 1, 'From whence these beings are born,' &c. And
with regard to the second reason stated, it is known that a substrate of
qualities can subsist and be dissolved only after it has entered,
through origination, on the state of existence. The words 'of this'
denote that substrate of qualities which is presented to us by
perception and the other means of right knowledge; the genitive case
indicates it to be connected with origin, &c. The words 'from which'
denote the cause. The full sense of the Sûtra therefore is: That
omniscient omnipotent cause from which proceed the origin, subsistence,
and dissolution of this world--which world is differentiated by names
and forms, contains many agents and enjoyers, is the abode of the fruits
of actions, these fruits having their definite places, times, and
causes[61], and the nature of whose arrangement cannot even be conceived
by the mind,--that cause, we say, is Brahman. Since the other forms of
existence (such as increase, decline, &c.) are included in origination,
subsistence, and dissolution, only the three latter are referred to in
the Sûtra. As the six stages of existence enumerated by Yâska[62] are
possible only during the period of the world's subsistence, it
might--were they referred to in the Sûtra--be suspected that what is
meant are not the origin, subsistence, and dissolution (of the world) as
dependent on the first cause. To preclude this suspicion the Sûtra is to
be taken as referring, in addition to the world's origination from
Brahman, only to its subsistence in Brahman, and final dissolution into
Brahman.
The origin, &c. of a world possessing the attributes stated above cannot
possibly proceed from anything else but a Lord possessing the stated
qualities; not either from a non-intelligent prâdhana[63], or from
atoms, or from non-being, or from a being subject to transmigration[64];
nor, again, can it proceed from its own nature (i.e. spontaneously,
without a cause), since we observe that (for the production of effects)
special places, times, and causes have invariably to be employed.
(Some of) those who maintain a Lord to be the cause of the world[65],
think that the existence of a Lord different from mere transmigrating
beings can be inferred by means of the argument stated just now (without
recourse being had to Scripture at all).--But, it might be said, you
yourself in the Sûtra under discussion have merely brought forward the
same argument!--By no means, we reply. The Sûtras (i.e. literally 'the
strings') have merely the purpose of stringing together the flowers of
the Vedânta-passages. In reality the Vedânta-passages referred to by the
Sûtras are discussed here. For the comprehension of Brahman is effected
by the ascertainment, consequent on discussion, of the sense of the
Vedânta-texts, not either by inference or by the other means of right
knowledge. While, however, the Vedânta-passages primarily declare the
cause of the origin, &c., of the world, inference also, being an
instrument of right knowledge in so far as it does not contradict the
Vedânta-texts, is not to be excluded as a means of confirming the
meaning ascertained. Scripture itself, moreover, allows argumentation;
for the passages, B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 5 ('the Self is to be heard, to be
considered'), and Ch. Up. VI, 14, 2 ('as the man, &c., having been
informed, and being able to judge for himself, would arrive at Gandhâra,
in the same way a man who meets with a teacher obtains knowledge'),
declare that human understanding assists Scripture[66].
Scriptural text, &c.[67], are not, in the enquiry into Brahman, the only
means of knowledge, as they are in the enquiry into active duty (i.e. in
the Pûrva Mimâ/m/sâ), but scriptural texts on the one hand, and
intuition[68], &c., on the other hand, are to be had recourse to
according to the occasion: firstly, because intuition is the final
result of the enquiry into Brahman; secondly, because the object of the
enquiry is an existing (accomplished) substance. If the object of the
knowledge of Brahman were something to be accomplished, there would be
no reference to intuition, and text, &c., would be the only means of
knowledge. The origination of something to be accomplished depends,
moreover, on man since any action either of ordinary life, or dependent
on the Veda may either be done or not be done, or be done in a different
way. A man, for instance, may move on either by means of a horse, or by
means of his feet, or by some other means, or not at all. And again (to
quote examples of actions dependent on the Veda), we meet in Scripture
with sentences such as the following: 'At the atirâtra he takes the
sho/d/asin cup,' and 'at the atirâtra he does not take the sho/d/asin
cup;' or, 'he makes the oblation after the sun has risen,' and, 'he
makes the oblation when the sun has not yet risen.' Just as in the
quoted instances, injunctions and prohibitions, allowances of optional
procedure, general rules and exceptions have their place, so they would
have their place with regard to Brahman also (if the latter were a thing
to be accomplished). But the fact is that no option is possible as to
whether a substance is to be thus or thus, is to be or not to be. All
option depends on the notions of man; but the knowledge of the real
nature of a thing does not depend on the notions of man, but only on the
thing itself. For to think with regard to a post, 'this is a post or a
man, or something else,' is not knowledge of truth; the two ideas, 'it
is a man or something else,' being false, and only the third idea, 'it
is a post,' which depends on the thing itself, falling under the head of
true knowledge. Thus true knowledge of all existing things depends on
the things themselves, and hence the knowledge of Brahman also depends
altogether on the thing, i.e. Brahman itself.--But, it might be said, as
Brahman is an existing substance, it will be the object of the other
means of right knowledge also, and from this it follows that a
discussion of the Vedânta-texts is purposeless.--This we deny; for as
Brahman is not an object of the senses, it has no connection with those
other means of knowledge. For the senses have, according to their
nature, only external things for their objects, not Brahman. If Brahman
were an object of the senses, we might perceive that the world is
connected with Brahman as its effect; but as the effect only (i.e. the
world) is perceived, it is impossible to decide (through perception)
whether it is connected with Brahman or something else. Therefore the
Sûtra under discussion is not meant to propound inference (as the means
of knowing Brahman), but rather to set forth a Vedânta-text.--Which,
then, is the Vedânta-text which the Sûtra points at as having to be
considered with reference to the characteristics of Brahman?--It is the
passage Taitt. Up. III, 1, 'Bh/ri/gu Vâru/n/i went to his father
Varu/n/a, saying, Sir, teach me Brahman,' &c., up to 'That from whence
these beings are born, that by which, when born, they live, that into
which they enter at their death, try to know that. That is Brahman.' The
sentence finally determining the sense of this passage is found III, 6:
'From bliss these beings are born; by bliss, when born, they live; into
bliss they enter at their death.' Other passages also are to be adduced
which declare the cause to be the almighty Being, whose essential nature
is eternal purity, intelligence, and freedom.
That Brahman is omniscient we have been made to infer from it being
shown that it is the cause of the world. To confirm this conclusion, the
Sûtrakâra continues as follows:
3. (The omniscience of Brahman follows) from its being the source of
Scripture.
Brahman is the source, i.e. the cause of the great body of Scripture,
consisting of the /Ri/g-veda and other branches, which is supported by
various disciplines (such as grammar, nyâya, purâ/n/a, &c.); which
lamp-like illuminates all things; which is itself all-knowing as it
were. For the origin of a body of Scripture possessing the quality of
omniscience cannot be sought elsewhere but in omniscience itself. It is
generally understood that the man from whom some special body of
doctrine referring to one province of knowledge only originates, as, for
instance, grammar from Pâ/n/ini possesses a more extensive knowledge
than his work, comprehensive though it be; what idea, then, shall we
have to form of the supreme omniscience and omnipotence of that great
Being, which in sport as it were, easily as a man sends forth his
breath, has produced the vast mass of holy texts known as the
/Ri/g-veda, &c., the mine of all knowledge, consisting of manifold
branches, the cause of the distinction of all the different classes and
conditions of gods, animals, and men! See what Scripture says about him,
'The /Ri/g-veda, &c., have been breathed forth from that great Being'
(B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 10).
Or else we may interpret the Sûtra to mean that Scripture consisting of
the /Ri/g-veda, &c., as described above, is the source or cause, i.e.
the means of right knowledge through which we understand the nature of
Brahman. So that the sense would be: through Scripture only as a means
of knowledge Brahman is known to be the cause of the origin, &c., of the
world. The special scriptural passage meant has been quoted under the
preceding Sûtra 'from which these beings are born,' &c.--But as the
preceding Sûtra already has pointed out a text showing that Scripture is
the source of Brahman, of what use then is the present Sûtra?--The words
of the preceding Sûtra, we reply, did not clearly indicate the
scriptural passage, and room was thus left for the suspicion that the
origin, &c., of the world were adduced merely as determining an
inference (independent of Scripture). To obviate this suspicion the
Sûtra under discussion has been propounded.
But, again, how can it be said that Scripture is the means of knowing
Brahman? Since it has been declared that Scripture aims at action
(according to the Pûrva Mîmâ/m/sâ Sûtra I, 2, 1, 'As the purport of
Scripture is action, those scriptural passages whose purport is not
action are purportless'), the Vedânta-passages whose purport is not
action are purportless. Or else if they are to have some sense, they
must either, by manifesting the agent, the divinity or the fruit of the
action, form supplements to the passages enjoining actions, or serve the
purpose of themselves enjoining a new class of actions, such as devout
meditation and the like. For the Veda cannot possibly aim at conveying
information regarding the nature of accomplished substances, since the
latter are the objects of perception and the other means of proof (which
give sufficient information about them; while it is the recognised
object of the Veda to give information about what is not known from
other sources). And if it did give such information, it would not be
connected with things to be desired or shunned, and thus be of no use to
man. For this very reason Vedic passages, such as 'he howled, &c.,'
which at first sight appear purposeless, are shown to have a purpose in
so far as they glorify certain actions (cp. Pû. Mî. Sû. I, 2, 7,
'Because they stand in syntactical connection with the injunctions,
therefore their purport is to glorify the injunctions'). In the same way
mantras are shown to stand in a certain relation to actions, in so far
as they notify the actions themselves and the means by which they are
accomplished. So, for instance, the mantra, 'For strength thee (I cut;'
which accompanies the cutting of a branch employed in the
dar/s/apûr/n/amâsa-sacrifice). In short, no Vedic passage is seen or can
be proved to have a meaning but in so far as it is related to an action.
And injunctions which are defined as having actions for their objects
cannot refer to accomplished existent things. Hence we maintain that the
Vedânta-texts are mere supplements to those passages which enjoin
actions; notifying the agents, divinities, and results connected with
those actions. Or else, if this be not admitted, on the ground of its
involving the introduction of a subject-matter foreign to the
Vedânta-texts (viz. the subject-matter of the Karmakâ/nd/a of the Veda),
we must admit (the second of the two alternatives proposed above viz.)
that the Vedânta-texts refer to devout meditation (upâsanâ) and similar
actions which are mentioned in those very (Vedânta) texts. The result of
all of which is that Scripture is not the source of Brahman.
To this argumentation the Sûtrakâra replies as follows:
4. But that (Brahman is to be known from Scripture), because it is
connected (with the Vedânta-texts) as their purport.
The word 'but' is meant to rebut the pûrva-paksha (the primâ facie view
as urged above). That all-knowing, all-powerful Brahman, which is the
cause of the origin, subsistence, and dissolution of the world, is known
from the Vedânta-part of Scripture. How? Because in all the
Vedânta-texts the sentences construe in so far as they have for their
purport, as they intimate that matter (viz. Brahman). Compare, for
instance, 'Being only this was in the beginning, one, without a second'
(Ch. Up. VI, 2, 1); 'In the beginning all this was Self, one only' (Ait.
Âr. II, 4, 1, 1); 'This is the Brahman without cause and without effect,
without anything inside or outside; this Self is Brahman perceiving
everything' (B/ri/. Up. II, 5, 19); 'That immortal Brahman is before'
(Mu. Up. II, 2, 11); and similar passages. If the words contained in
these passages have once been determined to refer to Brahman, and their
purport is understood thereby, it would be improper to assume them to
have a different sense; for that would involve the fault of abandoning
the direct statements of the text in favour of mere assumptions. Nor can
we conclude the purport of these passages to be the intimation of the
nature of agents, divinities, &c. (connected with acts of religious
duty); for there are certain scriptural passages which preclude all
actions, actors, and fruits, as, for instance, B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 13,
'Then by what should he see whom?' (which passage intimates that there
is neither an agent, nor an object of action, nor an instrument.) Nor
again can Brahman, though it is of the nature of an accomplished thing,
be the object of perception and the other means of knowledge; for the
fact of everything having its Self in Brahman cannot be grasped without
the aid of the scriptural passage 'That art thou' (Ch. Up. VI, 8, 7).
Nor can it rightly be objected that instruction is purportless if not
connected with something either to be striven after or shunned; for from
the mere comprehension of Brahman's Self, which is not something either
to be avoided or endeavoured after, there results cessation of all pain,
and thereby the attainment of man's highest aim. That passages notifying
certain divinities, and so on, stand in subordinate relation to acts of
devout meditation mentioned in the same chapters may readily be
admitted. But it is impossible that Brahman should stand in an analogous
relation to injunctions of devout meditation, for if the knowledge of
absolute unity has once arisen there exists no longer anything to be
desired or avoided, and thereby the conception of duality, according to
which we distinguish actions, agents, and the like, is destroyed. If the
conception of duality is once uprooted by the conception of absolute
unity, it cannot arise again, and so no longer be the cause of Brahman
being looked upon as the complementary object of injunctions of
devotion. Other parts of the Veda may have no authority except in so far
as they are connected with injunctions; still it is impossible to impugn
on that ground the authoritativeness of passages conveying the knowledge
of the Self; for such passages have their own result. Nor, finally, can
the authoritativeness of the Veda be proved by inferential reasoning so
that it would be dependent on instances observed elsewhere. From all
which it follows that the Veda possesses authority as a means of right
knowledge of Brahman.
Here others raise the following objection:--Although the Veda is the
means of gaining a right knowledge of Brahman, yet it intimates Brahman
only as the object of certain injunctions, just as the information which
the Veda gives about the sacrificial post, the âhavanîya-fire and other
objects not known from the practice of common life is merely
supplementary to certain injunctions[69]. Why so? Because the Veda has
the purport of either instigating to action or restraining from it. For
men fully acquainted with the object of the Veda have made the following
declaration, 'The purpose of the Veda is seen to be the injunction of
actions' (Bhâshya on Jaimini Sûtra I, 1, 1); 'Injunction means passages
impelling to action' (Bh. on Jaim. Sû. I, 1, 2); 'Of this (viz. active
religious duty) the knowledge comes from injunction' (part of Jaim. Sû.
I, 1, 5); 'The (words) denoting those (things) are to be connected with
(the injunctive verb of the vidhi-passage) whose purport is action'
(Jaim. Sû. I, 1, 25); 'As action is the purport of the Veda, whatever
does not refer to action is purportless' (Jaim. Sû. I, 2, 1). Therefore
the Veda has a purport in so far only as it rouses the activity of man
with regard to some actions and restrains it with regard to others;
other passages (i.e. all those passages which are not directly
injunctive) have a purport only in so far as they supplement injunctions
and prohibitions. Hence the Vedânta-texts also as likewise belonging to
the Veda can have a meaning in the same way only. And if their aim is
injunction, then just as the agnihotra-oblation and other rites are
enjoined as means for him who is desirous of the heavenly world, so the
knowledge of Brahman is enjoined as a means for him who is desirous of
immortality.--But--somebody might object--it has been declared that
there is a difference in the character of the objects enquired into, the
object of enquiry in the karma-kâ/nd/a (that part of the Veda which
treats of active religious duty) being something to be accomplished,
viz. duty, while here the object is the already existent absolutely
accomplished Brahman. From this it follows that the fruit of the
knowledge of Brahman must be of a different nature from the fruit of the
knowledge of duty which depends on the performance of actions[70].--We
reply that it must not be such because the Vedânta-texts give
information about Brahman only in so far as it is connected with
injunctions of actions. We meet with injunctions of the following kind,
'Verily the Self is to be seen' (B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 5); 'The Self which
is free from sin that it is which we must search out, that it is which
we must try to understand' (Ch. Up. VIII, 7, 1); 'Let a man worship him
as Self' (B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 7); 'Let a man worship the Self only as his
true state' (B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 15); 'He who knows Brahman becomes
Brahman' (Mu. Up. III, 2, 9). These injunctions rouse in us the desire
to know what that Brahman is. It, therefore, is the task of the
Vedânta-texts to set forth Brahman's nature, and they perform that task
by teaching us that Brahman is eternal, all-knowing, absolutely
self-sufficient, ever pure, intelligent and free, pure knowledge,
absolute bliss. From the devout meditation on this Brahman there results
as its fruit, final release, which, although not to be discerned in the
ordinary way, is discerned by means of the /s/âstra. If, on the other
hand, the Vedânta-texts were considered to have no reference to
injunctions of actions, but to contain statements about mere
(accomplished) things, just as if one were saying 'the earth comprises
seven dvipas,' 'that king is marching on,' they would be purportless,
because then they could not possibly be connected with something to be
shunned or endeavoured after.--Perhaps it will here be objected that
sometimes a mere statement about existent things has a purpose, as, for
instance, the affirmation, 'This is a rope, not a snake,' serves the
purpose of removing the fear engendered by an erroneous opinion, and
that so likewise the Vedânta-passages making statements about the
non-transmigrating Self, have a purport of their own (without reference
to any action), viz. in so far as they remove the erroneous opinion of
the Self being liable to transmigration.--We reply that this might be so
if just as the mere hearing of the true nature of the rope dispels the
fear caused by the imagined snake, so the mere hearing of the true
nature of Brahman would dispel the erroneous notion of one's being
subject to transmigration. But this is not the case; for we observe that
even men to whom the true nature of Brahman has been stated continue to
be affected by pleasure, pain, and the other qualities attaching to the
transmigratory condition. Moreover, we see from the passage, /Bri/. Up.
II, 4, 5, 'The Self is to be heard, to be considered, to be reflected
upon,' that consideration and reflection have to follow the mere
hearing. From all this it results that the sâstra can be admitted as a
means of knowing Brahman in so far only as the latter is connected with
injunctions.
To all this, we, the Vedântins, make the following reply:--The preceding
reasoning is not valid, on account of the different nature of the fruits
of actions on the one side, and of the knowledge of Brahman on the other
side. The enquiry into those actions, whether of body, speech, or mind,
which are known from /S/ruti and Sm/ri/ti, and are comprised under the
name 'religious duty' (dharma), is carried on in the Jaimini Sûtra,
which begins with the words 'then therefore the enquiry into duty;' the
opposite of duty also (adharma), such as doing harm, &c., which is
defined in the prohibitory injunctions, forms an object of enquiry to
the end that it may be avoided. The fruits of duty, which is good, and
its opposite, which is evil, both of which are defined by original Vedic
statements, are generally known to be sensible pleasure and pain, which
make themselves felt to body, speech, and mind only, are produced by the
contact of the organs of sense with the objects, and affect all animate
beings from Brahman down to a tuft of grass. Scripture, agreeing with
observation, states that there are differences in the degree of pleasure
of all embodied creatures from men upward to Brahman. From those
differences it is inferred that there are differences in the degrees of
the merit acquired by actions in accordance with religious duty;
therefrom again are inferred differences in degree between those
qualified to perform acts of religious duty. Those latter differences
are moreover known to be affected by the desire of certain results
(which entitles the man so desirous to perform certain religious acts),
worldly possessions, and the like. It is further known from Scripture
that those only who perform sacrifices proceed, in consequence of the
pre-eminence of their knowledge and meditation, on the northern path (of
the sun; Ch. Up. V, 10, 1), while mere minor offerings, works of public
utility and alms, only lead through smoke and the other stages to the
southern path. And that there also (viz. in the moon which is finally
reached by those who have passed along the southern path) there are
degrees of pleasure and the means of pleasure is understood from the
passage 'Having dwelt there till their works are consumed.' Analogously
it is understood that the different degrees of pleasure which are
enjoyed by the embodied creatures, from man downward to the inmates of
hell and to immovable things, are the mere effects of religious merit as
defined in Vedic injunctions. On the other hand, from the different
degrees of pain endured by higher and lower embodied creatures, there is
inferred difference of degree in its cause, viz. religious demerit as
defined in the prohibitory injunctions, and in its agents. This
difference in the degree of pain and pleasure, which has for its
antecedent embodied existence, and for its cause the difference of
degree of merit and demerit of animated beings, liable to faults such as
ignorance and the like, is well known--from /S/ruti, Sm/ri/ti, and
reasoning--to be non-eternal, of a fleeting, changing nature
(sa/m/sâra). The following text, for instance, 'As long as he is in the
body he cannot get free from pleasure and pain' (Ch. Up. VIII, 12, 1),
refers to the sa/m/sâra-state as described above. From the following
passage, on the other hand, 'When he is free from the body then neither
pleasure nor pain touches him,' which denies the touch of pain or
pleasure, we learn that the unembodied state called 'final release'
(moksha) is declared not to be the effect of religious merit as defined
by Vedic injunctions. For if it were the effect of merit it would not be
denied that it is subject to pain and pleasure. Should it be said that
the very circumstance of its being an unembodied state is the effect of
merit, we reply that that cannot be, since Scripture declares that state
to be naturally and originally an unembodied one. 'The wise who knows
the Self as bodiless within the bodies, as unchanging among changing
things, as great and omnipresent does never grieve' (Ka. Up. II, 22);
'He is without breath, without mind, pure' (Mu. Up. II, 1, 2); 'That
person is not attached to anything' (B/ri/. Up. IV, 3, 15)[71]. All
which passages establish the fact that so-called release differs from
all the fruits of action, and is an eternally and essentially
disembodied state. Among eternal things, some indeed may be 'eternal,
although changing' (pari/n/âminitya), viz. those, the idea of whose
identity is not destroyed, although they may undergo changes; such, for
instance, are earth and the other elements in the opinion of those who
maintain the eternity of the world, or the three gu/n/as in the opinion
of the Sâ@nkhyas. But this (moksha) is eternal in the true sense, i.e.
eternal without undergoing any changes (kû/ta/sthanitya), omnipresent as
ether, free from all modifications, absolutely self-sufficient, not
composed of parts, of self-luminous nature. That bodiless entity in
fact, to which merit and demerit with their consequences and threefold
time do not apply, is called release; a definition agreeing with
scriptural passages, such as the following: 'Different from merit and
demerit, different from effect and cause, different from past and
future' (Ka. Up. I, 2, 14). It[72] (i.e. moksha) is, therefore, the same
as Brahman in the enquiry into which we are at present engaged. If
Brahman were represented as supplementary to certain actions, and
release were assumed to be the effect of those actions, it would be
non-eternal, and would have to be considered merely as something holding
a pre-eminent position among the described non-eternal fruits of actions
with their various degrees. But that release is something eternal is
acknowledged by whoever admits it at all, and the teaching concerning
Brahman can therefore not be merely supplementary to actions.
There are, moreover, a number of scriptural passages which declare
release to follow immediately on the cognition of Brahman, and which
thus preclude the possibility of an effect intervening between the two;
for instance, 'He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman' (Mu. Up. III, 2,
9); 'All his works perish when He has been beheld, who is the higher and
the lower' (Mu. Up. II, 2, 8); 'He who knows the bliss of Brahman fears
nothing' (Taitt. Up. II, 9); 'O Janaka, you have indeed reached
fearlessness' (B/ri/. Up. IV, 2, 4); 'That Brahman knew its Self only,
saying, I am Brahman. From it all this sprang' (B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 10);
'What sorrow, what trouble can there be to him who beholds that unity?'
(Îs. Up. 7.) We must likewise quote the passage,--B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 10,
('Seeing this the /Ri/shi Vâmadeva understood: I was Manu, I was the
sun,') in order to exclude the idea of any action taking place between
one's seeing Brahman and becoming one with the universal Self; for that
passage is analogous to the following one, 'standing he sings,' from
which we understand that no action due to the same agent intervenes
between the standing and the singing. Other scriptural passages show
that the removal of the obstacles which lie in the way of release is the
only fruit of the knowledge of Brahman; so, for instance, 'You indeed
are our father, you who carry us from our ignorance to the other shore'
(Pr. Up. VI, 8); 'I have heard from men like you that he who knows the
Self overcomes grief. I am in grief. Do, Sir, help me over this grief of
mine' (Ch. Up. VII, 1, 3); 'To him after his faults had been rubbed out,
the venerable Sanatkumâra showed the other side of darkness' (Ch. Up.
VII, 26, 2). The same is the purport of the Sûtra, supported by
arguments, of (Gautama) Âkârya, 'Final release results from the
successive removal of wrong knowledge, faults, activity, birth, pain,
the removal of each later member of the series depending on the removal
of the preceding member' (Nyây. Sû. I, i, 2); and wrong knowledge itself
is removed by the knowledge of one's Self being one with the Self of
Brahman.
Nor is this knowledge of the Self being one with Brahman a mere
(fanciful) combination[73], as is made use of, for instance, in the
following passage, 'For the mind is endless, and the Vi/s/vedevas are
endless, and he thereby gains the endless world' (B/ri/. Up. III, 1,
9)[74]; nor is it an (in reality unfounded) ascription
(superimposition)[75], as in the passages, 'Let him meditate on mind as
Brahman,' and 'Âditya is Brahman, this is the doctrine' (Ch. Up. III,
18, 1; 19, 1), where the contemplation as Brahman is superimposed on the
mind, Âditya and so on; nor, again, is it (a figurative conception of
identity) founded on the connection (of the things viewed as identical)
with some special activity, as in the passage, 'Air is indeed the
absorber; breath is indeed the absorber[76]' (Ch. Up. IV, 3, 1; 3); nor
is it a mere (ceremonial) purification of (the Self constituting a
subordinate member) of an action (viz. the action of seeing, &c.,
Brahman), in the same way as, for instance, the act of looking at the
sacrificial butter[77]. For if the knowledge of the identity of the Self
and Brahman were understood in the way of combination and the like,
violence would be done thereby to the connection of the words whose
object, in certain passages, it clearly is to intimate the fact of
Brahman and the Self being really identical; so, for instance, in the
following passages, 'That art thou' (Ch. Up. VI, 8, 7); 'I am Brahman'
(B/ri/. Up. I, 4, 10); 'This Self is Brahman' (B/ri/. Up. II, 5, 19).
And other texts which declare that the fruit of the cognition of Brahman
is the cessation of Ignorance would be contradicted thereby; so, for
instance, 'The fetter of the heart is broken, all doubts are solved'
(Mu. Up. II, 2, 8). Nor, finally, would it be possible, in that case,
satisfactorily to explain the passages which speak of the individual
Self becoming Brahman: such as 'He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman'
(Mu. Up. III, 2, 9). Hence the knowledge of the unity of Brahman and the
Self cannot be of the nature of figurative combination and the like. The
knowledge of Brahman does, therefore, not depend on the active energy of
man, but is analogous to the knowledge of those things which are the
objects of perception, inference, and so on, and thus depends on the
object of knowledge only. Of such a Brahman or its knowledge it is
impossible to establish, by reasoning, any connection with actions.
Nor, again, can we connect Brahman with acts by representing it as the
object of the action of knowing. For that it is not such is expressly
declared in two passages, viz. 'It is different from the known and again
above (i.e. different from) the unknown' (Ken. Up. I, 3); and 'How
should he know him by whom he knows all this?' (B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 13.)
In the same way Brahman is expressly declared not to be the object of
the act of devout meditation, viz. in the second half of the verse, Ken.
Up. I, 5, whose first half declares it not to be an object (of speech,
mind, and so on), 'That which is not proclaimed by speech, by which
speech is proclaimed, that only know to be Brahman, not that on which
people devoutly meditate as this.' If it should be objected that if
Brahman is not an object (of speech, mind, &c.) the sâstra can
impossibly be its source, we refute this objection by the remark that
the aim of the sâstra is to discard all distinctions fictitiously
created by Nescience. The sâstra's purport is not to represent Brahman
definitely as this or that object, its purpose is rather to show that
Brahman as the eternal subject (pratyagâtman, the inward Self) is never
an object, and thereby to remove the distinction of objects known,
knowers, acts of knowledge, &c., which is fictitiously created by
Nescience. Accordingly the sâstra says, 'By whom it is not thought by
him it is thought, by whom it is thought he does not know it; unknown by
those who know it, it is known by those who do not know it' (Ken. Up.
II, 3); and 'Thou couldst not see the seer of sight, thou couldst not
hear the hearer of hearing, nor perceive the perceiver of perception,
nor know the knower of knowledge' (B/ri/. Up. III, 4, 2). As thereby
(i.e. by the knowledge derived from the sâstra) the imagination of the
transitoriness of Release which is due to Nescience is discarded, and
Release is shown to be of the nature of the eternally free Self, it
cannot be charged with the imperfection of non-eternality. Those, on the
other hand, who consider Release to be something to be effected properly
maintain that it depends on the action of mind, speech, or body. So,
likewise, those who consider it to be a mere modification.
Non-eternality of Release is the certain consequence of these two
opinions; for we observe in common life that things which are
modifications, such as sour milk and the like, and things which are
effects, such as jars, &c., are non-eternal. Nor, again, can it be said
that there is a dependance on action in consequence of (Brahman or
Release) being something which is to be obtained[78]; for as Brahman
constitutes a person's Self it is not something to be attained by that
person. And even if Brahman were altogether different from a person's
Self still it would not be something to be obtained; for as it is
omnipresent it is part of its nature that it is ever present to every
one, just as the (all-pervading) ether is. Nor, again, can it be
maintained that Release is something to be ceremonially purified, and as
such depends on an activity. For ceremonial purification (sa/m/skâra)
results either from the accretion of some excellence or from the removal
of some blemish. The former alternative does not apply to Release as it
is of the nature of Brahman, to which no excellence can be added; nor,
again, does the latter alternative apply, since Release is of the nature
of Brahman, which is eternally pure.--But, it might be said, Release
might be a quality of the Self which is merely hidden and becomes
manifest on the Self being purified by some action; just as the quality
of clearness becomes manifest in a mirror when the mirror is cleaned by
means of the action of rubbing.--This objection is invalid, we reply,
because the Self cannot be the abode of any action. For an action cannot
exist without modifying that in which it abides. But if the Self were
modified by an action its non-eternality would result therefrom, and
texts such as the following, 'unchangeable he is called,' would thus be
stultified; an altogether unacceptable result. Hence it is impossible to
assume that any action should abide in the Self. On the other hand, the
Self cannot be purified by actions abiding in something else as it
stands in no relation to that extraneous something. Nor will it avail to
point out (as a quasi-analogous case) that the embodied Self (dehin, the
individual soul) is purified by certain ritual actions which abide in
the body, such as bathing, rinsing one's mouth, wearing the sacrificial
thread, and the like. For what is purified by those actions is that Self
merely which is joined to the body, i.e. the Self in so far as it is
under the power of Nescience. For it is a matter of perception that
bathing and similar actions stand in the relation of inherence to the
body, and it is therefore only proper to conclude that by such actions
only that something is purified which is joined to the body. If a person
thinks 'I am free from disease,' he predicates health of that entity
only which is connected with and mistakenly identifies itself with the
harmonious condition of matter (i.e. the body) resulting from
appropriate medical treatment applied to the body (i.e. the 'I'
constituting the subject of predication is only the individual embodied
Self). Analogously that I which predicates of itself, that it is
purified by bathing and the like, is only the individual soul joined to
the body. For it is only this latter principle of egoity
(aha/m/kart/ri/), the object of the notion of the ego and the agent in
all cognition, which accomplishes all actions and enjoys their results.
Thus the mantras also declare, 'One of them eats the sweet fruit, the
other looks on without eating' (Mu. Up. III, 1, 1); and 'When he is in
union with the body, the senses, and the mind, then wise people call him
the Enjoyer' (Ka. Up. III, 1, 4). Of Brahman, on the other hand, the two
following passages declare that it is incapable of receiving any
accretion and eternally pure, 'He is the one God, hidden in all beings,
all-pervading, the Self within all beings, watching over all works,
dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one; free
from qualities' (/S/v. Up. VI, 11); and 'He pervaded all, bright,
incorporeal, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil'
(Î/s/. Up. 8). But Release is nothing but being Brahman. Therefore
Release is not something to be purified. And as nobody is able to show
any other way in which Release could be connected with action, it is
impossible that it should stand in any, even the slightest, relation to
any action, excepting knowledge.
But, it will be said here, knowledge itself is an activity of the mind.
By no means, we reply; since the two are of different nature. An action
is that which is enjoined as being independent of the nature of existing
things and dependent on the energy of some person's mind; compare, for
instance, the following passages, 'To whichever divinity the offering is
made on that one let him meditate when about to say vasha/t/' (Ait.
Brâhm. III, 8, 1); and 'Let him meditate in his mind on the sandhyâ.'
Meditation and reflection are indeed mental, but as they depend on the
(meditating, &c.) person they may either be performed or not be
performed or modified. Knowledge, on the other hand, is the result of
the different means of (right) knowledge, and those have for their
objects existing things; knowledge can therefore not be either made or
not made or modified, but depends entirely on existing things, and not
either on Vedic statements or on the mind of man. Although mental it
thus widely differs from meditation and the like.
The meditation, for instance, on man and woman as fire, which is founded
on Ch. Up. V, 7, 1; 8, 1, 'The fire is man, O Gautama; the fire is
woman, O Gautama,' is on account of its being the result of a Vedic
statement, merely an action and dependent on man; that conception of
fire, on the other hand, which refers to the well-known (real) fire, is
neither dependent on Vedic statements nor on man, but only on a real
thing which is an object of perception; it is therefore knowledge and
not an action. The same remark applies to all things which are the
objects of the different means of right knowledge. This being thus that
knowledge also which has the existent Brahman for its object is not
dependent on Vedic injunction. Hence, although imperative and similar
forms referring to the knowledge of Brahman are found in the Vedic
texts, yet they are ineffective because they refer to something which
cannot be enjoined, just as the edge of a razor becomes blunt when it is
applied to a stone. For they have for their object something which can
neither be endeavoured after nor avoided.--But what then, it will be
asked, is the purport of those sentences which, at any rate, have the
appearance of injunctions; such as, 'The Self is to be seen, to be heard
about?'--They have the purport, we reply, of diverting (men) from the
objects of natural activity. For when a man acts intent on external
things, and only anxious to attain the objects of his desire and to
eschew the objects of his aversion, and does not thereby reach the
highest aim of man although desirous of attaining it; such texts as the
one quoted divert him from the objects of natural activity and turn the
stream of his thoughts on the inward (the highest) Self. That for him
who is engaged in the enquiry into the Self, the true nature of the Self
is nothing either to be endeavoured after or to be avoided, we learn
from texts such as the following: 'This everything, all is that Self'
(B/ri/, Up. II, 4, 6); 'But when the Self only is all this, how should
he see another, how should he know another, how should he know the
knower?' (B/ri/. Up. IV, 5, 15); 'This Self is Brahman' (B/ri/. Up. II,
5, 19). That the knowledge of Brahman refers to something which is not a
thing to be done, and therefore is not concerned either with the pursuit
or the avoidance of any object, is the very thing we admit; for just
that constitutes our glory, that as soon as we comprehend Brahman, all
our duties come to an end and all our work is over. Thus /S/ruti says,
'If a man understands the Self, saying, "I am he," what could he wish or
desire that he should pine after the body?' (B/ri/. Up. IV, 4, 12.) And
similarly Sm/ri/ti declares, 'Having understood this the understanding
man has done with all work, O Bhârata' (Bha. Gîtâ XV, 20). Therefore
Brahman is not represented as the object of injunctions.
We now proceed to consider the doctrine of those who maintain that there
is no part of the Veda which has the purport of making statements about
mere existent things, and is not either an injunction or a prohibition,
or supplementary to either. This opinion is erroneous, because the soul
(purusha), which is the subject of the Upanishads, does not constitute a
complement to anything else. Of that soul which is to be comprehended
from the Upanishads only, which is non-transmigratory, Brahman,
different in nature from the four classes of substances[79], which forms
a topic of its own and is not a complement to anything else; of that
soul it is impossible to say that it is not or is not apprehended; for
the passage, 'That Self is to be described by No, no!' (B/ri/. Up. III,
9, 26) designates it as the Self, and that the Self is cannot be denied.
The possible objection that there is no reason to maintain that the soul
is known from the Upanishads only, since it is the object of
self-consciousness, is refuted by the fact that the soul of which the
Upanishads treat is merely the witness of that (i.e. of the object of
self-consciousness, viz. the jîvâtman). For neither from that part of
the Veda which enjoins works nor from reasoning, anybody apprehends that
soul which, different from the agent that is the object of
self-consciousness, merely witnesses it; which is permanent in all
(transitory) beings; uniform; one; eternally unchanging; the Self of
everything. Hence it can neither be denied nor be represented as the
mere complement of injunctions; for of that very person who might deny
it it is the Self. And as it is the Self of all, it can neither be
striven after nor avoided. All perishable things indeed perish, because
they are mere modifications, up to (i.e. exclusive of) the soul. But the
soul is imperishable[80], as there is no cause why it should perish; and
eternally unchanging, as there is no cause for its undergoing any
modification; hence it is in its essence eternally pure and free. And
from passages, such as 'Beyond the soul there is nothing; this is the
goal, the highest road' (Ka. Up. I, 3, 11), and 'That soul, taught in
the Upanishads, I ask thee' (B/ri/. Up. III, 9, 26), it appears that the
attribute of resting on the Upanishads is properly given to the soul, as
it constitutes their chief topic. To say, therefore, that there is no
portion of the Veda referring to existing things, is a mere bold
assertion.
With regard to the quotations made of the views of men acquainted with
the purport of the /S/âstra (who alone were stated to have declared that
the Veda treats of actions) it is to be understood that they, having to
do with the enquiry into duty, refer to that part of the /S/âstra which
consists of injunctions and prohibitions. With regard to the other
passage quoted ('as action is the purport of the Veda, whatever does not
refer to action is purportless') we remark that if that passage were
taken in an absolutely strict sense (when it would mean that only those
words which denote action have a meaning), it would follow that all
information about existent things is meaningless[81]. If, on the other
hand, the Veda--in addition to the injunctions of activity and cessation
of activity--does give information about existent things as being
subservient to some action to be accomplished, why then should it not
give information also about the existent eternally unchangeable Self?
For an existent thing, about which information is given, does not become
an act (through being stated to be subservient to an act).--But, it will
be said, although existent things are not acts, yet, as they are
instrumental to action, the information given about such things is
merely subservient to action.--This, we reply, does not matter; for
although the information may be subservient to action, the things
themselves about which information is given are already intimated
thereby as things which have the power of bringing about certain
actions. Their final end (prayojana) indeed may be subserviency to some
action, but thereby they do not cease to be, in the information given
about them, intimated in themselves.--Well, and if they are thus
intimated, what is gained thereby for your purpose[82]? We reply that
the information about the Self, which is an existing thing not
comprehended from other sources, is of the same nature (as the
information about other existent things); for by the comprehension of
the Self a stop is put to all false knowledge, which is the cause of
transmigration, and thus a purpose is established which renders the
passages relative to Brahman equal to those passages which give
information about things instrumental to actions. Moreover, there are
found (even in that part of the Veda which treats of actions) such
passages as 'a Brâhma/n/a is not to be killed,' which teach abstinence
from certain actions. Now abstinence from action is neither action nor
instrumental to action. If, therefore, the tenet that all those passages
which do not express action are devoid of purport were insisted on, it
would follow that all such passages as the one quoted, which teach
abstinence from action, are devoid of purport--a consequence which is of
course unacceptable. Nor, again, can the connexion in which the word
'not' stands with the action expressed by the verb 'is to be
killed'--which action is naturally established[83]--be used as a reason
for assuming that 'not' denotes an action non-established elsewhere[84],
different from the state of mere passivity implied in the abstinence
from the act of killing. For the peculiar function of the particle 'not'
is to intimate the idea of the non-existence of that with which it is
connected, and the conception of the non-existence (of something to be
done) is the cause of the state of passivity. (Nor can it be objected
that, as soon as that momentary idea has passed away, the state of
passivity will again make room for activity; for) that idea itself
passes away (only after having completely destroyed the natural impulse
prompting to the murder of a Brâhma/n/a, &c., just as a fire is
extinguished only after having completely consumed its fuel). Hence we
are of opinion that the aim of prohibitory passages, such as 'a
Brâhma/n/a is not to be killed,' is a merely passive state, consisting
in the abstinence from some possible action; excepting some special
cases, such as the so-called Prajâpati-vow, &c.[85] Hence the charge of
want of purpose is to be considered as referring (not to the
Vedânta-passages, but only) to such statements about existent things as
are of the nature of legends and the like, and do not serve any purpose
of man.
The allegation that a mere statement about an actually existent thing
not connected with an injunction of something to be done, is purposeless
(as, for instance, the statement that the earth contains seven dvîpas)
has already been refuted on the ground that a purpose is seen to exist
in some such statements, as, for instance, 'this is not a snake, but a
rope.'--But how about the objection raised above that the information
about Brahman cannot be held to have a purpose in the same way as the
statement about a rope has one, because a man even after having heard
about Brahman continues to belong to this transmigratory world?--We
reply as follows: It is impossible to show that a man who has once
understood Brahman to be the Self, belongs to the transmigratory world
in the same sense as he did before, because that would be contrary to
the fact of his being Brahman. For we indeed observe that a person who
imagines the body, and so on, to constitute the Self, is subject to fear
and pain, but we have no right to assume that the same person after
having, by means of the Veda, comprehended Brahman to be the Self, and
thus having got over his former imaginings, will still in the same
manner be subject to pain and fear whose cause is wrong knowledge. In
the same way we see that a rich householder, puffed up by the conceit of
his wealth, is grieved when his possessions are taken from him; but we
do not see that the loss of his wealth equally grieves him after he has
once retired from the world and put off the conceit of his riches. And,
again, we see that a person possessing a pair of beautiful earrings
derives pleasure from the proud conceit of ownership; but after he has
lost the earrings and the conceit established thereon, the pleasure
derived from them vanishes. Thus /S/ruti also declares, 'When he is free
from the body, then neither pleasure nor pain touches him' (Ch. Up.
VIII, 12, 1). If it should be objected that the condition of being free
from the body follows on death only, we demur, since the cause of man
being joined to the body is wrong knowledge. For it is not possible to
establish the state of embodiedness upon anything else but wrong
knowledge. And that the state of disembodiedness is eternal on account
of its not having actions for its cause, we have already explained. The
objection again, that embodiedness is caused by the merit and demerit
effected by the Self (and therefore real), we refute by remarking that
as the (reality of the) conjunction of the Self with the body is itself
not established, the circumstance of merit and demerit being due to the
action of the Self is likewise not established; for (if we should try to
get over this difficulty by representing the Self's embodiedness as
caused by merit and demerit) we should commit the logical fault of
making embodiedness dependent on merit and demerit, and again merit and
demerit on embodiedness. And the assumption of an endless retrogressive
chain (of embodied states and merit and demerit) would be no better than
a chain of blind men (who are unable to lead one another). Moreover, the
Self can impossibly become an agent, as it cannot enter into intimate
relation to actions. If it should be said that the Self may be
considered as an agent in the same way as kings and other great people
are (who without acting themselves make others act) by their mere
presence, we deny the appositeness of this instance; for kings may
become agents through their relation to servants whom they procure by
giving them wages, &c., while it is impossible to imagine anything,
analogous to money, which could be the cause of a connexion between the
Self as lord and the body, and so on (as servants). Wrong imagination,
on the other hand, (of the individual Self, considering itself to be
joined to the body,) is a manifest reason of the connexion of the two
(which is not based on any assumption). This explains also in how far
the Self can be considered as the agent in sacrifices and similar
acts[86]. Here it is objected that the Self's imagination as to the
body, and so on, belonging to itself is not false, but is to be
understood in a derived (figurative) sense. This objection we invalidate
by the remark that the distinction of derived and primary senses of
words is known to be applicable only where an actual difference of
things is known to exist. We are, for instance, acquainted with a
certain species of animals having a mane, and so on, which is the
exclusive primary object of the idea and word 'lion,' and we are
likewise acquainted with persons possessing in an eminent degree certain
leonine qualities, such as fierceness, courage, &c.; here, a well
settled difference of objects existing, the idea and the name 'lion' are
applied to those persons in a derived or figurative sense. In those
cases, however, where the difference of the objects is not well
established, the transfer of the conception and name of the one to the
other is not figurative, but simply founded on error. Such is, for
instance, the case of a man who at the time of twilight does not discern
that the object before him is a post, and applies to it the conception
and designation of a man; such is likewise the case of the conception
and designation of silver being applied to a shell of mother-of-pearl
somehow mistaken for silver. How then can it be maintained that the
application of the word and the conception of the Ego to the body, &c.,
which application is due to the non-discrimination of the Self and the
Not-Self, is figurative (rather than simply false)? considering that
even learned men who know the difference of the Self and the Not-Self
confound the words and ideas just as common shepherds and goatherds do.
As therefore the application of the conception of the Ego to the body on
the part of those who affirm the existence of a Self different from the
body is simply false, not figurative, it follows that the embodiedness
of the Self is (not real but) caused by wrong conception, and hence that
the person who has reached true knowledge is free from his body even
while still alive. The same is declared in the /S/ruti passages
concerning him who knows Brahman: 'And as the slough of a snake lies on
an ant-hill, dead and cast away, thus lies this body; but that
disembodied immortal spirit is Brahman only, is only light' (B/ri/. Up.
IV, 4, 7); and 'With eyes he is without eyes as it were, with ears
without ears as it were, with speech without speech as it were, with a
mind without mind as it were, with vital airs without vital airs as it
were.' Sm/ri/ti also, in the passage where the characteristic marks are
enumerated of one whose mind is steady (Bha. Gîtâ II, 54), declares that
he who knows is no longer connected with action of any kind. Therefore
the man who has once comprehended Brahman to be the Self, does not
belong to this transmigratory world as he did before. He, on the other
hand, who still belongs to this transmigratory world as before, has not
comprehended Brahman to be the Self. Thus there remain no unsolved
contradictions.
With reference again to the assertion that Brahman is not fully
determined in its own nature, but stands in a complementary relation to
injunctions, because the hearing about Brahman is to be followed by
consideration and reflection, we remark that consideration and
reflection are themselves merely subservient to the comprehension of
Brahman. If Brahman, after having been comprehended, stood in a
subordinate relation to some injunctions, it might be said to be merely
supplementary. But this is not the case, since consideration and
reflection no less than hearing are subservient to comprehension. It
follows that the /S/âstra cannot be the means of knowing Brahman only in
so far as it is connected with injunctions, and the doctrine that on
account of the uniform meaning of the Vedânta-texts, an independent
Brahman is to be admitted, is thereby fully established. Hence there is
room for beginning the new /S/âstra indicated in the first Sûtra, 'Then
therefore the enquiry into Brahman.' If, on the other hand, the
Vedânta-texts were connected with injunctions, a new /S/âstra would
either not be begun at all, since the /S/âstra concerned with
injunctions has already been introduced by means of the first Sûtra of
the Pûrva Mîmâ/m/sâ, 'Then therefore the enquiry into duty;' or if it
were begun it would be introduced as follows: 'Then therefore the
enquiry into the remaining duties;' just as a new portion of the Pûrva
Mîmâ/m/sâ Sûtras is introduced with the words, 'Then therefore the
enquiry into what subserves the purpose of the sacrifice, and what
subserves the purpose of man' (Pû. Mî. Sû. IV, 1, 1). But as the
comprehension of the unity of Brahman and the Self has not been
propounded (in the previous /S/âstra), it is quite appropriate that a
new /S/âstra, whose subject is Brahman, should be entered upon. Hence
all injunctions and all other means of knowledge end with the cognition
expressed in the words, 'I am Brahman;' for as soon as there supervenes
the comprehension of the non-dual Self, which is not either something to
be eschewed or something to be appropriated, all objects and knowing
agents vanish, and hence there can no longer be means of proof. In
accordance with this, they (i.e. men knowing Brahman) have made the
following declaration:--'When there has arisen (in a man's mind) the
knowledge, "I am that which is, Brahman is my Self," and when, owing to
the sublation of the conceptions of body, relatives, and the like, the
(imagination of) the figurative and the false Self has come to an
end[87]; how should then the effect[88] (of that wrong imagination)
exist any longer? As long as the knowledge of the Self, which Scripture
tells us to search after, has not arisen, so long the Self is knowing
subject; but that same subject is that which is searched after, viz.
(the highest Self) free from all evil and blemish. Just as the idea of
the Self being the body is assumed as valid (in ordinary life), so all
the ordinary sources of knowledge (perception and the like) are valid
only until the one Self is ascertained.'
(Herewith the section comprising the four Sûtras is finished[89].)
So far it has been declared that the Vedânta-passages, whose purport is
the comprehension of Brahman being the Self, and which have their object
therein, refer exclusively to Brahman without any reference to actions.
And it has further been shown that Brahman is the omniscient omnipotent
cause of the origin, subsistence, and dissolution of the world. But now
the Sâ@nkhyas and others being of opinion that an existent substance is
to be known through other means of proof (not through the Veda) infer
different causes, such as the pradhâna and the like, and thereupon
interpret the Vedânta-passages as referring to the latter. All the
Vedânta-passages, they maintain, which treat of the creation of the
world distinctly point out that the cause (of the world) has to be
concluded from the effect by inference; and the cause which is to be
inferred is the connexion of the pradhâna with the souls (purusha). The
followers of Ka/n/âda again infer from the very same passages that the
Lord is the efficient cause of the world while the atoms are its
material cause. And thus other argumentators also taking their stand on
passages apparently favouring their views and on fallacious arguments
raise various objections. For this reason the teacher
(Vyâsa)--thoroughly acquainted as he is with words, passages, and means
of proof--proceeds to state as primâ facie views, and afterwards to
refute, all those opinions founded on deceptive passages and fallacious
arguments. Thereby he at the same time proves indirectly that what the
Vedânta-texts aim at is the comprehension of Brahman.
The Sâ@nkhyas who opine that the non-intelligent pradhâna consisting of
three constituent elements (gu/n/a) is the cause of the world argue as
follows. The Vedânta-passages which you have declared to intimate that
the all-knowing all-powerful Brahman is the cause of the world can be
consistently interpreted also on the doctrine of the pradhâna being the
general cause. Omnipotence (more literally: the possession of all
powers) can be ascribed to the pradhâna in so far as it has all its
effects for its objects. All-knowingness also can be ascribed to it,
viz. in the following manner. What you think to be knowledge is in
reality an attribute of the gu/n/a of Goodness[90], according to the
Sm/ri/ti passage 'from Goodness springs knowledge' (Bha. Gîtâ XIV, 17).
By means of this attribute of Goodness, viz. knowledge, certain men
endowed with organs which are effects (of the pradhâna) are known as
all-knowing Yogins; for omniscience is acknowledged to be connected with
the very highest degree of 'Goodness.' Now to the soul (purusha) which
is isolated, destitute of effected organs, consisting of pure
(undifferenced) intelligence it is quite impossible to ascribe either
all-knowingness or limited knowledge; the pradhâna, on the other hand,
because consisting of the three gu/n/as, comprises also in its pradhâna
state the element of Goodness which is the cause of all-knowingness. The
Vedânta-passages therefore in a derived (figurative) sense ascribe
all-knowingness to the pradhâna, although it is in itself
non-intelligent. Moreover you (the Vedântin) also who assume an
all-knowing Brahman can ascribe to it all-knowingness in so far only as
that term means capacity for all knowledge. For Brahman cannot always be
actually engaged in the cognition of everything; for from this there
would follow the absolute permanency of his cognition, and this would
involve a want of independence on Brahman's part with regard to the
activity of knowing. And if you should propose to consider Brahman's
cognition as non-permanent it would follow that with the cessation of
the cognition Brahman itself would cease. Therefore all-knowingness is
possible only in the sense of capacity for all knowledge. Moreover you
assume that previously to the origination of the world Brahman is
without any instruments of action. But without the body, the senses, &c.
which are the instruments of knowledge, cognition cannot take place in
any being. And further it must be noted that the pradhâna, as consisting
of various elements, is capable of undergoing modifications, and may
therefore act as a (material) cause like clay and other substances;
while the uncompounded homogeneous Brahman is unable to do so.
To these conclusions he (Vyâsa) replies in the following Sûtra.
5. On account of seeing (i.e. thinking being attributed in the
Upanishads to the cause of the world; the pradhâna) is not (to be
identified with the cause indicated by the Upanishads; for) it is not
founded on Scripture.