The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya: Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1
Religion
The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya: Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1
Vedanta
Some (teachers) however are of opinion that if the highest Self is meant
(in the fourth section) it would be inappropriate to understand the
words 'This (him) I will explain further,' &c., as referring to the
individual soul, and therefore suppose that the reference is (not to the
individual soul forming the topic of the three preceding sections, but)
to the Self possessing the qualities of freeness from sin, &c., which
Self is pointed out at the beginning of the entire chapter (VII,
1).--Against this interpretation we remark that, in the first place, it
disregards the direct enunciation of the pronoun (i.e. the 'this' in
'this I will explain') which rests on something approximate (i.e. refers
to something mentioned not far off), and, in the second place, is
opposed to the word 'further' (or 'again') met with in the text, since
from that interpretation it would follow that what had been discussed in
the preceding sections is not again discussed in the subsequent section.
Moreover, if Prajapati, after having made a promise in the clause, 'This
I shall explain' (where that clause occurs for the first time), did
previously to the fourth section explain a different topic in each
section, we should have to conclude that he acted deceitfully.--Hence
(our opinion about the purport of the whole chapter remains valid, viz.
that it sets forth how) the unreal aspect of the individual soul as
such--which is a mere presentation of Nescience, is stained by all the
desires and aversions attached to agents and enjoyers, and is connected
with evils of various kinds--is dissolved by true knowledge, and how the
soul is thus led over into the opposite state, i.e. into its true state
in which it is one with the highest Lord and distinguished by freedom
from sin and similar attributes. The whole process is similar to that by
which an imagined snake passes over into a rope as soon as the mind of
the beholder has freed itself from its erroneous imagination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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