Brahma-Sūtra 3.2.19 (prima facie view)

English of translation of Brahmasutra 3.2.19 by Roma Bose:

“But on account of the non-apprehension like water, there is no being so.”

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

It is doubted: Water is apprehended to be remote from the sun, but not so the place (viz. the individual soul) from the whole (viz. the Lord).^[1] Hence the example cited is not to the point.

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

It is doubted that the example cited does not illustrate the point.

The word “but” is indicative of the doubt. It may be objected: “There is no being so”, i.e., Brahman is not like the reflected sun. Why? “On account of the non-apprehension like water,” i.e. water is apprehended to be remote from the sun, and the sun and the rest, though reflected on it, are yet not touched by its imperfections as they are remote from it; but all the sentient and the non-sentient are not apprehended, as in the case of water, to be remote from Brahman. Compare the scriptural texts: “He who abiding within the earth” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3.7.3), “He who abiding within water” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3.7.4), “He who abiding in the soul” (Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa 14.6.7.30^[2]), “In whom all the worlds are situated” (Kaṭha-upaniṣad 5.8; 6.1) and so on; and also the Smṛti passages: ‘“The Lord dwells, O Arjuna, in the heart-region of ail’” (Gītā 18.61), ‘“In me all this is woven”’ (Gītā 7.7) and so on. Hence there is no parallelism between the Supreme Person, the topic of discussion, and the reflected sun and the rest.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The [Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series] ed. (p. 54) reads “sthāninaḥ”.

[2]:

P. 1074, line 8.