Verse 3199-3201

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

इतिहासपुराणेषु ब्रह्मादिर्योऽपि सर्ववित् ।
ज्ञानमप्रतिघं यस्य वैराग्यं चेति कीर्तितम् ॥ ३१९९ ॥
गौणत्वेनैव वक्तव्यः सोऽपि मन्त्रार्थवादवत् ।
यद्वा प्रकृतधर्मादिज्ञाना( प्रति )घतोच्यते ॥ ३२०० ॥
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु प्रकृतेषु चतुर्ष्वपि ।
ज्ञानमप्रतिघं तस्य न तत्सर्वार्थगोचरम् ॥ ३२०१ ॥

itihāsapurāṇeṣu brahmādiryo'pi sarvavit |
jñānamapratighaṃ yasya vairāgyaṃ ceti kīrtitam || 3199 ||
gauṇatvenaiva vaktavyaḥ so'pi mantrārthavādavat |
yadvā prakṛtadharmādijñānā( prati )ghatocyate || 3200 ||
dharmārthakāmamokṣeṣu prakṛteṣu caturṣvapi |
jñānamapratighaṃ tasya na tatsarvārthagocaram || 3201 ||

“The description that we meet with in itihāsas and purāṇas of Brahmā being omniscient and of his knowledge and dispassion as untrammelled,—all this should be understood in the figurative sense,—like the commendatory declarations relating to mantras.—Or, the ‘untrammelled knowledge’ that is spoken may be taken as referring to the knowledge of dharma and other matters relating to the particular context;—what is meant is that his knowledge of such things as ‘ditty’, ‘property’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘liberation’, is ‘untrammelled’; it cannot refer to all things.”—(3199-3201)

 

Kamalaśīla’s commentary (tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā):

Says the Opponent—In the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, Brahmā and other Beings have been described as omniscient; as we read there of Brahma’s knowledge and dispassion being ‘unobstructed’. How then can it be said that the existence of the Omniscient Person is not vouched for by the Scriptural Word?

The answer to this is as follows:—[see verses 3199-3201 above]

Just as, in regard to Vedic Mantras there are Commendatory Declarations, so in the Itihāsa and Purāṇa, the assertion of the omniscience of Brahmā and other Beings, should be taken as Commendatory Declarations. When a set of words directly expressing one thing is taken as expressing something else, it is called ‘arthavāda’, ‘Figurative or Commendatory Declaration’.

Or the meaning may be that the knowledge of Brahmā is untrammelled so far as the things spoken of in the Itihāsa and Purāṇa are concerned,—such as Duty, Property, Pleasure and Liberation; and it does not refer to the knowledge of all things.—(3199-3201)