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
We now turn to the assertion that certain scriptural texts, as e.g.
'Being only was this in the beginning,' are meant to teach that there
truly exists only one homogeneous substance, viz. Intelligence free from
all difference.--This we cannot allow. For the section in which the
quoted text occurs, in order to make good the initial declaration that
by the knowledge of one thing all things are known, shows that the
highest Brahman which is denoted by the term 'Being' is the substantial
and also the operative cause of the world; that it is all-knowing,
endowed with all powers; that its purposes come true; that it is the
inward principle, the support and the ruler of everything; and that
distinguished by these and other good qualities it constitutes the Self
of the entire world; and then finally proceeds to instruct Svetaketu
that this Brahman constitutes his Self also ('Thou art that'). We have
fully set forth this point in the Vedârtha-samgraha and shall establish
it in greater detail in the present work also, in the so-called
ârambhana-adhikarana.--In the same way the passage 'the higher knowledge
is that by which the Indestructible is apprehended, &c.' (Mu. Up. I, 1,
5) first denies of Brahman all the evil qualities connected with Prakriti,
and then teaches that to it there belong eternity, all-pervadingness,
subtilty, omnipresence, omniscience, imperishableness, creativeness with
regard to all beings, and other auspicious qualities. Now we maintain
that also the text 'True, knowledge, infinite is Brahman', does not
prove a substance devoid of all difference, for the reason that the
co-ordination of the terms of which it consists explains itself in so
far only as denoting one thing distinguished by several attributes. For
'co-ordination' (sâmânâdhikaranya, lit.'the abiding of several things in
a common substrate') means the reference (of several terms) to one
thing, there being a difference of reason for the application (of
several terms to one thing). Now whether we take the several terms,'
True','Knowledge','Infinite', in their primary sense, i. e. as denoting
qualities, or as denoting modes of being opposed to whatever is contrary
to those qualities; in either case we must needs admit a plurality of
causes for the application of those several terms to one thing. There is
however that difference between the two alternatives that in the former
case the terms preserve their primary meaning, while in the latter case
their denotative power depends on so-called 'implication' (lakshanâ).
Nor can it be said that the opposition in nature to non-knowledge,
&c.(which is the purport of the terms on the hypothesis of lakshanâ),
constitutes nothing more than the essential nature (of one
non-differenced substance; the three terms thus having one purport
only); for as such essential nature would be sufficiently apprehended
through one term, the employment of further terms would be purposeless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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