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
'In the beginning the Self was all this; there was nothing else
whatsoever thinking. He thought, shall I send forth worlds? He sent
forth these worlds' (Ait. Âr. II, 4, 1, 1); 'From that Self sprang ether,
from ether air, from air fire, from fire water, from water earth' (Taitt.
Up. II, 1); 'From this great Being were breathed forth the Rig-veda,' &c.--
These and similar texts referring to the creation have all the same
purport: they all teach us that the Supreme Lord is the cause of the
world. We therefore conclude that in the Ch. passage also the Sat,
which is said to be the cause of the world, is the Supreme Lord.
12. And because it is directly stated in Scripture.
The text of the same Upanishad directly declares that the being denoted
by the word 'Sat' evolves, as the universal Self, names and forms; is
all-knowing, all-powerful, all-embracing; is free from all evil, &c.;
realises all its wishes and purposes. 'Let me, entering those beings
with this living; Self, evolve names and forms' (Ch. Up. VI, 3, 2); 'All
these creatures have their root in the Sat, they dwell in the Sat, they
rest in the Sat' (VI, 8, 4); 'All this has that for its Self; it is the
True, it is the Self (VI, 8, 7); 'Whatever there is of him here in the
world, and whatever is not, all that is contained within it' (VIII, 1,
3); 'In it all desires are contained. It is the Self free from sin, free
from old age, from death and grief, from hunger and thirst, whose wishes
come true, whose purposes come true' (VIII, 1, 5).--And analogously
other scriptural texts, 'Of him there is no master in the world, no
ruler; not even a sign of him. He is the cause, the lord of the lords of
the organs, and there is of him neither parent nor lord' (Svet. Up. VI,
9). 'The wise one who, having created all forms and having given them
names, is calling them by those names' (Taitt. Ar. III, 12, 7); 'He who
entered within is the ruler of all beings, the Self of all' (Taitt. Ar.
III, 24); 'The Self of all, the refuge, the ruler of all, the Lord of
the souls' (Mahânâr. Up. XI); 'Whatsoever is seen or heard in this world,
inside or outside, pervading that all Nârâyana abides' (Mahânâr. Up. XI);
'He is the inner Self of all beings, free from all evil, the divine, the
only god Nârâyana.'--These and other texts which declare the world to
have sprung from the highest Lord, can in no way be taken as
establishing the Pradhâna. Hence it remains a settled conclusion that
the highest Person, Nârâyana, free from all shadow of imperfection, &c.,
is the single cause of the whole Universe, and is that Brahman which
these Sûtras point out as the object of enquiry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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