Brahma-Sūtra 1.1.23

English of translation of Brahmasutra 1.1.23 by Roma Bose:

“(Brahman is denoted by the word) ether, on account of his characteristic marks.”

Nimbārka’s commentary (Vedānta-pārijāta-saurabha):

In the text: ‘“What is the final refuge of this world?” “The ether”, said he’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.9.1^[1]), that which is denoted by the term “ether” is the Highest Self. Why? “On account of his characteristic marks,” such as, being the creator of all, and the like, mentioned in the text: ‘All these things, verily, arise from the ether alone’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.9.1^[2]).

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

In this manner, it has been shown, on the ground of the peculiar qualities of Brahman, the topic of discussion, that the text: ‘Now, this golden person who is seen within the sun’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.6.8) and so on, refers to Brahman, the topic of discussion. How, it is being shown that the text: ‘“What is the final refuge of this world?”’ and so on too (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.9.1) refers to Him, on the ground of the characteristic marks of Brahman.

In the Chāndogya, we read the following under the dialogue between Śālāvatya and Jaivali: ‘“What is the final refuge of this world?”’ ‘“The ether,” said he, “All these beings, verily, arise from the ether alone, disappear into the ether; for the ether alone is greater than these, the ether is the supreme refuge”’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.9.1). Here a doubt arises, viz. whether the elemental ether is meant by the term ‘ether’, or the Highest Self. What is reasonable here? If it be suggested: As it is so well-known in the world and as it is declared also by Scripture to be the cause of the elements beginning with the air, and so on, in the passage: ‘From the “ether”, the “air”’ (Taittirīya-upaniṣad 2.1), the elemental ether (is meant here)—

We reply: In this text “the ether”, i.e. the object meant by the term ‘ether’, is the Highest Self alone. Why? “On account of his characteristic marks,” i.e. “his”, or the Highest Self’s, “characteristic marks”, viz. being the creator of all beings, being superior, being the supreme refuge, and so on,—on account of that,^[3] i.e. on account of the peculiar qualities of the Highest Self. It cannot he said, also, that in accordance with the rule: ‘When there is a collocation of scriptural statement, mark, text, topic, place and name, each following one is weaker (than each preceding one), on account of its remoteness from the meaning’ (Pūrva-mīmāṃsā-sūtra 3.3.14^[4]), the scriptural statement is of a greater force than the mark,—for in accordance with the rule: ‘The strength and weakness of those which are spoilt by meaninglessness are in the opposite proportion’, the scriptural statement: ‘the ether’, is set aside by the mark mentioned in the text: ‘All these beings, verily, arise from the ether alone’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 1.9.1). If the word “ether” were to refer to the elemental ether, then no sense would follow, for such a mark (viz. being the creator of all) is not possible on the part of the elemental ether; on the contrary, the elemental ether is declared by Scripture to he created by the Highest Self, in the passage: ‘From this soul, verily, the ether arose’ (Taittirīya-upaniṣad 2.1). Further, on the ground of the etymological interpretation too (of the word ‘ether’ or ākāśa), viz: ‘The ether is that which shines everywhere’,^[5] as well as on the ground of its conventional meaning, given in the passages: ‘If there were not this bliss in the ether’ (Taittirīya-upaniṣad 2.7), ‘The ether, verily, is the revealer of names and forms’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 8.14.1) and so on, it is established that by the term “ether”, the Supreme Self alone is denoted.

Here ends the section entitled ‘The ether’ (8).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ś, R, Bh, ŚK, Quoted by Baladeva

[2]:

 Ś, R, Bh, ŚK, Quoted by Baladeva.

[3]:

This explains the compound ‘tal-liṅgāt’.

[4]:

P. 284, vol. 1. Vide Śabara-bhāṣya.

[5]:

Āsamantāt kāśata iti akāśaḥ.