Karika verses 1.7-11

On this there are the following verses:—

7 (K¹). The Lord is called Viśva when He produces consciousness of the external world, He is styled Taijasa when causing subjective consciousness, He is Prājña when He stops all consciousness of the object, and Jīva-consciousness only remains. Thus One alone is said to be-three-fold.—7.

8 (K²). The seat of Viśva is the right eye, within the manas dwells Taijas, while Prājña is in the ether of the heart; thus He dwells three-fold in the body.—8.

9. (K³) The Viśva verily enjoys the dense objects, the Taijasa is the enjoyer of the subtle; similarly the Prājña is the experiencer of bliss; thus know ye the three-fold objects enjoyed.—9.

10. (K⁴) The dense gives satisfaction to the Viśva; the subtle satisfies the Taijasa, the bliss similarly satisfies the Prājña, understand ye thus the three-fold satisfaction.—10.

11. (K⁵) But he who knows both the enjoyer and the objects enjoyed, in these three mansions as above described, is not tainted (by action) though experiencing all objects.—11.

Note.—The above verses 7 to 11 are really Kārikās of Gauḍapāda, but are taken by Madhva as part of the Upaniṣad. He calls them mantras seen by a seer “brahmadṛṣṭāḥ mantrāḥ”. He naturally then asks, are these verses authority for what has been taught in the preceding part of the Upaniṣad or are they not. If they are authoritative, then the Upaniṣad verses are of weak authority, as requiring the help of these to support them. If these verses do not lend authority to what proceeds, then they are useless. This dilemma is answered by the commentator in the following words.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

Thus we read in the Garuḍa Purāṇa:—“O sage! sometime a precept itself authoritative may be supported by another authority in order to strengthen it; as Varuṇa, the Lord of the Ocean himself an authority, strengthens his revealed mantras “Om, etc.” by quoting the authority of another seer, with the words “on this there are the following verses,” Moreover these verses are not mere repetitions, but an analysis of the mantras revealed to Varuṇa,” They state explicitly what was suggested implicitly before. They show the four-fold nature of this triad.

Note.—(1) The three kinds of prajña or consciousness—(a) bahi prajña (externalised consciousness), (b) antar prajña (internal consciousness), (c) ghana-prajña (torpid consciousness). (2) the three regions (a) right eye, (b) internal-sensory or mannas, (c) the ether of the heart. (3) The three objects of enjoyment (4) the three-fold satisfaction.

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