The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja Part 57

2. From the year to Vayu; on account of non-specification and specification.

In their description of the path beginning with light the Chandogas mention the year between the months and the sun, 'from the months to the year, from the year to the sun' (Ch. Up. V, 10, 1); while the Vajasaneyins mention, in that very place, the world of the G.o.ds,'from the months to the world of the G.o.ds, from the world of the G.o.ds to the sun' (Bri. Up. VI, 2. 15). Now, as the two paths are identical, we have to supplement each by the additional item given in the other (and the question then arises whether the order of the stages be 1. months, 2.

year, 3. world of the G.o.ds, 4. sun; or 1. months, 2. world of the G.o.ds, 3. year, 4. sun). The year and the world of the G.o.ds are equally ent.i.tled--to the place after the months in so far as textual declaration goes; for both texts say 'from the months.' But we observe that the advance is throughout from the shorter periods of time to the longer ones ('from the day to the bright fortnight, from the bright fortnight to the six months of the northern progress'), and as therefore the year naturally presents itself to the mind immediately after the six months, we decide that the order is--months, year, world of the G.o.ds, sun.--In another place (Bri. Up. V, 10) the Vajasaneyins mention the wind as the stage preceding the sun ('the wind makes room for him--he mounts upwards; he comes to the sun'). The Kaus.h.i.takins, on the other hand, place the world of the wind subsequent to light, referred to by them as the world of Agni ('Having entered on the path of the G.o.ds he comes to the world of Agni, to the world of the wind,' &c., Kau. Up. I, 3). Now in this latter text the fact of the world of the wind following upon light is to be inferred only from the succession of the clauses ('to the world of Agni'--'to the world of the wind'), while the 'upwards' in the text of the Vajasaneyins is a direct statement of succession given by the text itself; and as this latter order of succession has greater force than the former, we have to place, in the series of stages, the world of Vayu directly before the world of the sun. But above we have determined that the same place (after the year and before the sun) has to be a.s.signed to the world of the G.o.ds also; and hence a doubt arises whether the world of the G.o.ds and Vayu are two different things--the soul of the wise man pa.s.sing by them in optional succession--or one and the same thing--the soul coming, after the year, to Vayu who is the world of the G.o.ds.--They are different things, the Purvapakshin says; for they are generally known to be so. And there are definite indications in the text that the world of the G.o.ds as well as Vayu is to be placed immediately before the sun--this being indicated for Vayu by the 'upwards' referred to above, and for the world of the G.o.ds by the ablative case (devalokat) in the Chand. text, 'from the world of the G.o.ds he goes to the sun'--and as thus there is no difference between the two, we conclude that the soul pa.s.ses by them in either order it may choose.--This view the Sutra negatives: 'From the year to Vayu.' The soul, having departed from the year, comes to Vayu. This is proved 'by non-specification and specification.' For the term 'the world of the G.o.ds' is a term of general meaning, and hence can denote Vayu in so far as being the world of the G.o.ds; while on the other hand the term Vayu specifically denotes that divine being only. The Kaus.h.i.takins speak of 'the world of Vayu'; but this only means 'Vayu who at the same time is a world.' That Vayu may be viewed as the world of the G.o.ds is confirmed by another scriptural pa.s.sage, viz. 'he who blows (Vayu) is the houses of the G.o.ds.

'--Here terminates the adhikarana of 'Vayu.'

3. Beyond lightning there is Varuna, on account of connexion.

According to the text of the Kaus.h.i.takins the soul goes on to the world of Vayu, to the world of Varuna, to the world of Indra, to the world of Praj.a.pati, to the world of Brahman. The doubt here arises whether Varuna and the divinities of the following stages are to be inserted in the series after Vayu, in agreement with the order of enumeration in the text of the Kaus.h.i.takins; or at the end of the whole series as stated in the Chandogya. Up. (IV, 15, 5), Varuna thus coming after lightning.--The decision is in favour of the latter view because Varuna, the G.o.d of waters, is naturally connected with lightning which dwells within the clouds.--This terminates the adhikarana of 'Varuna.'

4. Conductors, this being indicated.

The decision here is that light, Vayu, and the rest mentioned in the texts as connected with the soul's progress on the path of the G.o.ds are to be interpreted not as mere marks indicating the road, nor as places of enjoyment for the soul, but as divinities appointed by the Supreme Person to conduct the soul along the stages of the road; for this is indicated by what the Chandogya. says with regard to the last stage, viz.

lightning, 'There is a person not human, he leads them to Brahman.' What here is said as to that person not human, viz. that he leads the soul, is to be extended to the other beings also, light and the rest.--But if that not human person leads the souls from lightning to Brahman, what then about Varuna, Indra, and Praj.a.pati, who, as was decided above, are in charge of stages beyond lightning? Do they also lead the soul along their stages?

5. From thence by him only who belongs to lightning, the text stating that.

The only leader from lightning up to Brahman is the not-human person connected with lightning; for the text states this directly. Varuna, Indra, and Praj.a.pati take part in the work in so far only as they may a.s.sist the person connected with lightning.--Here terminates the adhikarana of 'the conductors.'

6. (Him who meditates on) the effected Brahman, (thus opines) Badari; because for him going is possible.

The following question now presents itself for consideration. Does the troop of conducting divinities, Agni and the rest, lead on those who meditate on the effected Brahman, i.e. Hiranyagarbha; or those only who meditate on the highest Brahman; or those who meditate on the highest Brahman and those who meditate on the individual Self as having Brahman for its Self?--The teacher Badari is of opinion that the divinities lead on those only who meditate on the effected Brahman. For he only who meditates on Hiranyagarbha can move; while a person meditating on the highest Brahman which is absolutely complete, all-knowing, present everywhere, the Self of all, cannot possibly be conceived as moving to some other place in order to reach Brahman; for him Brahman rather is something already reached. For him the effect of true knowledge is only to put an end to that Nescience which has for its object Brahman, which, in reality, is eternally reached. He, on the other hand, who meditates on Hiranyagarbha may be conceived as moving in order to reach his object, which is something abiding within a special limited place. It is he therefore who is conducted on by Agni and the other escorting deities.

7. And on account of (Brahman) being specified.

The text 'a person not human leads them to the worlds of Brahman' (Bri.

Up. VI. 2, 15) by using the word 'world,' and moreover in the plural, determines the specification that the not-human person leads those only who meditate on Hiranyagarbha, who dwells within some particular world.

Moreover, the text 'I enter the hall of Praj.a.pati, the house' (Ch. Up.

VIII, 14) shows that he who goes on the path beginning with light aims at approaching Hiranyagarbha. But if this is so, there is a want of appropriate denotation in the clause, 'There is a person not human, he leads them to Brahman'; if Hiranyagarbha is meant, the text should say 'He leads them to Brahma (Brahmanam).'

8. But on account of nearness there is that designation.

Hiranyagarbha is the first created being (as declared by the text 'he who creates Brahma'); he thus stands near to Brahman, and therefore may be designated by the same term (viz. Brahman). This explanation is necessitated by the reasons set forth in the preceding Sutras (which show that the real highest Brahman cannot be meant).--But, if the soul advancing on the path of the G.o.ds reaches Hiranyagarbha only, texts such as 'This is the path of the G.o.ds, the path of Brahman; those who proceed on that path do not return to the life of man' (Ch. Up. IV, 15, 6), and 'moving upwards by that a man reaches immortality' (VIII, 6, 6), are wrong in a.s.serting that that soul attains to immortality and does not return; for the holy books teach that Hiranyagarbha, as a created being, pa.s.ses away at the end of a dviparardha-period; and the text 'Up to the world of Brahman the worlds return again' (Bha. Gi. VIII, 16) shows that those who have gone to Hiranyagarbha necessarily return also.

9. On the pa.s.sing away of the effected (world of Brahma), together with its ruler, (the souls go) to what is higher than that; on account of scriptural declaration.

On the pa.s.sing away of the effected world of Brahma, together with its ruler Hiranyagarbha, who then recognises his qualification for higher knowledge, the soul also which had gone to Hiranyagarbha attains to true knowledge and thus reaches Brahman, which is higher than that, i.e.

higher than the effected world of Brahma. This is known from the texts declaring that he who proceeds on the path of light reaches immortality and does not return; and is further confirmed by the text, 'They all, reaching the highest immortality, become free in the world of Brahman (Brahma) at the time of the great end' (Mu. Up. III, 2, 6).

10. And on account of Smriti.

This follows from Smriti also, which declares 'when the pralaya has come and the end of the Highest, they all together with Brahman enter the highest place.'--For all these reasons Badari holds that the troop of the conducting deities, beginning with Light, leads the souls of those only who meditate on the effected Brahman, i e. Hiranyagarbha.

11. The Highest, Jaimini thinks; on account of primariness of meaning.

The teacher Jaimini is of opinion that those deities lead on the souls of those only who meditate on the highest Brahman. For in the text 'a person not human leads them to Brahman' the word Brahman is naturally taken in its primary sense (i.e. the highest Brahman); the secondary sense (i.e. the effected Brahman) can be admitted only if there are other valid reasons to refer the pa.s.sage to the effected Brahman. And the alleged impossibility of the soul's going is no such valid reason; for although Brahman no doubt is present everywhere, Scripture declares that the soul of the wise frees itself from Nescience only on having gone to some particular place. That the origination of true knowledge depends on certain conditions of caste, asrama, religious duty, purity of conduct, time, place, and so on, follows from certain scriptural texts, as e.g. 'Brahmanas desire to know him through the study of the Veda' (Bri. Up. IV, 4, 22); in the same way it follows from the text declaring the soul's going to Brahman that the final realisation of that highest knowledge which implies the cessation of all Nescience depends on the soul's going to some particular place. The arguments founded on texts alleged to declare that the soul of the wise does not pa.s.s out of the body at all we have refuted above. The argument that the specification implied in the text which mentions _Brahman-worlds_ clearly points to the effected Brahman, i.e. Hiranyagarbha, is equally invalid. For the compound 'the Brahman-world' is to be explained as'the world which is Brahman'; just as according to the Purva Mimamsa the compound 'Nishada-sthapati' denotes a sthapati who is a Nishada (not a sthapati of the Nishadas). A thing even which is known as one only may be designated by a plural form, as in a mantra one girdle is spoken of as 'the fetters of Aditi.' And as to the case under discussion, we know on the authority of Scripture, Smriti, Itihasa, and Purana, that the wonderful worlds springing from the mere will of a perfect and omnipresent being cannot be but infinite.

12. And because Scripture declares it.

And Scripture moreover directly declares that the soul which has departed by way of the artery in the upper part of the head and pa.s.sed along the path of the G.o.ds reaches the highest Brahman: 'This serene being having risen from the body, having reached the highest light manifests itself in its own shape' (Ch. Up. VIII, 12, 3).--Against the contention that the text 'I enter the hall of Praj.a.pati, the house'

shows that he who proceeds on the path beginning with light aims at the effected Brahman, the next Sutra argues.

13. And there is no aiming at the effected (Brahman).

The aim of the soul is not at Hiranyagarbha, but at the highest Brahman itself. For the complementary sentence 'I am the glorious among Brahmanas' shows that what the soul aims at is the condition of the universal Self, which has for its antecedent the putting off of all Nescience. For this appears from the preceding text, 'As a horse shakes his hairs and as the moon frees herself from the mouth of Rahu; having shaken off the body may I obtain--the uncreated Brahman-world' declares that the Brahman-world, which is the thing to be reached, is something non-created, and explicitly states that reaching that world implies freedom from all bondage whatsoever.--It is for these reasons that Jaimini holds that the deities speeding the soul on its way lead on him only who has the highest Brahman for the object of his meditation.

Now the Reverend Badarayana declares his own view, which const.i.tutes the final conclusion in this matter.

14. Those not depending on symbols he leads, thus Badarayana thinks; there being a defect in both cases; and he whose thought is that.

Badarayana is of opinion that the deities lead those not depending on symbols, i.e. all meditating devotees other than those depending on symbols. That is to say, the view that those are led who meditate on the effected Brahman cannot be upheld; nor is there an exclusive rule that those only should be led on who meditate on the highest Brahman. The truth is that those are led who meditate on the highest Brahman, and also those who meditate on the Self (soul) as different from matter (Prakriti) and having Brahman for its true Self. Souls of both these kinds are led on to Brahman. Those on the other hand whose object of meditation is such things as name and so on, which fall within what is a mere effect of Brahman--such things being viewed either under the aspect of Brahman, just as some valiant man may be viewed under the aspect of a lion (which view expresses itself in the judgment 'Devadatta is a lion '); or by themselves (without reference to Brahman)--all those are not led on to Brahman. Why so?' Because there is a defect in both cases,' i.

e. in both the views rejected by Badarayana. The view that those are led who meditate on the effected Brahman is in conflict with texts such as 'having risen from this body and reached the highest light' (Ch. Up.

VIII, 12, 3)--for the nature of the fruit depends on the nature of the meditation; and the view that those only are led to the highest Brahman who meditate on the highest Brahman, would stultify texts such as the one which expressly declares Agni and the rest of the deities to lead on those who possess the knowledge of the five fires ('Those who know this, viz. the Vidya of the five fires, and those who in the forest meditate on faith and austerity go to light--there is a person not human, he leads them to Brahman,' Ch. Up. V, 10). Both these views thus being defective, we adhere to the conclusion that the deities lead on to Brahman the two cla.s.ses of souls mentioned above.--This the Sutra further declares in the words 'he whose thought is that' (tatkratuh), the sense of which is that he whose thought is that reaches that, i.e.

that the nature of what is reached depends on the nature of the meditation. This argument is founded on the text, 'According to what his thought is (yatha-kratuh) in this world, so will he be when he has departed this life' (Ch. Up. III, 14), which implies the principle that what a soul after death attains is according to its thought and meditation in this life; and moreover we have direct scriptural statements to the effect that those who possess the knowledge of the five fires proceed on the path of the G.o.ds, and that those who proceed on that path reach Brahman and do not return. a.n.a.logous reasoning proves that meditation on the soul as free from matter and having Brahman for its true Self also leads to the highest Brahman. In the case of those, on the other hand, who rely on the symbols (in which they meditatively contemplate Brahman), beginning with name and terminating with prana.