Verse 12.87

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

वैदिके कर्मयोगे तु सर्वाण्येतान्यशेषतः ।
अन्तर्भवन्ति क्रमशस्तस्मिंस्तस्मिन् क्रियाविधौ ॥ ८७ ॥

vaidike karmayoge tu sarvāṇyetānyaśeṣataḥ |
antarbhavanti kramaśastasmiṃstasmin kriyāvidhau || 87 ||

All these are fully included, each in its turn, in a particular course of performance of the Vedic Act.—(87)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The ‘Vedic Act’ stands, in this verse, for the Jyotiṣṭoma and other acts, and ‘performance’ also refers to the actual working out, in practice, of the details of those same acts that are laid down in the Veda.

‘All these’—the study of the Veda and its esoteric sections and so forth—‘are included’ in the said ‘act,’ which comprises them all; one act being included in one, and the other in another and so forth.

The ‘act,’ ‘karma yoga,’ having been already mentioned, the ‘performance,’ ‘kriyāvidhi,’ has been mentioned again, for the purpose of filling up the metre. Or some distinction may he drawn on the basis of the different substances —Soma and the rest—used at sacrifices.

(a) Now, the ‘Study of the Veda’ is included in the ‘Sattra,’ Sacrificial Sessions; on the ground that Veda is of use in connection with all the sacred texts that have to be recited at sacrifices.—(b) ‘Austerity’ is included in the Dīkṣā, the Upasada and the Soma sacrifices.—(c) ‘Knowledge’ is included in all sacrifices; as no sacrifices can be performed by men devoid of knowledge.—(d) ‘Control of the sense-organs’ comes in useful in all sacrifices, as it has been laid down for all sacrifices that ‘he shall not have intercourse with his wife;—he shall not eat meat’ and so forth.—(e) So also ‘Harmlessness’; in view of such declarations as—‘he shall not deprive any creature, not even the lizard, of its life.’—(f) ‘Service of elders’ also would come in in the same manner.

There are some people who hold that ‘withdrawing from activity’ is the only ‘act’; and the present text serves the purpose of indicating to these men the necessity of such positive acts as the ‘Studying of the Veda’ and the rest, ‘They are included’—That is, these acts also become included as are of the nature of ‘worship.’ When the Upaniṣads prescribe expiation for persons devoted to ‘worship,’ they do so for the purpose of the destroying of sins, and they do not mean to countermand the act of worship which has been enjoined by Vedic texts. Hence in all cases, whenever one either omits to do what is enjoined, or does what is forbidden, he incurs sin.

“Under the circumstances (if all these acts would continue to be performed), how could there be Liberation?”

Liberation would be attained in the following manner:—(a) The sinful acts committed during previous lives would become exhausted by their effects having been duly experienced,—(b) fresh sinful acts would not. he done intentionally,—(c) those that might he done unintentionally would he expiated by the force of repeated ‘Breath-Suppression’ and other practices,—and (d) thus the man would be enabled to obtain the direct perception of the real nature of the Self.

It is for this reason that even one who is bent upon seeking Brahman should perform all such acts as ‘Study of the Veda’ and the like. As for the acts whose renunciation has been prescribed, the subject, has been dealt, with under Discourse VI.

The term ‘Kriyāvidhi,’ ‘performance,’ may be taken as standing for the act of devoted attention, prescribed by such passages as—‘He should be heard, meditated upon, etc., etc.;’ and since there are many methods of such devoted attention, the text has rightly added the phrase—‘each in its turn.’ For instance, in such passages as—‘one should worship Brahman,’ ‘the Golden Person in the Sun,’ ‘this is the Self, free from sin,’ and so forth—the object of devoted attention is sometimes spoken of in some form attributed to It by our own mind; sometimes in the form of a ‘Golden Person,’ where the expression is used figuratively; sometimes again as the ‘lord’ of all forms of worships the sinless Self:—e.g., such passages as ‘Below Him, above Him,’ etc. It is on account of these diverse declarations that we have the repeated phrase ‘tasmin, tasmin.’—(87)