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
The passage in the Bhagavad Gîtâ, 'Know me to be the kshetrajña' (XIII,
2), teaches the oneness of all in so far as the highest Self is the
inward ruler of all; taken in any other sense it would be in conflict
with other texts, such as 'All creatures are the Perishable, the
unchanging soul is the Imperishable; but another is the highest Person'
(Bha. Gî. XV, 16). In other places the Divine one declares that as
inward Ruler he is the Self of all: 'The Lord dwells in the heart of all
creatures' (XVIII, 61), and 'I dwell within the heart of all' (XV, 15).
and 'I am the Self which has its abode within all creatures' (X, 20).
The term 'creature' in these passages denotes the entire aggregate of
body, &c., up to the Self.--Because he is the Self of all, the text
expressly denies that among all the things constituting his body there
is any one separate from him,'There is not anything which is without me'
(X, 39). The place where this text occurs is the winding up of a
glorification of the Divine one, and the text has to be understood
accordingly. The passage immediately following is 'Whatever being there
is, powerful, beautiful, or glorious, even that know thou to have sprung
from a portion of my glory; pervading this entire Universe by a portion
of mine I do abide' (X, 41; 42).
All this clearly proves that the authoritative books do _not_ teach the
doctrine of one non-differenced substance; that they do _not_ teach that
the universe of things is false; and that they do _not_ deny the
essential distinction of intelligent beings, non-intelligent things, and
the Lord.
[FOOTNOTE 92:1. 'Prânamaya' is explained as meaning 'prana' only.]
[FOOTNOTE 94:1. The sense in which this sloka has to be taken is 'As in
ordinary life we ascribe to certain things (e.g. gems, mantras) certain
special powers because otherwise the effects they produce could not be
accounted for; so to Brahman also,' &c.]
The theory of Nescience cannot be proved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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