The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja: Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48
Religion
The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Ramanuja: Sacred Books of the East, Volume 48
Vedanta
conclusion from all this is that, apart from Scripture, the existence of
a Lord does not admit of proof.
Against all this the Pûrvapakshin now restates his case as follows:--It
cannot be gainsaid that the world is something effected, for it is made
up of parts. We may state this argument in various technical forms. 'The
earth, mountains, &c., are things effected, because they consist of
parts; in the same way as jars and similar things.' 'The earth, seas,
mountains, &c., are effects, because, while being big; (i.e. non-atomic),
they are capable of motion; just as jars and the like.' 'Bodies, the
world, &c., are effects, because, while being big, they are solid
(mûrtta); just as jars and the like.'--But, an objection is raised, in
the case of things made up of parts we do not, in addition to this
attribute of consisting of parts, observe any other aspect determining
that the thing is an effect--so as to enable us to say 'this thing is
effected, and that thing is not'; and, on the other hand, we do observe
it as an indispensable condition of something being an effect, that
there should be the possibility of such an effect being brought about,
and of the existence of such knowledge of material causes, &c. (as the
bringing about of the effect presupposes).--Not so, we reply. In the
case of a cause being inferred on the ground of an effect, the knowledge
and power of the cause must be inferred in accordance with the nature of
the effect. From the circumstance of a thing consisting of parts we know
it to be an effect and on this basis we judge of the power and knowledge
of the cause. A person recognises pots, jars and the like, as things
produced, and therefrom infers the constructive skill and knowledge of
their maker; when, after this, he sees for the first time a kingly
palace with all its various wonderful parts and structures, he concludes
from the special way in which the parts are joined that this also is an
effected thing, and then makes an inference as to the architect's
manifold knowledge and skill. Analogously, when a living body and the
world have once been recognised to be effects, we infer--as their maker--
some special intelligent being, possessing direct insight into their
nature and skill to construct them.--Pleasure and pain, moreover, by
which men are requited for their merit and demerit, are themselves of a
non-intelligent nature, and hence cannot bring about their results
unless they are controlled by an intelligent principle, and this also
compels us to assume a being capable of allotting to each individual
soul a fate corresponding to its deserts. For we do not observe that non-
intelligent implements, such as axes and the like, however much they may
be favoured by circumstances of time, place, and so on, are capable of
producing posts and pillars unless they be handled by a carpenter. And
to quote against the generalization on which we rely the instance of the
seed and sprout and the like can only spring from an ignorance and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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