Verse 3.1.22-24

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.1.22-24:

शर्वशक्त्यात्मभूतत्वमेकस्यैवेति निर्णयः ।
भावानामात्मभेदस्य कल्पना स्यादनर्थिका ॥ २२ ॥
तस्माद् द्रव्यादयः सर्वाः शक्तयो भिन्नलक्षणाः ।
संसृष्टाः पुरुषार्थस्य साधिका न तु केवलाः ॥ २३ ॥
यथैव चेन्द्रियादीनामात्मभूता समग्रता ।
तथा संबन्धिसंबन्धसंसर्गेऽपि प्रतीयते ॥ २४ ॥

śarvaśaktyātmabhūtatvamekasyaiveti nirṇayaḥ |
bhāvānāmātmabhedasya kalpanā syādanarthikā || 22 ||
tasmād dravyādayaḥ sarvāḥ śaktayo bhinnalakṣaṇāḥ |
saṃsṛṣṭāḥ puruṣārthasya sādhikā na tu kevalāḥ || 23 ||
yathaiva cendriyādīnāmātmabhūtā samagratā |
tathā saṃbandhisaṃbandhasaṃsarge'pi pratīyate || 24 ||

22. The ultimate view is that it is the One which has all the powers. To postulate difference between the objects themselves is unnecessary.

23. Therefore, substance etc. are only powers (of the Supreme), made known by their different functions. United, they help man to reach his goal and not separately.

24. Just as the collocation of the senses etc. is not an entity over and above the things composing it, in the same way, the connection between the different powers of the Supreme is not a separate entity.

Commentary

The author now puts forward the advaita view on this subject, namely, that it is the powers of the One which are the basis.

[Read verse 22-24 above]

[All the previous discussion arose in connection with the question: how do words like ākāśa denote the universal? The answer was based upon contingent divisions of ākāśa. Contingent divisions are only artificial divisions which really do not exist. But when it comes to the other things of the world, they were assumed to be real. In verse 22, the author states that, according to Advaita, Brahman is the only reality.

Everything else, that is to say, all distinctions such as the universal, the particular and so on are unreal. They are all the products of the powers of Brahman. The seven categories of the Vaiśeṣikas are only the powers of Brahman. These powers are inferred from their effects. Though the various objects of the world, produced by the powers of Brahman are distinct from one another, still they join together in order to do their work. But one cannot, because of that, maintain that it is their connection and not the things themselves which are effective nor that the connection which is eternal, is an entity different from Brahman. That would go against monism. The connection is not over and above the things connected. Just as in perception, the senses, the mind and the object must come together and this coming together, this collocation (sāmagrī) is not an entity over and above them, so is the case here. Thus, there is no damage to monism].

Remark: Sambandhi-sambandha-saṃsarge'pi. Sambandhin=the Supreme, sambandha=the powers of things, saṃsarga=the connection of the powers.

The author now says how the universal which is eternal helps the effect.