Brahma-Sūtra 1.2.4

English of translation of Brahmasutra 1.2.4 by Roma Bose:

“And because of the designation of object and agent.”

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

For this reason too, the object qualified by the adjectives ‘consisting of mind’ and the rest is not the embodied soul, “because of the designation of object and agent” in the text: ‘On departing hence, I shall reach him’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 3.14.4 ^[1]).

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

For this reason, too, that which consists of mind and has breath for its body is not to be understood as the embodied soul. Why? “Because of the designation” of the embodied soul as the “agent”, i.e. as the worshipper, and “because of the designation” of the Highest Self as the ‘object’, i.e. as the object to be meditated on and obtained, in the passage: ‘On departing hence, I shall reach him’ (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 3.14.4), That is, ‘I’, or one desiring for salvation, ‘shall reach’, i.e. shall obtain, ‘him’, i.e. Brahman, mentioned before as possessed of the attributes of ‘consisting of mind’ and the rest, ‘hence’, i.e. after the fall of the body, after the destruction of the works which have begun to bear fruits. A worshipper who is endowed with such a right insight attains Brahman.

Comparative views of Śrīkaṇṭha:

Reading same, interpretation different, viz.: ‘(The supreme soul, viz. Śiva, the object to be meditated on, is other than Nārāyaṇa), because of the designation of the object and the agent, (i.e. because Śiva is designated to be the object to be worshipped, Nārāyaṇa, the worshipper)’. ^[2]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Quoted by Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Bhāskara and Baladeva.

[2]:

Brahma-sūtras (Śrīkaṇṭha’s commentary) 1.2.3, pp. 322-324, Part 4.