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
'Your father is the ruler of all these lands, famous for the possession
of all noble qualities, wisdom, generosity, kindness, courage, valour
and so on, and he stays in his capital, longing to see you, his lost
child. Hearing that his father is alive and a man so high and noble, the
boy's heart is filled with supreme joy; and the king also, understanding
that his son is alive, in good health, handsome and well instructed,
considers himself to have attained all a man can wish for. He then takes
steps to recover his son, and finally the two are reunited.
The assertion again that a statement referring to some accomplished
thing gratifies men merely by imparting a knowledge of the thing,
without being a means of knowledge with regard to its real existence--so
that it would be comparable to the tales we tell to children and sick
people--, can in no way be upheld. When it is ascertained that a thing
has no real existence, the mere knowledge or idea of the thing does not
gratify. The pleasure which stories give to children and sick people is
due to the fact that they erroneously believe them to be true; if they
were to find out that the matter present to their thought is untrue
their pleasure would come to an end that very moment. And thus in the
case of the texts of the Upanishads also. If we thought that these texts
do not mean to intimate the real existence of Brahman, the mere idea of
Brahman to which they give rise would not satisfy us in any way.
The conclusion therefore is that texts such as 'That from whence these
beings are born' &c. do convey valid instruction as to the existence of
Brahman, i.e. that being which is the sole cause of the world, is free
from all shadow of imperfection, comprises within itself all auspicious
qualities, such as omniscience and so on, and is of the nature of
supreme bliss.--Here terminates the adhikarana of 'connexion'.
5. On account of seeing (i.e. thinking) that which is not founded on
Scripture (i.e. the Pradhâna) is not (what is taught by the texts
referring to the origination of the world).
We have maintained that what is taught by the texts relative to the
origination of the world is Brahman, omniscient, and so on. The present
Sûtra and the following Sûtras now add that those texts can in no way
refer to the Pradhâna and similar entities which rest on Inference only.
We read in the Chândogya, 'Being only was this in the beginning, one
only, without a second.--It thought, may I be many, may I grow forth.--
It sent forth fire' (VI, 2, 1 ff.)--Here a doubt arises whether the
cause of the world denoted by the term 'Being' is the Pradhâna. assumed
by others, which rests on Inference, or Brahman as defined by us.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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