Brahma-Sūtra 4.3.1

English of translation of Brahmasutra 4.3.1 by Roma Bose:

“Through (the path) beginning with light, that being celebrated.”.

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

It should be known that there is only one path, viz. that beginning with light. Hence through it alone the knowers go, since in the Chāndogya: “They reach the light, from light the day, from the day the waxing fortnight, from the waxing fortnight the six months when the sun moves to the north, from those months the year, from the year the sun, from the sun the moon, from the moon lightning. Then there is a Person, a non-mortal. He leads them to Brahman. Those who go through this, do not return to this human whirlpool” (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 4.15.5-6^[1]); in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka: “They reach light, from light the day, from the day the waxing fortnight, from the waxing fortnight the six months when the sun moves to the north, from the months the world of gods, from the world of gods the sun, from the sun lightning. A Person consisting of mind comes and leads those who have reached lightning to the worlds of Brahman” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 6.2.15^[2]) and in other places too it is celebrated in the very same way.

Śrīnivāsa’s commentary (Vedānta-kaustubha)

Thus, in the previous quarter, the problems concerning a knower’s departure and the rest have been considered. Now, discussions about the path through which he proceeds for attaining Brahman are being undertaken.

In the Vedāntas various paths are mentioned. Thus, in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka, one beginning with light is mentioned thus: “Those who know this thus and those who meditate on faith and truth in the forest, reach light, from light the day, from the day the waxing fortnight, from the waxing fortnight the six months when the sun moves to the north, for the months the world of gods, from the world of gods the sun, from the sun lightning. A Person consisting of mind comes and leads those who have reached lightning to the worlds of Brahman^[3] (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 6.2.15). In the same treatise, a different path is mentioned: “When, verily, a person departs from this world, he comes to the wind. There it makes way for him like the hole of a chariot wheel. Through it he ascends higher up. He comes to the sun. There it makes way for him like the hole of a dram. Through it he ascends higher up. He comes to the moon. There it makes way for him like the hole of a drum. Through it he ascends higher up. He comes to the world” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 5.10.1).

The Kauṣītakins, too, speak of the path in a different way thus: “Having reached this path of gods, he comes to the world of fire, to the world of air, to the world of Varuṇa, to the world of the sun, to the world of Indra, to the world of Prajāpati, to the world of Brahman” (Kauṣītaki-upaniṣad 1.3).

In the Chāndogya, again, it is mentioned in another way: “Now, whether they perform the crematory rites or not in the case of such a person, (the knowers) reach light, from light the day, from the day the waxing fortnight, from the waxing fortnight the six months when the sun moves to the north, from these months the year, from the year the sun, from the sun the moon, from the moon the lightning. Then there is a Person, a non-mortal. He leads them to Brahman. This is the path of gods, the path of Brahman. Those who go through this do not return to the human whirlpool, return not” (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 4.15. 5-6). In the very same treatise, it is mentioned once more as a relation between the vein and the rays thus: “Then through those very rays he goes up” (Chāndogya-upaniṣad 8.6.5).

It is, again, designated in a different way in another place: “Through the door of the sun they depart, passionless” (Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad 1.2.11).

Here the doubt is, viz. whether mutually different paths are established by different Scriptures, or whether there is only one path, viz. the one beginning with light. If it be suggested: since they are of various forms, they are established by Scriptures as mutually different,—

We reply: Only one path, viz. the one beginning with light, is established by all the Scriptures. Through that alone, which begins with light, a knower of Brahman should proceed. Why? “That being celebrated.” That is, as some part or other of the path which begins with light is recognized everywhere in Scriptures, so that path alone which begins with light is celebrated everywhere. Hence it is established that through the mutual combination of the details mentioned in one Scripture with all the rest, only one path,—viz. the one beginning with light and qualified by all the details,—is designated everywhere.

Here ends the section entitled “Beginning with light” (1).

Comparative views of Śaṅkara:

According to him, the entire pāda refers only to the lower knowers and not to the higher ones. But Nimbārka takes it to be referring to knowers in general.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Quoted by Rāmānuja and Baladeva.

[2]:

Quoted by Rāmānuja and Baladeva; Quotation faulty. Vide Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad, p. 303. Correct quotation translated.

[3]:

For correct quotation see above.