Brahma-Sūtra 2.3.26

English of translation of Brahmasutra 2.3.26 by Roma Bose:

“The extending beyond (of knowledge) is as in the case of smell, for this (scripture) shows.”

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

But the “extending beyond” of the attribute of knowledge fits In “as in the case of smell”. The scriptural text: ‘He has entered here up to the body-hairs and finger nails’ (Kauṣītaki-upaniṣad 4.20^[1]) “shows” the individual soul to be the substratum of such an attribute.

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

“The extending” of the attribute of knowledge beyond the soul, its substratum which is situated within the heart, i.e. its occupying a larger space, is “as in the case of smell”, i.e. is just like smell occupying a larger space than the flower which occupies a smaller space. The scriptural text: ‘He has entered here up to the body-hairs and finger-nails’ (Kauṣītaki-upaniṣad 4.2.0) “shows” the soul’s pervasion over the entire body by means of its attribute of knowledge, extending over a larger space.

Comparative views of Śaṅkara and Bhāskara:

They break this sūtra into two different ones, viz. “Vyatireko gandhavat” and “Tathā ca darśayati”.^[2]

Comparative views of Rāmānuja:

He too reads “ca” in place of “hi”, but does not break it into two sūtras.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Not quoted by others. For correct quotation vide Kauṣītaki-upaniṣad, p. 141.

[2]:

Brahma-sūtras (Śaṅkara’s commentary), pp. 615-16; Brahma-sūtras (Bhāskara’s Commentary), p, 136.