Sūtra 3.3.17

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 3.3.17:

आत्म-गृहीतिर् इतर-वद् उत्तरात्

ātma-gṛhītir itara-vad uttarāt

ātma – ātma; gṛhītiḥ – understanding; itara – others; vat – like; uttarāt – from the following.

“Ātmā here means “consciousness.” Because of the following it is like the others.” (17)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 3:
  Devotional Service;
Pāda 3:
  Worshiping the Lord’s Attributes;
Adhikaraṇa 7:
  The Supreme Lord Is Full of Bliss.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

Here someone may object: “In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad [2.2.3] it is said:

अन्यो ‘न्तर आत्मा वा प्राणमयः

anyo ‘ntara ātmā vā prāṇamayaḥ

“The ātmā within is the prāṇamaya.”

The word ātmā is used to mean dull matter and it is also used to mean the individual spirit souls.

In Taittirīya Upaniṣad [2.5.1] it is said:

अन्यो ‘न्तर आत्मानन्दमयः

anyo ‘ntara ātmānandamayaḥ

“The ātmā within is the Ānandamaya.”

Since the word ātmā is thus used for these different puruṣas, how can it be said that the word ātmā means the all-pervading, all-knowing Supreme Personality of Godhead?”

To this I reply: The word ātmā here means the all-pervading, all-knowing Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is so because this word is used in that way in many other passages of scripture.

For example, in the Śruti-śāstra it is said:

आत्मा वा इदम् एक एवाग्र आसीत्

ātmā vā idam eka evāgra āsīt

“In the beginning only the Supreme Personality of Godhead [ātmā] existed.”

Why does the word ātmā here refer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? The sūtra explains, uttarāt: “Because of the following.”

This description of the bird is followed by these words [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.6.2]:

सो ‘कामयत बहु स्याम्

so ‘kāmayata bahu syām

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead desired: ‘I shall become many.’ ”

Thus this passage, which follows the parable of the bird, proves that ānandamaya bird in that passage is certainly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way it cannot be that the bird in that parable is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Therefore the purpose of that parable is to assist the meditation on the Supreme Lord. This must be so, for that is the appropriate explanation.