Brahma-Sūtra 1.3.24

English of translation of Brahmasutra 1.3.24 by Roma Bose:

“On account of the text only, what is measured (is the lord).”

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

“What is measured”, i.e. what is of the size of a thumb, is none but the Highest Person, “on account of the text”: ‘The Lord of past and future’ (Kaṭha 4.13^[1]).

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

Thus, it has been established that Brahman is to be meditated on as the ‘small one’. Now, the author points out that Brahman is to be meditated on as of the size of merely a thumb.

In the Kaṭha-vallī, we read: ‘The Person, of the size of merely a thumb, dwells in the midst of the soul’ (Kaṭha 4.12); again: ‘The Person, of the size of merely a thumb, smokeless like light’ (Kaṭha 4.13); again: ‘The Person, of the size of merely a thumb, the inner soul, is ever seated in the heart of beings’ (Kaṭha 6.17). Here, a doubt arises as to whether the Person of the size of merely a thumb is the individual soul or the Highest Person. The prima facie view is as follows: The Person of the size of merely a thumb is the individual soul in accordance with the Śvetāśvatara-text, viz.: ‘The lord of the vital-breaths, who is of the size of merely a thumb and of a form like the sun, moves about through his own works’ (Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad 5.7d-8a); as well as in accordance with the Smṛti passage, viz.: ‘Then Yama drew forth, by force, from the body of Satyavāna, the person, of the size of merely a thumb, tied to the noose and brought under his control’ (Mahābhārata (Asiatic Society edition) 3.16763^[2]).

With regard to this, we reply: “What is measured”, i.e. the Person of the size of merely a thumb, mentioned in the Kaṭha-vallī, is none but the Supreme Soul. Why? “On account of the text”, i.e. on account of the text: ‘The lord of past and future’ (Kaṭha 4.13). The sense is this: Although ‘being of the size of merely a thumb’, mentioned in the above Scripture and Smṛti texts, is here perceived to be a characteristic mark of the individual soul, yet that mark is set aside,^[3]—this is the sense.

If it be objected: It being impossible for the individual soul, which is by nature atomic in size, to be of the size of a thumb, and there being the mark: ‘tied to the noose’, the individual soul can be of the size of merely a thumb only if its subtle body be meant.^[4] But it is impossible for Brahman, the topic of discussion, to be of the size of merely a thumb, even though repeatedly taught by Scripture,—

(We reply:) No, it being possible for Brahman to be so, in accordance with the wish of His devotees, and on account of His connection with place (viz. the heart). With regard to this point, a preceding aphorism (viz. Brahma-sūtra 1.2.7) may be consulted. Moreover, on account also of a text referring to the Person of the size of merely a thumb, viz.: ‘Let one draw him forth from his own body with firmness, as a pith from a reed. Let one know him’ (Kaṭha 6.17), the Supreme Soul alone is of the size of merely a thumb. Thus, the meaning of the text is as follows: The individual soul, entitled to know Brahman, the agent, endowed with a right discrimination between the soul and the non-soul,—implied by the phrase: ‘from his own body’,—‘should draw forth i.e. should lift up or put outside,—through intense prayer again,—‘him’, i.e. the Person of the size of a thumb, the object and known first through meditation to bo within the heart, ‘from his own body’, i.e. from the body known as his own, ‘as the pith from a reed’; then ‘he should know him with firmness’. If this be so, the Person of the size of merely a thumb, the object to be ‘worshipped, must be other than the worshipper himself.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Quoted by Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Bhāskara, Śrīkaṇṭha and Baladeva.

[2]:

P. 806, line 5, vol. 1.

[3]:

That is, although in the above scriptural and Smṛti texts, the individual soul has been designated as of the size of a thumb, yet in other numerous passages, it is designated as of the size of an atom merely. Hence, the above description is set aside.

[4]:

That is, since the individual soul cannot be of the size of a thumb, being declared to be atomic in size, the designation of it as of the size of a thumb merely means that its subtle body is so, and not that it itself is so.