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
Another nature, i. e. the nature of the Pradhâna, and so on. A
supplementary passage excludes difference on the part of the
Imperishable from the supreme Person. 'That Imperishable, O Gârgî, is
unseen but seeing; unheard but hearing; unthought but thinking; unknown
but knowing. There is nothing that sees but it, nothing that hears but
it, nothing that thinks but it, nothing that knows but it. In that
Imperishable, O Gârgî, the ether is woven, warp and woof.' Here the
declaration as to the Imperishable being what sees, hears, &c. excludes
the non-intelligent Pradhâna; and the declaration as to its being all-
seeing, &c. while not seen by any one excludes the individual soul. This
exclusion of what has a nature other than that of the highest Self thus
confirms the view of that Self being meant.--Or else the Sûtra may be
explained in a different way, viz. 'On account of the exclusion of the
existence of another.' On this alternative the text 'There is nothing
that sees but it,' &c., is to be understood as follows: 'while this
Imperishable, not seen by others but seeing all others, forms the basis
of all things different from itself; there is no other principle which,
unseen by the Imperishable but seeing it, could form _its_ basis,' i.e.
the text would exclude the existence of any other thing but the
Imperishable, and thus implicitly deny that the Imperishable is either
the Pradhâna or the individual Self.--Moreover the text 'By the command
of that Imperishable men praise those who give, the gods follow the
Sacrficer, the fathers the Darvî-offering,' declares the Imperishable to
be that on the command of which there proceed all works enjoined by
Scripture and Smriti. such as sacrificing, giving, &c., and this again
shows that the Imperishable must be Brahman, the supreme Person. Again,
the subsequent _passus_, 'Whosoever without knowing that Imperishable,'
&c., declares that ignorance of the Imperishable leads to the Samsâra,
while knowledge of it helps to reach Immortality: this also proves that
the Imperishable is the highest Brahman.--Here terminates the adhikarana
of 'the Imperishable.'
12. On account of his being designated as the object of seeing, he (i.e.
the highest Self) (is that object).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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