The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya Part 27

32. (Brahman is) not (the creator of the world), on account of (beings engaging in any action) having a motive.

Another objection is raised against the doctrine of an intelligent cause of the world.--The intelligent highest Self cannot be the creator of the sphere of this world, 'on account of actions having a purpose.'--We know from ordinary experience that man, who is an intelligent being, begins to act after due consideration only, and does not engage even in an unimportant undertaking unless it serves some purpose of his own; much less so in important business. There is also a scriptural pa.s.sage confirming this result of common experience, 'Verily everything is not dear that you may have everything; but that you may love the Self therefore everything is dear' (B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 5). Now the undertaking of creating the sphere of this world, with all its various contents, is certainly a weighty one. If, then, on the one hand, you a.s.sume it to serve some purpose of the intelligent highest Self, you thereby sublate its self-sufficiency vouched for by Scripture; if, on the other hand, you affirm absence of motive on its part, you must affirm absence of activity also.--Let us then a.s.sume that just as sometimes an intelligent person when in a state of frenzy proceeds, owing to his mental aberration, to action without a motive, so the highest Self also created this world without any motive.--That, we reply, would contradict the omniscience of the highest Self, which is vouched for by Scripture.--Hence the doctrine of the creation proceeding from an intelligent Being is untenable.

33. But (Brahman's creative activity) is mere sport, such as we see in ordinary life.

The word 'but' discards the objection raised.--We see in every-day life that certain doings of princes or other men of high position who have no unfulfilled desires left have no reference to any extraneous purpose; but proceed from mere sportfulness, as, for instance, their recreations in places of amus.e.m.e.nt. We further see that the process of inhalation and exhalation is going on without reference to any extraneous purpose, merely following the law of its own nature. a.n.a.logously, the activity of the Lord also may be supposed to be mere sport, proceeding from his own nature[310], without reference to any purpose. For on the ground neither of reason nor of Scripture can we construe any other purpose of the Lord. Nor can his nature be questioned.[311]--Although the creation of this world appears to us a weighty and difficult undertaking, it is mere play to the Lord, whose power is unlimited. And if in ordinary life we might possibly, by close scrutiny, detect some subtle motive, even for sportful action, we cannot do so with regard to the actions of the Lord, all whose wishes are fulfilled, as Scripture says.--Nor can it be said that he either does not act or acts like a senseless person; for Scripture affirms the fact of the creation on the one hand, and the Lord's omniscience on the other hand. And, finally, we must remember that the scriptural doctrine of creation does not refer to the highest reality; it refers to the apparent world only, which is characterised by name and form, the figments of Nescience, and it, moreover, aims at intimating that Brahman is the Self of everything.

34. Inequality (of dispensation) and cruelty (the Lord can) not (be reproached with), on account of his regarding (merit and demerit); for so (Scripture) declares.

In order to strengthen the tenet which we are at present defending, we follow the procedure of him who shakes a pole planted in the ground (in order to test whether it is firmly planted), and raise another objection against the doctrine of the Lord being the cause of the world.--The Lord, it is said, cannot be the cause of the world, because, on that hypothesis, the reproach of inequality of dispensation and cruelty would attach to him. Some beings, viz. the G.o.ds and others, he renders eminently happy; others, as for instance the animals, eminently unhappy; to some again, as for instance men, he allots an intermediate position.

To a Lord bringing about such an unequal condition of things, pa.s.sion and malice would have to be ascribed, just as to any common person acting similarly; which attributes would be contrary to the essential goodness of the Lord affirmed by /S/ruti and Sm/ri/ti. Moreover, as the infliction of pain and the final destruction of all creatures would form part of his dispensation, he would have to be taxed with great cruelty, a quality abhorred by low people even. For these two reasons Brahman cannot be the cause of the world.

The Lord, we reply, cannot be reproached with inequality of dispensation and cruelty, "because he is bound by regards." If the Lord on his own account, without any extraneous regards, produced this unequal creation, he would expose himself to blame; but the fact is, that in creating he is bound by certain regards, i.e. he has to look to merit and demerit.

Hence the circ.u.mstance of the creation being unequal is due to the merit and demerit of the living creatures created, and is not a fault for which the Lord is to blame. The position of the Lord is to be looked on as a.n.a.logous to that of Parjanya, the Giver of rain. For as Parjanya is the common cause of the production of rice, barley, and other plants, while the difference between the various species is due to the various potentialities lying hidden in the respective seeds, so the Lord is the common cause of the creation of G.o.ds, men, &c., while the differences between these cla.s.ses of beings are due to the different merit belonging to the individual souls. Hence the Lord, being bound by regards, cannot be reproached with inequality of dispensation and cruelty.--And if we are asked how we come to know that the Lord, in creating this world with its various conditions, is bound by regards, we reply that Scripture declares that; compare, for instance, the two following pa.s.sages, 'For he (the Lord) makes him, whom he wishes to lead up from these worlds, do a good deed; and the same makes him, whom he wishes to lead down from these worlds, do a bad deed' (Kaush. Up. III, 8)[312]; and, 'A man becomes good by good work, bad by bad work' (B/ri/. Up. III, 2, 13).

Sm/ri/ti pa.s.sages also declare the favour of the Lord and its opposite to depend on the different quality of the works of living beings; so, for instance, 'I serve men in the way in which they approach me' (Bha.

Gi. IV, 11).

35. If it be objected that it (viz. the Lord's having regard to merit and demerit) is impossible on account of the non-distinction (of merit and demerit, previous to the first creation); we refute the objection on the ground of (the world) being without a beginning.

But--an objection is raised--the pa.s.sage, 'Being only this was in the beginning, one, without a second,' affirms that before the creation there was no distinction and consequently no merit on account of which the creation might have become unequal. And if we a.s.sume the Lord to have been guided in his dispensations by the actions of living beings subsequent to the creation, we involve ourselves in the circular reasoning that work depends on diversity of condition of life, and diversity of condition again on work. The Lord may be considered as acting with regard to religious merit after distinction had once arisen; but as before that the cause of inequality, viz. merit, did not exist, it follows that the first creation must have been free, from inequalities.

This objection we meet by the remark, that the transmigratory world is without beginning.--The objection would be valid if the world had a beginning; but as it is without beginning, merit and inequality are, like seed and sprout, caused as well as causes, and there is therefore no logical objection to their operation.--To the question how we know that the world is without a beginning, the next Sutra replies.

36. (The beginninglessness of the world) recommends itself to reason and is seen (from Scripture).

The beginninglessness of the world recommends itself to reason. For if it had a beginning it would follow that, the world springing into existence without a cause, the released souls also would again enter into the circle of transmigratory existence; and further, as then there would exist no determining cause of the unequal dispensation of pleasure and pain, we should have to acquire in the doctrine of rewards and punishments being allotted, without reference to previous good or bad action. That the Lord is not the cause of the inequality, has already been remarked. Nor can Nescience by itself be the cause, and it is of a uniform nature. On the other hand, Nescience may be the cause of inequality, if it be considered as having regard to merit accruing from action produced by the mental impressions or wrath, hatred, and other afflicting pa.s.sions[313]. Without merit and demerit n.o.body can enter into existence, and again, without a body merit and demerit cannot be formed; so that--on the doctrine of the world having a beginning--we are led into a logical see-saw. The opposite doctrine, on the other hand, explains all matters in a manner a.n.a.logous to the case of the seed and sprout, so that no difficulty remains.--Moreover, the fact of the world being without a beginning, is seen in /S/ruti and Sm/ri/ti. In the first place, we have the scriptural pa.s.sage, 'Let me enter with this living Self (jiva)', &c. (Ch. Up. VI, 3, 2). Here the circ.u.mstance of the embodied Self (the individual soul) being called, previously to creation, 'the living Self'--a name applying to it in so far as it is the sustaining principle of the pra/n/as--shows that this phenomenal world is without a beginning. For if it had a beginning, the pra/n/as would not exist before that beginning, and how then could the embodied Self be denoted, with reference to the time of the world's beginning, by a name which depends on the existence of those pra/n/as. Nor can it be said that it is so designated with a view to its future relation to the pra/n/as; it being a settled principle that a past relation, as being already existing, is of greater force than a mere future relation.--Moreover, we have the mantra, 'As the creator formerly devised (akalpaya) sun and moon (/Ri/. Sa/m/h. X, 190, 3), which intimates the existence of former Kalpas. Sm/ri/ti also declares the world to be without a beginning, 'Neither its form is known here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its support' (Bha. Gi. XV, 3). And the Pura/n/a also declares that there is no measure of the past and the future Kalpas.

37. And because all the qualities (required in the cause of the world) are present (in Brahman).

The teacher has now refuted all the objections, such as difference of character, and the like, which other teachers have brought forward against what he had established as the real sense of the Veda, viz. that the intelligent Brahman is the cause and matter of this world.

Now, before entering on a new chapter, whose chief aim it will be to refute the (positive) opinions held by other teachers, he sums up the foregoing chapter, the purport of which it was to show why his view should be accepted.--Because, if that Brahman is acknowledged as the cause of the world, all attributes required in the cause (of the world) are seen to be present--Brahman being all-knowing, all-powerful, and possessing the great power of Maya,--on that account this our system, founded on the Upanishads, is not open to any objections.

Notes:

[Footnote 253: The Sm/ri/ti called Tantra is the [email protected]/s/astra as taught by Kapila; the Sm/ri/ti-writers depending on him are asuri, Pa/nk/a/s/ikha, and others.]

[Footnote 254: Mima/m/sa Su. I, 1, 2: /k/oda.n.a.laksha/n/osxrtho dharma/h/. Commentary: /k/odana iti kriyaya/h/ pravartaka/m/ va/k/anam ahu/h/.]

[Footnote 255: Purushartha; in opposition to the rules referred to in the preceding sentence which are kratvartha, i.e. the acting according to which secures the proper performance of certain rites.]

[Footnote 256: It having been decided by the Purva Mima/m/sa already that Sm/ri/tis contradicted by /S/ruti are to be disregarded.]

[Footnote 257: On the meaning of 'kapila' in the above pa.s.sage, compare the Introduction to the Upanishads, translated by Max Muller, vol. ii, p. x.x.xviii ff.--As will be seen later on, /S/[email protected], in this bhashya, takes the Kapila referred to to be some /ri/shi.]

[Footnote 258: I.e. religious duty is known only from the injunctive pa.s.sages of the Veda.]

[Footnote 259: After it has been shown that Kapila the dvaitavadin is not mentioned in /S/ruti, it is now shown that Manu the sarvatmavadin is mentioned there.]

[Footnote 260: In which pa.s.sage the phrase 'to be meditated upon'

(nididhyasa) indicates the act of mental concentration characteristic of the Yoga.]

[Footnote 261: The ash/t/akas (certain oblations to be made on the eighth days after the full moons of the seasons hemanta and /s/i/s/ira) furnish the stock ill.u.s.tration for the doctrine of the Purva Mim. that Sm/ri/ti is authoritative in so far as it is based on /S/ruti.]

[Footnote 262: But why--it will be asked--do you apply yourself to the refutation of the [email protected] and Yoga only, and not also to that of other Sm/ri/tis conflicting with the Vedanta views?]

[Footnote 263: I.e. from the fact of these terms being employed in a pa.s.sage standing close to other pa.s.sages which refer to Vedic knowledge.]

[Footnote 264: The cognition of Brahman terminates in an act of anubhava; hence as it has been shown that reasoning is more closely connected with anubhava than /S/ruti is, we have the right to apply reasoning to /S/ruti.--ananda Giri comments on the pa.s.sage from anubhavavasanam as follows: brahmasakshatkarasya mokshopayataya pradhanyat tatra /s/abdad api paroks.h.a.go/k/arad aparoksharthasadharmyago/k/aras [email protected] iti tasyaiva balavatvam ity artha/h/. Aitihyamatre/n/a pravadaparamparyamatre/n/a parokshatayeti yavat. Anubhavasya pradhanye tarkasyoktanyayena tasminn [email protected] agamasya /k/a [email protected] [email protected]@ngayor [email protected]/m/ balavad ity nyayad ukta/m/ tarkasya balavattvam.

Anubhavapradhanya/m/ tu nadyapi siddham ity a/s/[email protected] Nanu Brahmaj/n/adna/m/ vaidikatvad dharmavad ad/ri/sh/t/aphalam esh/t/avya/m/ tat kutosxsyanubhavavasanavidyanivartakatva/m/ tatraha moksheti.

Adhish/th/anasakshatkarasya /s/uktyadj/n/ane tadavidyatatkaryanivartakatvad/ri/sh/t/e/h/, brahmaj/n/anasyapi tarkava/s/ad asambhavanadinirasadvara sakshatkaravasayinas tadavidyadinivartakatvenaiva muktihetuteti nad/ri/sh/t/aphalatety artha/h/.]

[Footnote 265: Nirati/s/aya/h/, upajanapayadharma/s/unyatva/m/ nirati/s/ayatvam. an. Gi.]

[Footnote 266: A sentence replying to the possible objection that the world, as being the effect of the intelligent Brahman, might itself be intelligent.]

[Footnote 267: In the case of things commonly considered non-intelligent, intelligence is not influenced by an internal organ, and on that account remains unperceived; samaste jagati satoszpi /k/aitanyasya tatra tatranta/h/kara/n/apari/n/amanuparagad anupalabdhir aviruddha. an. Gi.]

[Footnote 268: On i/s/vara in the above meaning, compare Deussen, p. 69, note 41.]

[Footnote 269: The line 'prak/ri/tibhya/h/ param,' &c. is wanting in all MSS. I have consulted.]

[Footnote 270: ananda Giri on the above pa.s.sage: /s/[email protected]/m/ tarkam eva mananavidhivishayam udaharati svapnanteti. Svapnajagaritayor mithovyabhi/k/arad atmana/h/ svabhavatas tadvattvabhavad avastha dvayena tasya svatosxsa/m/p/ri/ktatvam ato jivasyavasthavatvena nabrahmatvam ity artha/h/. Tathapi dehaditadatmyenatmano bhavan na ni/h/prapa/nk/abrahmatety a/s/[email protected] sa/m/prasade /k/eti. Sata somya tada sa/m/panno bhavat.i.ti /s/rute/h/ sushupte ni/h/prapa/nk/asadatmatvavagamad atmanas tathavidhabrahmatvasiddhir ity artha/h/. Dvaitagrahipratyakshadivirodhat katham atmanosxdvitiyabrahmatvam ity a/s/ tajjatvadihetuna brahmatiriktavastvabhavasiddher adhyakshadinam atatvavedakaprama/n/yad avirodhad yuktam atmano xsvitiyabrahmatvam ity aha prapa/nk/asyeti.]

[Footnote 271: Let us finally a.s.sume, merely for argument's sake, that a vailaksha/n/ya of cause and effect is not admissible, and enquire whether that a.s.sumption can be reconciled more easily with an intelligent or a non-intelligent cause of the world.]

[Footnote 272: Nanu pralayakale karyadharma/s/ /k/en navatish/th/eran na tarhi kara/n/adharma api tish/th/eyus tayor abhedat tatrahananyatveszpiti. an. Gi.]

[Footnote 273: For if they are effects of the pradhana they must as such be reabsorbed into it at the time of general reabsorption.]

[Footnote 274: And that the Vedanta view is preferable because the nullity of the objections has already been demonstrated in its case.]

[Footnote 275: The whole style of argumentation of the Mima/m/sa would be impossible, if all reasoning were sound; for then no purvapaksha view could be maintained.]

[Footnote 276: The following arthavada-pa.s.sage, for instance, 'the sacrificial post is the sun,' is to be taken in a metaphorical sense; because perception renders it impossible for us to take it in its literal meaning.]

[Footnote 277: Which are to be known from the Veda only.]

[Footnote 278: Pari/n/amavadam avalambyapatato virodha/m/ samadhaya vivartavadam a/s/ritya paramasamadhanam aha. an. Gi.]

[Footnote 279: ananda Giri construes differently: etad uktam iti, paramarthato vij/n/atam iti sambandha/h/.]

[Footnote 280: D/ri/sh/t/eti kada/k/id dr/ri/sh/t/a/m/ punar nash/t/am anityam iti yavat.--D/ri/sh/t/agraha/n/asu/k/ita/m/ prat.i.tikalesxpi sattarahitya/m/ tatraiva hetvantaram aha svarupe/n/eti. an. Gi.]

[Footnote 281: In the pa.s.sage alluded to he is called so by implication, being compared to the 'false-minded' thief who, knowing himself to be guilty, undergoes the ordeal of the heated hatchet.]

[Footnote 282: I.e. ordinary experience does not teach us that real effects spring from unreal causes.]

[Footnote 283: Svapnajagraddehayor vyabhi/k/arezpi pratyabhij/n/anat tadanugatatmaikyasiddhe/s/ /k/aitanyasya /k/a dehadharmatve rutmano dehadvayatiredkasiddher dehatratmavado na yukta ity artha/h/. an. Gi.]