The small ether within cannot denote anything but the highest Lord for
this reason also, that the word 'ether' has (among other meanings) the
settled meaning of 'highest Lord.' Compare, for instance, the sense in
which the word 'ether' is used in Ch. Up. VIII, 14, 'He who is called
ether is the revealer of all forms and names;' and Ch. Up. I, 9, 1, 'All
these beings take their rise from the ether,' &c. On the other hand, we
do not meet with any passage in which the word 'ether' is used in the
sense of 'individual soul.'--We have already shown that the word cannot,
in our passage, denote the elemental ether; for, although the word
certainly has that settled meaning, it cannot have it here, because the
elemental ether cannot possibly be compared to itself, &c. &c.
18. If it be said that the other one (i.e. the individual soul) (is
meant) on account of a reference to it (made in a complementary
passage), (we say) no, on account of the impossibility.
If the small (ether) is to be explained as the highest Lord on account
of a complementary passage, then, the pûrvapakshin resumes, we point out
that another complementary passage contains a reference to the other
one, i.e. to the individual soul: 'Now that serene being (literally:
serenity, complete satisfaction), which after having risen out from this
earthly body and having reached the highest light, appears in its true
form, that is, the Self; thus he spoke' (Ch. Up. VIII, 3, 4). For there
the word 'serenity,' which is known to denote, in another scriptural
passage, the state of deep sleep, can convey the idea of the individual
soul only when it is in that state, not of anything else. The 'rising
from the body' also can be predicated of the individual soul only whose
abode the body is; just as air, &c., whose abode is the ether, are said
to arise from the ether. And just as the word 'ether,' although in
ordinary language not denoting the highest Lord, yet is admitted to
denote him in such passages as, 'The ether is the revealer of forms and
names,' because it there occurs in conjunction with qualities of the
highest Lord, so it may likewise denote the individual soul Hence the
term 'the small ether' denotes in the passage under discussion the
individual soul, 'on account of the reference to the other.'
Not so, we reply, 'on account of the impossibility.' In the first place,
the individual soul, which imagines itself to be limited by the internal
organ and its other adjuncts, cannot be compared with the ether. And, in
the second place, attributes such as freedom from evil, and the like,
cannot be ascribed to a being which erroneously transfers to itself the
attributes of its limiting adjuncts. This has already been set forth in
the first Sûtra of the present adhikara/n/a, and is again mentioned here
in order to remove all doubt as to the soul being different from the
highest Self. That the reference pointed out by the pûrvapakshin is not
to the individual soul will, moreover, be shown in one of the next
Sûtras (I, 3, 21).
19. If it be said that from the subsequent (chapter it appears that the
individual soul is meant), (we point out that what is there referred to
is) rather (the individual soul in so far) as its true nature has become
manifest (i.e. as it is non-different from Brahman).
The doubt whether, 'on account of the reference to the other,' the
individual soul might not possibly be meant, has been discarded on the
ground of 'impossibility.' But, like a dead man on whom am/ri/ta has
been sprinkled, that doubt rises again, drawing new strength from the
subsequent chapter which treats of Prajâpati. For there he (Prajâpati)
at the outset declares that the Self, which is free from sin and the
like, is that which is to be searched out, that which we must try to
understand (Ch. Up. VIII, 7, 1); after that he points out that the seer
within the eye, i.e. the individual soul, is the Self ('that person that
is seen in the eye is the Self,' VIII, 7, 3); refers again and again to
the same entity (in the clauses 'I shall explain him further to you,'
VIII, 9, 3; VIII, 10, 4); and (in the explanations fulfilling the given
promises) again explains the (nature of the) same individual soul in its
different states ('He who moves about happy in dreams is the Self,'
VIII, 10, 1; 'When a man being asleep, reposing, and at perfect rest
sees no dreams, that is the Self,' VIII, 11, 1). The clause attached to
both these explanations (viz. 'That is the immortal, the fearless; that
is Brahman') shows, at the same time, the individual soul to be free
from sin, and the like. After that Prajâpati, having discovered a
shortcoming in the condition of deep sleep (in consequence of the
expostulation of Indra, 'In that way he does not know himself that he is
I, nor does he know these beings,' VIII, 11, 2), enters on a further
explanation ('I shall explain him further to you, and nothing more than
this'), begins by blaming the (soul's) connexion with the body, and
finally declares the individual soul, when it has risen from the body,
to be the highest person. ('Thus does that serene being, arising from
this body, appear in its own form as soon as it has approached the
highest light. That is the highest person.')--From this it appears that
there is a possibility of the qualities of the highest Lord belonging to
the individual soul also, and on that account we maintain that the term,
'the small ether within it,' refers to the individual soul.
This position we counter-argue as follows. 'But in so far as its nature
has become manifest.' The particle 'but' (in the Sûtra) is meant to set
aside the view of the pûrvapakshin, so that the sense of the Sûtra is,
'Not even on account of the subsequent chapter a doubt as to the small
ether being the individual soul is possible, because there also that
which is meant to be intimated is the individual soul, in so far only as
its (true) nature has become manifest.' The Sûtra uses the expression
'he whose nature has become manifest,' which qualifies jîva., the
individual soul, with reference to its previous condition[186].--The
meaning is as follows. Prajâpati speaks at first of the seer
characterised by the eye ('That person which is within the eye,' &c.);
shows thereupon, in the passage treating of (the reflection in) the
waterpan, that he (viz. the seer) has not his true Self in the body;
refers to him repeatedly as the subject to be explained (in the clauses
'I shall explain him further to you'); and having then spoken of him as
subject to the states of dreaming and deep sleep, finally explains the
individual soul in its real nature, i.e. in so far as it is the highest
Brahman, not in so far as it is individual soul ('As soon as it has
approached the highest light it appears in its own form'). The highest
light mentioned, in the passage last quoted, as what is to be
approached, is nothing else but the highest Brahman, which is
distinguished by such attributes as freeness from sin, and the like.
That same highest Brahman constitutes--as we know from passages such as
'that art thou'--the real nature of the individual soul, while its
second nature, i.e. that aspect of it which depends on fictitious
limiting conditions, is not its real nature. For as long as the
individual soul does not free itself from Nescience in the form of
duality--which Nescience may be compared to the mistake of him who in
the twilight mistakes a post for a man--and does not rise to the
knowledge of the Self, whose nature is unchangeable, eternal
Cognition--which expresses itself in the form 'I am Brahman'--so long it
remains the individual soul. But when, discarding the aggregate of body,
sense-organs and mind, it arrives, by means of Scripture, at the
knowledge that it is not itself that aggregate, that it does not form
part of transmigratory existence, but is the True, the Real, the Self,
whose nature is pure intelligence; then knowing itseif to be of the
nature of unchangeable, eternal Cognition, it lifts itself above the
vain conceit of being one with this body, and itself becomes the Self,
whose nature is unchanging, eternal Cognition. As is declared in such
scriptural passages as 'He who knows the highest Brahman becomes even
Brahman' (Mu. Up. III, 2, 9). And this is the real nature of the
individual soul by means of which it arises from the body and appears in
its own form.
Here an objection may be raised. How, it is asked, can we speak of the
true nature (svarûpa) of that which is unchanging and eternal, and then
say that 'it appears in its own form (true nature)?' Of gold and similar
substances, whose true nature becomes hidden, and whose specific
qualities are rendered non-apparent by their contact with some other
substance, it may be said that their true nature is rendered manifest
when they are cleaned by the application of some acid substance; so it
may be said, likewise, that the stars, whose light is during daytime
overpowered (by the superior brilliancy of the sun), become manifest in
their true nature at night when the overpowering (sun) has departed. But
it is impossible to speak of an analogous overpowering of the eternal
light of intelligence by whatever agency, since, like ether, it is free
from all contact, and since, moreover, such an assumption would be
contradicted by what we actually observe. For the (energies of) seeing,
hearing, noticing, cognising constitute the character of the individual
soul, and that character is observed to exist in full perfection, even
in the case of that individual soul which has not yet risen beyond the
body. Every individual soul carries on the course of its practical
existence by means of the activities of seeing, hearing, cognising;
otherwise no practical existence at all would be possible. If, on the
other hand, that character would realise itself in the case of that soul
only which has risen above the body, the entire aggregate of practical
existence, as it actually presents itself prior to the soul's rising,
would thereby be contradicted. We therefore ask: Wherein consists that
(alleged) rising from the body? Wherein consists that appearing (of the
soul) in its own form?
To this we make the following reply.--Before the rise of discriminative
knowledge the nature of the individual soul, which is (in reality) pure
light, is non-discriminated as it were from its limiting adjuncts
consisting of body, senses, mind, sense-objects and feelings, and
appears as consisting of the energies of seeing and so on. Similarly--to
quote an analogous case from ordinary experience--the true nature of a
pure crystal, i.e. its transparency and whiteness, is, before the rise
of discriminative knowledge (on the part of the observer),
non-discriminated as it were from any limiting adjuncts of red or blue
colour; while, as soon as through some means of true cognition
discriminative knowledge has arisen, it is said to have now accomplished
its true nature, i.e. transparency and whiteness, although in reality it
had already done so before. Thus the discriminative knowledge, effected
by /S/ruti, on the part of the individual soul which previously is
non-discriminated as it were from its limiting adjuncts, is (according
to the scriptural passage under discussion) the soul's rising from the
body, and the fruit of that discriminative knowledge is its
accomplishment in its true nature, i.e. the comprehension that its
nature is the pure Self. Thus the embodiedness and the non-embodiedness
of the Self are due merely to discrimination and non-discrimination, in
agreement with the mantra, 'Bodiless within the bodies,' &c. (Ka. Up. I,
2, 22), and the statement of Sm/ri/ti as to the non-difference between
embodiedness and non-embodiedness 'Though dwelling in the body, O
Kaunteya, it does not act and is not tainted' (Bha. Gî. XIII, 31). The
individual soul is therefore called 'That whose true nature is
non-manifest' merely on account of the absence of discriminative
knowledge, and it is called 'That whose nature has become manifest' on
account of the presence of such knowledge. Manifestation and
non-manifestation of its nature of a different kind are not possible,
since its nature is nothing but its nature (i.e. in reality is always
the same). Thus the difference between the individual soul and the
highest Lord is owing to wrong knowledge only, not to any reality,
since, like ether, the highest Self is not in real contact with
anything.
And wherefrom is all this to be known?--From the instruction given by
Prajâpati who, after having referred to the jîva ('the person that is
seen in the eye,' &c.), continues 'This is the immortal, the fearless,
this is Brahman.' If the well-known seer within the eye were different
from Brahman which is characterised as the immortal and fearless, it
would not be co-ordinated (as it actually is) with the immortal, the
fearless, and Brahman. The reflected Self, on the other hand, is not
spoken of as he who is characterised by the eye (the seer within the
eye), for that would render Prajâpati obnoxious to the reproach of
saying deceitful things.--So also, in the second section, the passage,
'He who moves about happy in dreams,' &c. does not refer to a being
different from the seeing person within the eye spoken of in the first
chapter, (but treats of the same topic) as appears from the introductory
clause, 'I shall explain him further to you.' Moreover[187], a person
who is conscious of having seen an elephant in a dream and of no longer
seeing it when awake discards in the waking state the object which he
had seen (in his sleep), but recognises himself when awake to be the
same person who saw something in the dream.--Thus in the third section
also Prajâpati does indeed declare the absence of all particular
cognition in the state of deep sleep, but does not contest the identity
of the cognising Self ('In that way he does not know himself that he is
I, nor all these beings'). The following clause also, 'He is gone to
utter annihilation,' is meant to intimate only the annihilation of all
specific cognition, not the annihilation of the cogniser. For there is
no destruction of the knowing of the knower as--according to another
scriptural passage (B/ri/. Up. IV, 3, 30)--that is imperishable.--Thus,
again, in the fourth section the introductory phrase of Prajâpati is, 'I
shall explain him further to you and nothing different from this;' he
thereupon refutes the connexion (of the Self) with the body and other
limiting conditions ('Maghavat, this body is mortal,' &c.), shows the
individual soul--which is there called 'the serene being'--in the state
when it has reached the nature of Brahman ('It appears in its own
form'), and thus proves the soul to be non-different from the highest
Brahman whose characteristics are immortality and fearlessness.
Some (teachers) however are of opinion that if the highest Self is meant
(in the fourth section) it would be inappropriate to understand the
words 'This (him) I will explain further,' &c., as referring to the
individual soul, and therefore suppose that the reference is (not to the
individual soul forming the topic of the three preceding sections, but)
to the Self possessing the qualities of freeness from sin, &c., which
Self is pointed out at the beginning of the entire chapter (VII,
1).--Against this interpretation we remark that, in the first place, it
disregards the direct enunciation of the pronoun (i.e. the 'this' in
'this I will explain') which rests on something approximate (i.e. refers
to something mentioned not far off), and, in the second place, is
opposed to the word 'further' (or 'again') met with in the text, since
from that interpretation it would follow that what had been discussed in
the preceding sections is not again discussed in the subsequent section.
Moreover, if Prajâpati, after having made a promise in the clause, 'This
I shall explain' (where that clause occurs for the first time), did
previously to the fourth section explain a different topic in each
section, we should have to conclude that he acted deceitfully.--Hence
(our opinion about the purport of the whole chapter remains valid, viz.
that it sets forth how) the unreal aspect of the individual soul as
such--which is a mere presentation of Nescience, is stained by all the
desires and aversions attached to agents and enjoyers, and is connected
with evils of various kinds--is dissolved by true knowledge, and how the
soul is thus led over into the opposite state, i.e. into its true state
in which it is one with the highest Lord and distinguished by freedom
from sin and similar attributes. The whole process is similar to that by
which an imagined snake passes over into a rope as soon as the mind of
the beholder has freed itself from its erroneous imagination.
Others again, and among them some of ours (asmadîyâ/s/ /k/a. ke/k/it),
are of opinion that the individual soul as such is real. To the end of
refuting all these speculators who obstruct the way to the complete
intuition of the unity of the Self this /s/ârîraka-/s/âstra has been set
forth, whose aim it is to show that there is only one highest Lord ever
unchanging, whose substance is cognition[188], and who, by means of
Nescience, manifests himself in various ways, just as a thaumaturg
appears in different shapes by means of his magical power. Besides that
Lord there is no other substance of cognition.--If, now, the Sûtrakâra
raises and refutes the doubt whether a certain passage which (in
reality) refers to the Lord does refer to the individual soul, as he
does in this and the preceding Sûtras[189], he does so for the following
purpose. To the highest Self which is eternally pure, intelligent and
free, which is never changing, one only, not in contact with anything,
devoid of form, the opposite characteristics of the individual soul are
erroneously ascribed; just as ignorant men ascribe blue colour to the
colourless ether. In order to remove this erroneous opinion by means of
Vedic passages tending either to prove the unity of the Self or to
disprove the doctrine of duality--which passages he strengthens by
arguments--he insists on the difference of the highest Self from the
individual soul, does however not mean to prove thereby that the soul is
different from the highest Self, but, whenever speaking of the soul,
refers to its distinction (from the Self) as forming an item of ordinary
thought, due to the power of Nescience. For thus, he thinks, the Vedic
injunctions of works which are given with a view to the states of acting
and enjoying, natural (to the non-enlightened soul), are not
stultified.--That, however, the absolute unity of the Self is the real
purport of the /s/âstra's teaching, the Sûtrakâra declares, for
instance, in I, 1, 30[190]. The refutation of the reproach of futility
raised against the injunctions of works has already been set forth by
us, on the ground of the distinction between such persons as possess
full knowledge, and such as do not.