In the first pâda Brahman has been shown to be the cause of the origin,
subsistence, and reabsorption of the entire world, comprising the ether
and the other elements. Moreover, of this Brahman, which is the cause of
the entire world, certain qualities have (implicitly) been declared,
such as all-pervadingness, eternity, omniscience, its being the Self of
all, and so on. Further, by producing reasons showing that some words
which are generally used in a different sense denote Brahman also, we
have been able to determine that some passages about whose sense doubts
are entertained refer to Brahman. Now certain other passages present
themselves which because containing only obscure indications of Brahman
give rise to the doubt whether they refer to the highest Self or to
something else. We therefore begin the second and third pâdas in order
to settle those doubtful points.
1. (That which consists of mind is Brahman) because there is taught what
is known from everywhere.
Scripture says, 'All this indeed is Brahman, beginning, ending, and
breathing in it; thus knowing let a man meditate with calm mind. Now man
is made of determination (kratu); according to what his determination is
in this world so will he be when he has departed this life. Let him
therefore form this determination: he who consists of mind, whose body
is breath (the subtle body),' &c. (Ch. Up. III, 14). Concerning this
passage the doubt presents itself whether what is pointed out as the
object of meditation, by means of attributes such as consisting of mind,
&c., is the embodied (individual) soul or the highest Brahman.
The embodied Self, the pûrvapakshin says.--Why?--Because the embodied
Self as the ruler of the organs of action is well known to be connected
with the mind and so on, while the highest Brahman is not, as is
declared in several scriptural passages, so, for instance (Mu. Up. II,
1, 2), 'He is without breath, without mind, pure.'--But, it may be
objected, the passage, 'All this indeed is Brahman,' mentions Brahman
directly; how then can you suppose that the embodied Self forms the
object of meditation?--This objection does not apply, the pûrvapakshin
rejoins, because the passage does not aim at enjoining meditation on
Brahman, but rather at enjoining calmness of mind, the sense being:
because Brahman is all this, tajjalân, let a man meditate with a calm
mind. That is to say: because all this aggregate of effects is Brahman
only, springing from it, ending in it, and breathing in it; and because,
as everything constitutes one Self only, there is no room for passion;
therefore a man is to meditate with a calm mind. And since the sentence
aims at enjoining calmness of mind, it cannot at the same time enjoin
meditation on Brahman[136]; but meditation is separately enjoined in the
clause, 'Let him form the determination, i.e. reflection.' And thereupon
the subsequent passage, 'He who consists of mind, whose body is breath,'
&c. states the object of the meditation in words indicatory of the
individual soul. For this reason we maintain that the meditation spoken
of has the individual soul for its object. The other attributes also
subsequently stated in the text, 'He to whom all works, all desires
belong,' &c. may rightly be held to refer to the individual soul. The
attributes, finally, of being what abides in the heart and of being
extremely minute which are mentioned in the passage, 'He is my Self
within the heart, smaller than a corn of rice, smaller than a corn of
barley,' may be ascribed to the individual soul which has the size of
the point of a goad, but not to the unlimited Brahman. If it be objected
that the immediately following passage, 'greater than the earth,' &c.,
cannot refer to something limited, we reply that smallness and greatness
which are mutually opposite cannot indeed be ascribed to one and the
same thing; and that, if one attribute only is to be ascribed to the
subject of the passage, smallness is preferable because it is mentioned
first; while the greatness mentioned later on may be attributed to the
soul in so far as it is one with Brahman. If it is once settled that the
whole passage refers to the individual soul, it follows that the
declaration of Brahman also, contained in the passage, 'That is Brahman'
(III, 14, 4), refers to the individual soul[137], as it is clearly
connected with the general topic. Therefore the individual soul is the
object of meditation indicated by the qualities of consisting of mind
and so on.
To all this we reply: The highest Brahman only is what is to be
meditated upon as distinguished by the attributes of consisting of mind
and so on.--Why?--'On account of there being taught here what is known
from everywhere.' What is known from all Vedânta-passages to be the
sense of the word Brahman, viz. the cause of the world, and what is
mentioned here in the beginning words of the passage, ('all this indeed
is Brahman,') the same we must assume to be taught here as distinguished
by certain qualities, viz. consisting of mind and so on. Thus we avoid
the fault of dropping the subject-matter under discussion and needlessly
introducing a new topic.--But, it may be said, it has been shown that
Brahman is, in the beginning of the passage, introduced merely for the
purpose of intimating the injunction of calmness of mind, not for the
purpose of intimating Brahman itself.--True, we reply; but the fact
nevertheless remains that, where the qualities of consisting of mind,
&c. are spoken of, Brahman only is proximate (i.e. mentioned not far off
so that it may be concluded to be the thing referred to), while the
individual soul is neither proximate nor intimated by any word directly
pointing to it. The cases of Brahman and the individual soul are
therefore not equal.
2. And because the qualities desired to be expressed are possible (in
Brahman; therefore the passage refers to Brahman).
Although in the Veda which is not the work of man no wish in the strict
sense can be expressed[138], there being no speaker, still such phrases
as 'desired to be expressed,' may be figuratively used on account of the
result, viz. (mental) comprehension. For just as in ordinary language we
speak of something which is intimated by a word and is to be received
(by the hearer as the meaning of the word), as 'desired to be
expressed;' so in the Veda also whatever is denoted as that which is to
be received is 'desired to be expressed,' everything else 'not desired
to be expressed.' What is to be received as the meaning of a Vedic
sentence, and what not, is inferred from the general purport of the
passage. Those qualities which are here desired to be expressed, i.e.
intimated as qualities to be dwelt on in meditation, viz. the qualities
of having true purposes, &c. are possible in the highest Brahman; for
the quality of having true purposes may be ascribed to the highest Self
which possesses unimpeded power over the creation, subsistence, and
reabsorption of this world. Similarly the qualities of having true
desires and true purposes are attributed to the highest Self in another
passage, viz. the one beginning, 'The Self which is free from sin' (Ch.
Up. VIII, 7, 1). The clause, 'He whose Self is the ether,' means 'he
whose Self is like the ether;' for Brahman may be said to be like the
ether on account of its omnipresence and other qualities. This is also
expressed by the clause, 'Greater than the earth.' And the other
explanation also, according to which the passage means 'he whose Self is
the ether' is possible, since Brahman which as the cause of the whole
world is the Self of everything is also the Self of the ether. For the
same reasons he is called 'he to whom all works belong, and so on.' Thus
the qualities here intimated as topics of meditation agree with the
nature of Brahman. We further maintain that the terms 'consisting of
mind,' and 'having breath for its body,' which the pûrvapakshin asserts
cannot refer to Brahman, may refer to it. For as Brahman is the Self of
everything, qualities such as consisting of mind and the like, which
belong to the individual soul, belong to Brahman also. Accordingly
/S/ruti and Sm/ri/ti say of Brahman, 'Thou art woman, thou art man; thou
art youth, thou art maiden; thou as an old man totterest along on thy
staff; thou art born with thy face turned everywhere' (/S/ve. Up. IV,
3), and 'its hands and feet are everywhere, its eyes and head are
everywhere, its ears are everywhere, it stands encompassing all in the
world' (Bha. Gîtâ III, 13).
The passage (quoted above against our view), 'Without breath, without
mind, pure,' refers to the pure (unrelated) Brahman. The terms
'consisting of mind; having breath for its body,' on the other hand,
refer to Brahman as distinguished by qualities. Hence, as the qualities
mentioned are possible in Brahman, we conclude that the highest Brahman
only is represented as the object of meditation.
3. On the other hand, as (those qualities) are not possible (in it), the
embodied (soul is) not (denoted by manomaya, &c.).
The preceding Sûtra has declared that the qualities mentioned are
possible in Brahman; the present Sûtra states that they are not possible
in the embodied Self. Brahman only possesses, in the manner explained,
the qualities of consisting of mind, and so on; not the embodied
individual soul. For qualities such as expressed in the words, 'He whose
purposes are true, whose Self is the ether, who has no speech, who is
not disturbed, who is greater than the earth,' cannot easily be
attributed to the embodied Self. By the term 'embodied' (/s/ârîra) we
have to understand 'residing' in a body. If it be objected that the Lord
also resides in the body[139], we reply, True, he does reside in the
body, but not in the body only; for /s/ruti declares him to be
all-pervading; compare, 'He is greater than the earth; greater than the
atmosphere, omnipresent like the ether, eternal.' The individual soul,
on the other hand, is in the body only, apart from which as the abode of
fruition it does not exist.
4. And because there is a (separate) denotation of the object of
activity and of the agent.
The attributes of consisting of mind, and so on, cannot belong to the
embodied Self for that reason also, that there is a (separate)
denotation of the object of activity and of the agent. In the passage,
'When I shall have departed from hence I shall obtain him' (Ch. Up. III,
14, 4), the word 'him' refers to that which is the topic of discussion,
viz. the Self which is to be meditated upon as possessing the attributes
of consisting of mind, &c., as the object of an activity, viz. as
something to be obtained; while the words, 'I shall obtain,' represent
the meditating individual Self as the agent, i.e. the obtainer. Now,
wherever it can be helped, we must not assume that one and the same
being is spoken of as the agent and the object of the activity at the
same time. The relation existing between a person meditating and the
thing meditated upon requires, moreover, different abodes.--And thus for
the above reason, also, that which is characterised by the attributes of
consisting of mind, and so on, cannot be the individual soul.