Verse 2.678

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

न चाप्रमाणता तस्य नियोगोत्सङ्गसंश्रयात् ।
एवमप्यप्रमाणं चेन्नियोगोऽविषयो भवेत् ॥ ६७८ ॥

na cāpramāṇatā tasya niyogotsaṅgasaṃśrayāt |
evamapyapramāṇaṃ cenniyogo'viṣayo bhavet || 678 ||

English translation of verse 2.678:

Further, the Vedānta text should not be made to lose its validity by making it subsidiary to an injunctive text. If it be said that it ceases to be a source of knowledge accordingly (in the absence of its connection with an injunction), then injunction would have no scope at all.

Notes:

The negative Vedānta texts which describe Brahman as “not gross” (asthūla [asthūlam]), etc., reveal the nature of Brahman by denying all characteristics and specifications in Brahman, and are, therefore, valid. If, as the Niyogavādin contends, they have to be construed along with injunctive texts, then they lose their validity in respect of what they convey. It is not proper to deprive them of their validity by making them subsidiary to injunctive texts.

The Niyogavādin may argue that the Vedānta texts which are not connected with injunctive texts have no validity like the utterance of one who is not trustworthy (anāpta). But such an argument is detrimental to his own standpoint. Let it be admitted for the sake of argument that the Vedānta texts which are not connected with injunctive texts have no validity, and so they do not reveal the nature of Brahman. Also, other pramāṇas like perception cannot reveal the nature of Brahman. It means that it is impossible to attain the knowledge of Brahman in the absence of which there will be no scope for injunction.