Brahma Sutras (Shankara Bhashya)
by Swami Vireshwarananda | 1936 | 124,571 words | ISBN-10: 8175050063
This is the English translation of the Brahma-sutras including the commentary (Bhashya) of Shankara. The Brahma-sutra (or, Vedanta-sutra) is one of the three canonical texts of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy and represents an early exposition the Vedantic interpretation of the Upanishads. This edition has the original Sanskrit text, the r...
Chapter II, Section IV, Adhikarana IV
Adhikarana summary: The chief Prana (vital force) also is created from Brahman
Brahma-Sutra 2.4.8: Sanskrit text and English translation.
श्रेष्ठश्च ॥ ८ ॥
śreṣṭhaśca || 8 ||
śreṣṭhaḥ—The chief Prana (vital force); ca—and.
3. And the chief Prana (vital force) (is also produced).
“From this (Self) is produced the vital force” Mu. 2. 1. 3); again we have, “By Its own law It alone was moving without wind (the vital force)” (Rig-Veda 10. 129. 2). Here the words “was moving” seem to refer to the function of the vital force, and so it must have existed before creation and was therefore not created. Hence there appears to be a contradiction with respect to its origination. This Sutra says that even the vital force is produced from Brahman. The words “was moving” are qualified by ‘without wind’ and so does not intimate that the vital force existed before creation. It only intimates the Brahman, the Cause, existed before creation, as is known from texts like “Existence alone was there before this” (Chh. 6. 2. 1). It is called the ‘chief’, because it functions before all other Pranas and senses, i.e. from the very moment the child is conceived, and also on account of its superior qualities; “We shall not be able to live without you” (Brih. 6. 1. 13).