Chapter III, Section III, Adhikarana XVIII

Adhikarana summary: Worshippers of the Saguna Brahman

Adhikarana XVIII - All the worshippers of the Saguna Brahman go after death by the path of the gods to Brahmaloka, and not merely those who know the Panchagni Vidya etc., wherein such a path is specifically mentioned.

Brahma-Sutra 3.3.31: Sanskrit text and English translation.

अनियमः सर्वासाम्, अविरोधः शब्दानुमानाभ्याम् ॥ ३१ ॥

aniyamaḥ sarvāsām, avirodhaḥ śabdānumānābhyām || 31 ||

aniyamaḥ—(There is) no restriction; sarvāsām—(Devayana applies equally) to all (Vidyas of the Saguna Brahman); avirodhaḥ—there is non-contradiction; śabda-anumānābhyām—as is seen from the Sruti and Smriti.

81. (The passage of the soul by the path of the gods) is not restricted (only to certain Vidyas of the Saguna Brahman); (it applies equally) to all (Vidyas of the Saguna Brahman). There is no contradiction, as is seen from the Sruti and Smriti.

In the Panchagni Vidya ol the Chhandogya the result of such a meditation is said to be the passage after death to Brahmaloka by the path of the gods (Devayana). But such a result is not explicitly stated in the case of the Vaisvanara Vidya. The question is whether through this Vidya also one goes after death along the Devayana or not. This Sutra says that all worshippers of the Saguna Brahman, whatever their Vidyas, go after death by this path. For so it is seen from the Sruti and Smriti. “Those who meditate thus (through Panchagni Vidya) and also those who meditate in the forest endowed with Sraddha and Tapas go by the path of the gods” (Chh. 5. 10. 1). This text clearly shows that those who meditate upon these five fires, and those dwellers in the forest who, endowed with faith and austerity, worship the Saguna Brahman through any other Vidya, both go by the path of the gods. For the support of this view by the Smriti see Gita 8. 26.