Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya Vartika
by R. Balasubramanian | 151,292 words | ISBN-10: 8185208115 | ISBN-13: 9788185208114
The English translation of Sureshvara’s Taittiriya Vartika, which is a commentary on Shankara’s Bhashya on the Taittiriya Upanishad. Taittiriya Vartika contains a further explanation of the words of Shankara-Acharya, the famous commentator who wrote many texts belonging to Advaita-Vedanta. Sureshvaracharya was his direct disciple and lived in the 9...
Verse 2.552
Sanskrit text and transliteration:
परस्य दुःखिता चैवं पराभावः प्रसज्यते ।
तस्मान्निर्धारणार्थोऽयं विचारः क्रियतेऽधुना ॥ ५५२ ॥
parasya duḥkhitā caivaṃ parābhāvaḥ prasajyate |
tasmānnirdhāraṇārtho'yaṃ vicāraḥ kriyate'dhunā || 552 ||
English translation of verse 2.552:
On this view, there would also be misery to the supreme Brahman. Further, the supreme Brahman as such would cease to be. Therefore, this inquiry is now undertaken with a view to determine the correct view.
Notes:
The view that the jīva and Brahman are non-different seems to be defective for other reasons too. What is the sense in which we have to understand the identity between the jīva and Brahman? If the jīva is viewed as identical with Brahman, then inasmuch as the former is subject to transmigratory existence, the latter, too, is not free from it. If it be said that Brahman is identical with the jīva, then Brahman as such would cease to exist.
The third alternative which seeks to explain the relation between the jīva and Brahman in terms of both identity and difference is not taken up for consideration in view of the obvious absurdity of the position.
Since none of the alternatives seems to be satisfactory, it is necessary to examine them carefully with a view to ascertain the real position. Hence the subsequent discussion.