Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya Vartika
by R. Balasubramanian | 151,292 words | ISBN-10: 8185208115 | ISBN-13: 9788185208114
The English translation of Sureshvara’s Taittiriya Vartika, which is a commentary on Shankara’s Bhashya on the Taittiriya Upanishad. Taittiriya Vartika contains a further explanation of the words of Shankara-Acharya, the famous commentator who wrote many texts belonging to Advaita-Vedanta. Sureshvaracharya was his direct disciple and lived in the 9...
Verse 3.40
Sanskrit text and transliteration:
अन्नमेव गुरुर्न्याय्यमुत्तरज्ञानहेतुतः ।
अन्नं न निन्द्यात्तेनाऽऽदौ व्रतं स्यात्तदुपासितुः ॥ ४० ॥
annameva gururnyāyyamuttarajñānahetutaḥ |
annaṃ na nindyāttenā''dau vrataṃ syāttadupāsituḥ || 40 ||
English translation of verse 3.40:
It is proper to say that food alone is the teacher, since it is the cause of subsequent knowledge. Accordingly, one shall not condemn food. This is the first vow of a contemplator.
Notes:
Verses (40) and (41) deal with the seventh anuvāka of the Bhṛguvallī.
This verse explains the meaning of the śruti texts annaṃ na nindyāt, tadvratam.
Food is the gateway to the knowledge of Brahman. It should, therefore, be regarded as guru, a teacher. A person who meditates on food as Brahman shall not deprecate it. The contemplator must take a vow not to deprecate food.
Sureśvara’s interpretation of this śruti passage is different from that of Śaṅkara. According to the latter, the vow that is spoken of here is enjoined on him who knows Brahman. But according to Sureśvara, it is enjoined on one who meditates on food (annopāsaka).