Brahma-Sūtra 2.1.24

English of translation of Brahmasutra 2.1.24 by Roma Bose:

“As in the case of the gods and the rest too in (their world.”

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

Just as the gods and the rest create what they want through a mere wish, so does the Lord too.

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

To the objection, viz. Milk and the rest are non-sentient, while Brahman is sentient; as such, the examples cited are not to the point,—the author replies here.

The word “too” suggests the possibility of an analogy with the sentient. The case in hand is analogous not merely to that of non-sentient objects, like milk, etc. as shown above, but is also analogous to that of the sentient, known from Scripture to be the power of the Lord. Just as “in the world”, i.e. in the world of the gods and the rest, or in Scripture,—the cause of the beholding of all objects,—the gods, the fathers, the sages, the Nāgas and the rest, celebrated to be possessed of great powers, are found to create the objects which they want, as befitting time and need, through a mere wish; just as a spider acts by itself alone independently of any external implement, so the Highest Person, celebrated in all the worlds and Vedas as possessed of great powers, omniscient, omnipotent and having true resolves, creates the whole group of effects through a mere wish. Hence, it is established that no contradiction is involved in our view simply because certain well-known implements are found employed in ordinary creations.

Here ends the section entitled “The observation of collection” (8).

Comparative views of Baladeva:

This is sūtra 25 in his commentary. Interpretation different, viz.: (The Lord though invisible, is the creator of the world,) just as the gods too (though invisible, are seen to work) in the world, (i.e. to produce rain and so on).^[1]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Govinda-bhāṣya 2.1.25.